There was a small but quality entry in the U19 Silver, the first time we have staged a BE Silver tournament in this age group, and there was to be much success for the locals. Tim Bodani won the singles and the doubles with James Dodd but was prevented from making it a treble by Lucy Dodd and Cumbria’s Dan Kemp who won the mixed and Lucy also won the singles without the loss of a set. Ellen Davison was also victorious in the ladies’ doubles with Molly Whitaker from Yorkshire and was runner-up with Tom Hunt in the mixed.

Both Tim Bodani, seeded 3/4, and Tom Hunt won their groups but the highlight was to be group F where every game played went to 3 sets and there were two locals vying for the top spot in Ryan Cockett and Jamie Grant but in the end it was to be Matthew Ellis from Surrey who prevailed on count-back on points difference.

Tim then overcame Tom in the quarter-final before defeating Cumbria’s Dan Kemp in the semi, 21-17 in the third, and Yorkshire’s Ethan Fox in the final in straight sets.

Tim was to have more success in the doubles when he and James Dodd won their group without the loss of a set before taking the final comfortably in two sets. Lucy Dodd was meanwhile carrying all before her in the singles taking it comfortably without the loss of a set and Ellen Davison, partnered by Molly Whitaker from Yorkshire, was also a comfortable winner in the ladies doubles, defeating Charlotte Graham and Yorkshire’s Yawei Li in the final.

The mixed had looked on paper to be the closest event of the day and it did not disappoint. The pick of the early games saw Tim and Charlotte just miss out to Ben & Molly Whitaker 21-16, 22-24, 19-21 and, unfortunately for Tim, an Achilles problem was then to force him to withdraw. Tom Hunt and Ellen beat the Whitakers in 3 sets before losing to Dan Kemp and Lucy Dodd setting up an intriguing finale between the latter two.

Dan and Lucy won the first before just being edged out 25-23 in the second. Back they came and, despite spirited resistance from the Yorkies, they held on to take the decider to 16 which meant Tom and Ellen were runners-up.

With only Tim and James being out of this age group next year, it surely bodes well for continuing with U19 Silvers in future years.