JOANNA Rimmington put her name into the Southend & District LTA record books by becoming the first girl to win the association’s 10 and under grand prix.
The Elite Academy Deanes player claimed the mini green grand prix after beating Harry Smith (David Lloyd) in the final.
Harry had earlier beaten Joanna in the league stages but despite putting up a strong fight, he was pipped in the final.
Luis Patel and William Shepherd looked set to go head to head in the nine and under (mini orange) final right from the start of the event back in May.
And neither gave any quarter in a match which was level at four points all in the first set before William won 7-4.
Luis was 5-1 down in the second set but recovered to 5-4 before William bounced back to win 7-4.
Holly Wasmuth successfully defended her girls’ under-12 crown with a 6-1 6-0 victory over Elite Academy Deanes’ Emily Buchanan.
And Westcliff Hard’s Hayley Needs secured her first Southend & District title with a 6-4 6-1 victory over Alice Lacey (Elite Academy Deanes) in the under-14s.
Under-16 tournament favourite Amy Sergeant suffered a 7-6 6-2 defeat to Alissa Bass, while Rochford’s George Hannah enjoyed a 6-2 6-3 win over club-mate Jack Farrell in the men’s under-21 singles.
Rayleigh’s Emily Watts had already won the ladies’ under-21 final earlier in the summer to add to her girls’ 16 and under crown in 2010.
Elite Academy Deanes picked up a brace of boys’ team event titles by beating Rayleigh 3-0 in the under-16s and 2-1 in the under-14s.
But a 3-0 win for Westcliff Hard in the boys’ under-12s denied the Thundersley-based team a hat-trick of team silverware.
David Lloyd Southend, which hosted the event, secured their first senior Southend & District Premier League title with a 3-1 win over Rayleigh in the senior mixed doubles.
Entries for next year’s championships in the senior league and boys’ junior league are now open, and the league secretary will be circulating entry forms later on in the year. For more information on the S&D LTA visit www.southenddistrictlta.org.uk
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