SCTA Academy Members excel in South Canterbury Spring Open Junior Tournament.

The South Canterbury Spring Open kicked off today in very blustery conditions that tested players throughout the day.Academy players involved in our coaching programs fared well .The 10 boys Jack Sands who attends our coaching in Geraldine was beaten by the top seed Harrison Darling in the semi finals but went on to win the third place play off  against Sam Bubb 9-3.He also recorded a 9-1 win over Matt Ellis in the Quarter finals.Josh Eckhold from our Monday performance Squad won his first round encounter before losing also to Darling second round.He went on to reach the consolation plate final.Great work boys! In the 10 girls Taylor Cvitanich also from Monday Performance squad had a great win in the quarter finals defeating Ella Smith 9-5.Smith had earlier knocked out the top seed Mid Canterbury player Caroline Murdoch.Taylor plays her semi tomorrow.In the 12 boys Taylor's brother Bradreached the quarter finals only to fall to the number two seed James Wild.Ben Deeley the third seed had a great straight sets win over Southern Lakes player Bjorn Pollock 6-3 6-3.He faces the top seed in tomorrows semi final.Both Brad and Ben are Academy Members

A special mention to 8 year old Thararubphet Homkrun who has reached the final of the 12 girls.Nay Nay(name) a shortened version of her full name is very promising considering her age (8).The boys 14 has seen Academy players Tom Russell and Jack Deeleyreach the semi finals of the boys singles.Both were in great form today.Tom the top seed will meet Sam Benny whilst Jack has his work cut out against the second seed from Auckland Connor Van Dalsum.Jack was the tournament 3 rd seed.Luke Elsen a perforamnce squad member was lacking a little fitness from his recent oversee's trip and was a little short of some match play he lost to the Number two seed.Josh Reddecliffe did not handle the blustery conditions too well and full credit to his opposition who did.Josh is also an Academy member.Rebecca Gill lost a competitive match with 3rd seed Zoe Smith from Southland. Rebecca showed good form and will only get better with more match play. Rebbecca is also an Academy member.In the 16 boys number 2 seed Tom Deeley will only get better from his semi final loss to 3rd seed Daiki Naka.Lacking some hard match play also the loss will make Tom even keener for his next tournament outing, Tom is of course an Academy member.Great to see former Timaru Boys High student George Tarbotton playing locally again.George will be joining our Monday performance squad. All players are involved in doubles also and Luke Elsen and Jack Deeley combined well with Jack making some great volleys set up by Lukes solid back court play.It was great to see Juniors from North Otago partcipate and receive valuable tournament experience.Caleb Ludermann had a great first up 3 set win in the 14 boys singles leaving his opponent on the court in dispair as he contempleted what went wrong.Rebecca Dellaway is into the semi's and will expect a tough match from 3rd seed Zoe Smith.Albert Hailes top seed for the 16 boys survived a semi final scare losing the second set to Cougan Stoop. The academy and Director/ Head Coach provide the coaching for North Otago this season and they are all ready showing the benefits from having the experience of Dries at the Helm.Play continues tomorrow.For a more visual Display go to the Academy Web site.LINK