Gauteng East selected a strong contingent of U13, U15 and U19 players to represent the province in next year’s interprovincial tournament (IPT) following the conclusion of a try-out tournament on September 8.
The team, comprising eight players per age group and gender, was selected from about 150 primary and high school players who participated in the Gauteng East Tennis Association (GETA) closed IPT school trials.
The competition took place at several of the region’s venues from September 6 to 8.
The IPT will take place from January 9 to 12. The U13s and U15s will travel to Bloemfontein, while the U19s head over to the Groenkloof Tennis Club in Pretoria.
GETA’s junior tennis chairperson, Karen McRae, explained the selection was based on how the players performed during the trials and Tennis SA IPT schools teams’ selection rules.
“After a weekend of full matches, the players were narrowed to the top eight. The IPT teams consist of six boy and six girl teams and two reserves each,” said McRae.
She added, “We had many new players this year and are excited to see how GETA performs at the IPT in January. Congratulations to all players for playing their hearts out this weekend and the top eight selected for each team. Go make GETA proud.”
Action-packed trials
Noah Parker beat Joshua Perry in straight sets to win the boys’ U19 section, while Sophia Koen won the girls’ title through a walk-over after Hannah Crafford forfeited the match due to an injury.
“I feel privileged to represent our province. It’s my first year back. I last played in the trials in U15. The teams are becoming stronger. With everyone having big dreams and goals, our team will be strong,” Koen said.
Crafford returns to the IPT for the second successive year.
“I’ve played these trials for many years. I think this year, the vibe was nice,” Crafford said.
Perry gave Parker a run for his money in the first set of their match. He recovered from 5-2 down to send the game to a tie-break, but Parker outsmarted him to win the set 7-6.
Parker swept Perry aside with clinical strokes to win 6-3 for match figures of 7-6, 6-3 in the second set.
Tegan Brouwer won the U15 girls’, while Omphile Sekhute clinched the boys’ division. Giana Smith was victorious in the U13 girls section, and Milan Potgieter clinched the boys’ trophy.
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