Junior players on fire in closed champs

The field showed strong competition and excellent depth, with a total of 101 players from Mbombela, Barberton, Malalane, Komatipoort, White River, Lydenburg and Komatipoort competing. On Saturday, the u/10 boys and girls played at Curro Nelspruit.

The girls’ event had an impressive 13 entries, and Annika Snyman beat Mienke van Zyl 4-1 in the final. On the boys’ side there were 16 players, and Nathan Roelofse beat Carlo van Wyk 3-2 for the title. The u/11 boys played at Hoërskool Nelspruit and there were many close matches. Both semi-finals went to 7-6, with Hanru van der Merwe beating Christiaan Tryhou and Niel Coetser edging Evan Jacobs.

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In the final, there was another close battle with Hanru beating Niel 6-4. At Penryn, the u/11 girls fought closely for the title, with Laerskool Laeveld’s Simoné Swart overcoming regular rival Milan van Heerden 6-4 in the final. Shayna Lea of Curro Nelspruit beat Laerskool Nelspruit’s Murunwa Nemavhidi for third place.

Onto the u/13 boys and girls at Nelspruit Tennis Club, and the battles were fought from the first round to the last. Elané Eksteen beat Natallia Paul narrowly in the girls’ final, 5-7, 6-3, 10-3. The boys’ final showed a repeat of the Lowveld Closed #4 final, but this time the result was reversed, Etienne Swart edging Gideon Coetzer 7-6, 6-1.

Meanwhile, in the u/15 divisions, Joslin Boshoff finished first in the girls’ draw and Emma Snyman second, while JP Snyman beat Christiaan Bezuidenhout 6-1, 6-1 for the boys’ title. Lastly, Michiel Eksteen beat Dian Venter in a nail-biter 2-6, 6-3, 12-10 for the boys u/19 crown.

“It is very good to see so many players from all around the Ehlanzeni District playing in these tournaments, and we’re looking forward to the next one in October,” said Lowveld Junior Tennis’s chairperson, Eckhardt van der Linde.