Hard Work Rewards Henley Tennis Juniors at County Championships

Several Juniors from Henley Tennis Club competed in the recent Oxfordshire County Tennis Festival (formerly the County Closed) held at North Oxford Tennis Club with Sebastian Sheldon winning the U10s Boys competition. This event is known for its prestige and rising talent as previous Junior winners include the likes of former British No.1 Tim Henman.

The Juniors players included Owen Ashton, Shanaya Yasin, Ayden Yasin and Sebastian Sheldon.  Owen Ashton who only this year competed regularly in his first full season just missed out on a consolation semi-final spot, in the U9 boys, by only a matter of points.  Head Coach, Tom Scott commented, “His improvement this summer is one to reference for the future which is certainly promising.  Last year’s U8 Champion, Shanaya Yasin played her socks off in 30 degree heat and back to back matches to finish off her tournament with a well deserved and hard fought third place.  Older brother, Ayden Yasin competed extremely well in a highly competitive U10 event unfortunately just missing out on a consolation final spot by being on the wrong side of a nail biting 3rd set tiebreak 10-8.  Also competing in the U10 Boys was Sebastian Sheldon who played some outstanding tennis and not only won the event but did so in jaw dropping fashion only losing 3 games throughout the entire tournament.  Sebastian then went on to claim the U10 Boys doubles event too with Jasper Smallwood.

Head Coach Tom Scott said, “As their coach I see the ground work these players have put in!  You will regularly see them hitting together when they are not attending their training sessions, completely off their own backs.  Its really great to see how supportive they are of one another.  So these results are thoroughly deserved and I am very proud of what they have achieved at this early stage of their tennis journey.”

One Henley parent observed “What really impressed myself and other spectating parents were the way all of the Henley players managed their emotions on the court!”

These Juniors will next be competing for the club championship.  The finals for this event will be held on Saturday 30 September.

All new members of all standards are welcome to Henley Tennis Club.  More details can be found at https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/henleytennisclub