MANOR Park Tennis Club hosted the annual Junior County Closed Championship last week and great success was enjoyed by its junior members who competed amongst the best from Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

Thirteen boys and ten girls entered this year and played through some very windy and wet conditions. Nancy Zhang finished runner-up in the girls' U16 singles, was a semi-finalist in the U18 girls' and runner-up in both the U18 girls' doubles and the U16 mixed doubles, in which she was partnered by Ben Marks.

Manor Park juniors excelled in the doubles events. Ben Marks and Richard Tuck won the boys' U16s doubles and Richard also won the U16 mixed. Ryan Hardiman and Stephen Coffey won the U14 boys; Lizzie Gorton and Rosie Brown were runners-up in the U14 girls, Lizzie Gorton and Stephen Coffey were runners-up in U14 mixed; David Hodgetts and Jamie Marks won the U12 boys with Jack Cooney and partner runners-up in this event. Katherine Panton-Kent and partner finished runners-up in the U12 girls' doubles.

Richard Tuck and Ben Marks played extremely well in the U16 boys, both losing to Lewis Barnes from Stourbridge, who now attends Loughborough Tennis Academy full time and has represented Great Britain abroad. Richard was runner-up and Ben was a semi-finalist.

David Hodgetts won the U12 boys' singles and was a semi-finalist in the U14 boys. Jack Cooney won the U12 plate with Solomon Drew as runner-up. In the girls' singles Lizzie Gorton was a semi-finalist in the U14 and Katherine Panton-Kent in the U12.

Jazzamay Drew finished runner-up in the U12 and in the U12 consolation event, Jasmine Quiney and Steffi Rei Varias were semi-finalists.

The trophies for the most improved boy and girl players within the counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire were awarded to two Manor Park members, David Hodgetts and Lizzie Gorton.