Boys' Tennis - St Edmund's Open, 2008
Date: Thursday 26 June 2008
Last year's innovation of an evening committed to a boys' knock-out tennis tournament was repeated yesterday, and a field of 32 entrants covering each of the Senior School's year groups fought for the 'Boys Open Tennis' trophy.
The 16 first round matches produced no real surprises other than Kenneth Mok's 6 - 5 win over James Attwood. The top four seeds all cruised through to round two, with Freddie Pack overcoming the Greg Moulsdale challenge, 6 - 3. Incidentally, the tournament was based on a short set, with a single point deciding a deuce.
The surprises came from round two, where Pack went down 5 - 6 to Will Hollis, and where Tom Hulme overcame David van Rooyen 6 - 2. The quarter-finals went closer to plan with Max Kirkness, Jack Ransley, Hollis, and David Welham making the semi-finals, but rapidly running out of energy!
Here Ransley outstayed Kirkness to win 6 - 3; surprise package Hollis beat Welham by the same margin to set up a final featuring a Middle Fifth and a Lower Sixth. Seniors had been swept aside!
The winner proved to be Will Hollis. Ransley seemed in control at 4 - 3 up, but two excellent games gave Hollis an edge which he converted into a 6 - 4 win. He may now be challenged by Harry Callaway, last year's winner, who could not defend his title, as he was helping the Cricket XI into the semi-final of the Kent Cup.
Well done, Will! His cup will be presented in front of a full and appreciative audience at the Headmaster's Line on Monday.
