THE THIRD round of Wildmoor Spa Tennis League Junior Cup pool matches have been completed and leading the way are Alcester A, Littletons A, Pershore and Stratford A.
Two Pool A events were played in May. The first played at Henley was a rearranged April fixture in which Alcester B surprisingly topped the group when their pair Ollie Linnett and Henry Beer beat Henley B 6-4 and Henley A 6-1 before just losing to Alcester A 5-7.
Alcester A came second on points as their duo Ben Pons and James Faulks beat Henley A 7-6, but went down 6-7 to Henley B.
Henley B boys Archie Hanson and Jack Quantrill made this a competitive night when they unexpectedly also beat their Henley A pair Joe Williams and Joe Webb 6-4.
In the May pool night played at Alcester, the hosts’ A team regained control of the group by beating all three teams – Alcester B 7-5, Henley A 6-2 and Henley B 6-0.
Alcester B were runners-up after beating Henley A 6-3 and Henley B 6-0. A weakened and changed Henley pairs saw Henley A duo Abbie Paterson and Joe Webb beat sister side Henley B pair Luke Johnson and Max Gullies 6-2. This leaves Alcester A on top with 16 points to Alcester B’s 15.
Pool B also had two fixtures – the first a rain rearranged night at Chipping Campden and then the normal pool at Littletons.
On the first night visitors Littletons A dominated as their players Daniel Reynolds and William Bishop beat allcomers. Littletons B had an injured player and could not play so lost all matches 6-0.
Littletons A pair also beat Campden A 6-4 and Campden B 6-1. Campden A claimed second spot as their pair Tom Cox and Jack Theo beat Campden B 6-1 and then had a 6-0 walkover against Littletons B.
Campden B pair Oscar Salter and Andre Jeffrey could only claim their 6-0 walkover against Littletons B.
In the May pool night played at Littletons, the hosts’ A team again beat all three opponents – Littletons B 6-4, Campden A 6-1 and Campden B 6-2.
Campden A duo Tom Cox and Oscar Salter managed to go on to beat Littletons B 6-3 and Campden B 6-4, whilst Campden B’s changed pair Andre Jeffrey and Jack Theo overcame Littleons B juniors Robbie Clear and James Golding only after a tie-break 7-6 (7-4).
These results left Littletons A with a three-point lead at the top of the table and looking favourites to qualify.
Prior to the Pool C event at Redditch, Pershore had dominated the group and led by three points from Evesham A.
However, on this night Redditch A pair Caleb Ravenscroft and Finn Shannon managed to beat Pershore 6-2, before going on to beat Evesham A 6-1 and then Evesham B 6-1.
Unfortunately for Redditch, their poor start to the season meant that, with Pershore pair Toby Atkin and Tom Edwards taking the other results 6-3 over Evesham A and 6-3 over Evesham B, the leaders sit five points clear.
The Evesham teams were playing for the wooden spoon and the B pair Anton Devos and Joseph Wilson thumped their A pair Daniel Wilde and John Rushby 6-0. This dropped Evesham A down to third and bumped Redditch A up to second, but too late to prevent Pershore from already qualifying for the play-off semi-finals.
In Pool D played at Stratford, the hosts’ A team marched into the play-offs with an unassailable five-point lead.
Bidford had had to pull out of the league and Redditch B had a player go down ill and could not play so both the Stratford teams had 6-0 walkovers in those matches and were only to play each other.
In the event, Stratford A pair James Richards and Oliver Murphy beat the B team’s Thomas Pinnock and Toby Pearson 6-1.
