Lowveld Tennis saw its next instalment of the exciting Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) tournaments this past weekend, the Bundu Sawmills UTR Singles Prize Money Tournament, played at Nelspruit Tennis Club and Curro Nelspruit.

Fifty-five players across four divisions participated on Saturday and Sunday, with a total of 99 matches completed, many of which were extremely close.

The Division A Prize Money section awarded R2 000 to the winner, R1 000 to the finalist and R500 each to the semi-finalists.

Division D saw two u/11 girls, Curro’s Shayna Lea and Laerskool Laeveld’s Simoné Swart, face off in the finals. They had both beaten boys in their respective semi-finals, a unique feature of UTR tournaments which gives all players the opportunity to compete, regardless of age or gender.

Shayna fought hard and won 6-4, 4-6, 11-9.

The Division D Consolation Winner was Janco de Bruyn, who defeated Princess Nkambule 6-1, 6-1 in the final.

In Division C, a round robin format was used and each player played five matches. Hanru van der Merwe, an u/11 Laerskool Nelspruit player, was victorious, with Imaan Packery, an u/13 girl from Nelspruit Primary, finishing second.

At the conclusion of Division B’s play on Sunday, NHS’s Chané Steyn was defeated by fellow NHS player Dian Venter.

There were many close matches in Division B, between adults, boys and girls, which made for some fantastic tennis.

The Division B Consolation winner was JC Swarts, who defeated Samuel Tryhou 6-3, 6-1 in the final.

In the Division A Prize Money event, eMalahleni coach, Kaylin de Beer, defeated Nelspruit coach, Eckhardt van der Linde, 6-4, 6-4 in the final.

The Division A Consolation draw was won by Hoërskool Nelspruit’s Hendrik Louwrens, who beat Nelspruit Tennis Club’s Anso Thormahlen 6-2, 6-4.

“Thank you very much to Bundu Sawmills and Teddy Ndlazi for their support of this event. We cannot run these events without incredible support such as yours,” said tournament directors, Susan and Eckhardt van der Linde.