Robert de Vries, Matthew Grix, Mihika Hansraj, Kinaya Chonguica, Sakhile Hlophe, Miané Swart, Sumayyah Mangerah and John van Rooyen emerged as the biggest winners of the first instalment of the Lowveld Closed Junior Tennis Tournament held in Mbombela on Friday and Saturday, March 6 and 7.

Robert defeated Muhammed Moola 6-3, 6-3 in the boys’ U11 final, while in the girls’ division Mihika claimed the title with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Miandi Bronkhorst.

In the boys’ U13 final, it was a clash between the two top seeds, Matthew (1) and Sebastian le Roux (2), with Matthew prevailing convincingly 6-0, 6-1.

In the girls’ section, Kinaya upset second seed Sienna Taylor 6-3, 6-3.

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In the Rainbow Kids orange ball division, Sumayyah edged Lian van Schalkwyk 15-14, while John defeated Philip van Rooyen 15-10.

In the men’s and women’s singles finals, the top seeds, Sakhile and Miané, respectively, faced the second seeds, Teddy Ndlazi and Nokwazi Ngcobo.

Sakhile defeated Teddy 6-2, 6-3 to lift the men’s title, while Miané cruised to the women’s title with a dominant 6-1, 6-1 victory.

The two-day tournament, aimed at giving junior players match practice and assisting with the selection of players for regional competitions, attracted 74 participants.

Matches were played at Nelspruit Primary School, Nelspruit Tennis Club and Panorama Tennis Club.

The second instalment is scheduled from April 17 to 19.