Wairarapa's top junior tennis players will be up against formidable opposition at the Tennis Central regional performance tournament to be held at the Masterton Tennis Centre this weekend.
More than 70 talented youngsters in the 10 to 16-year-old age groups will take to the courts and they come from all of the provinces in the Tennis Central region - Taranaki, Wanganui, Manawatu, Hutt Valley, Kapi Mana, Wellington and Wairarapa.
Tennis Wairarapa executive officer Cilla Paulik, the tournament controller, said that not only would the event be one of the biggest ever held in Masterton on the basis of individual numbers, it would also be one of the most competitive.
This is because competition is singles only with places in the Tennis Central age group teams to contest the Spring Tri Series against Northern and Waikato and for the national age group teams event in January 2011 up for grabs.
Wairarapa hopefuls are Johnty Tatham and Guy Lewis in the 14-year boys section, Georgia Atkinson in the girls 12-years section and her sister, Sade, in the girls 14-years division. Sade Atkinson is actually the top seed in her competition while Georgia Atkinson is seeded third.
For Tatham and Lewis, it will be a particularly hectic weekend as the boys section has attracted 22 entries and each player will have at least five matches with the best-performed having no fewer than eight.
Among the entries from outside the local area are some players who have already represented their country, including Paige Hourigan and Kyle Butters, both from Wanganui, and KP Pannua from Wellington. Bridgette Liddell, a recent winner of the national 14-years girls indoor singles title, will line up in the 16-years girls event and in the 14-years boys division is Olly Sadler from Wellington, runner-up in the singles at his national indoor tourney in Dunedin in July.
Play starts at 8.30am on Saturday morning with the finals planned for Sunday afternoon.
Talented district juniors face test
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