Darcie does herself Proud at Blitz comp

After months of preparation the event which was oversubscribed saw 77 participants descend on the Gainsborough Academy Blitz TTC headquarters to compete in a range of ages from under 11s up to under 18s.

The day got underway early at 9am and saw a high standard of match play in all competitions.

Blitz were represented in the mornings session by Sam Phillips in the Cadet boys and Darcie Proud in the Cadet girls. Sam competed well against higher ranked opposition and after qualifying through the group stage lost out in the last 16 to Joseph Cope from Cleveland ranked 24th in the country in straight sets.

The Cadet boys event final was won by K. Wardell (Cleveland) defeating W. Ibbitson (Yorkshire).

Darcie Proud from Blitz ranked 24th in the country in cadet girls produced some fantastic play to win her group going unbeaten in the Cadet girls competition. She then went on to defeat H. Dicken and Zoe Hewit in the knock out rounds to set up a final against fellow Lincolnshire player Chloe Linguard, ranked 14th in the country.

Darcie had to be at her best after losing the first set 11-4 but she came back in stunning style taking the next 3 sets 11-5, 12-10, 11-9 to take the title. A great result for the Blitz youngster on home turf.

In the under 11s girls competition Amy Marriott of South Yorkshire defeated A.Milne 12-10, 11-3, 11-8 in the final an achievement matched by fellow South Yorkshire player A Szabo in the boys under 11 event who defeated J.Hamblett 5-11, 13-11, 11-8, 13-11 to take the title.

The afternoons play saw Blitz players Amy Gittings and Chloe De la Fontaine take part in the Junior Girls under 18s competition. Both girls did well in a strong field but unfortunately Chloe went out in the group stages losing to 2nd seed Holly Williams from Swerve TTC and then Amy despite qualifying through the group stages also lost out to Williams in the last 8 of the competition.

Full results online.

Williams carried through her good form to the final of the Junior girls competition but found top seed Bethany Farnworth from Lancashire too strong and the Lancashire player took the title with a 3-0 victory.

Harry Tomlinson from Blitz TTC competed well in the Junior boys group stage but failed to progress to the knock out rounds losing to highly ranked players Jack Cope and Harry Watson.

The Junior boys final was contested between Joseph Cope and Wing Cheong Kwan both of Cleveland. Kwan the top seed proved too strong for the younger Cope brother and took the title with a 3-0 win.

The under 13s girls event again saw Darcie Proud of Blitz power her way to her second title of the day at her home club. Proud in excellent form blitzed all set before her taking the under 13s title to go with the cadets title with a straights set victory over Amy Marriott.

The under 13s boys title went to Nikit Sajiv who defeated Yorkshires Charlie Turner in the final.

Blitz TTCs first Junior 2 star competition proved to be a huge success and the club would like to thank everybody who contributed on the day and prior to the event for making it such a good day. Special thanks go out to the Gainsborough Academy and the Academies Site Staff for use of the facilities and their help over the weekend. Thanks also to the Tornament referee John Mackey, Officials, Umpires, scorers, coaches,helpers, players and all who made the event such a success.