Tennis: Vijay youth tournament 2011-Great turnout spice up competition |09 December 2011

The youth doubles competitions allowed the players to accumulate points to qualify for next year’s Masters competition which will be held in May.

There were 16 players in the under-8 category and 32 contested in the under-18 division.

For the under-8 competition, coach and event organiser Frederic Canale made the draws to partner the players who had to switch teams and opponents four times. The matches were played up to 10 points.

Constance Levivier and Thérèse Soukoup won the tournament with 40 points each without losing a single match.

In the under-18 category, the top eight players were not allowed to team up together and had to find a partner with less points than them and ranked below eighth position. Matches were up to six games.

Yannick Bargain and Jordi De Giorgi were the grand winners after beating William Robins and Anthony Gold 6-4 in the final.

Theo Barois and François Levivier finished third following their 6-3 victory over Christie Delpech and Ryner Moustache.

According to coach Canale, who is also the director of the tennis academy, the Seychelles Tennis Association is really happy with the turnout and also the level of performance at the championship which is continuously attracting more and more players with each competition.

He explained that although most of the players are in the nine-year-old range, they play very well. This, he said, is why he makes them play in the under-18 category.

“My goal is to find new Seychellois talents and work with them in the academy,” he added.

Players score points whenever they play in any of the series of the Vijay junior tournament. The four best players will be invited to play the Master in May 2012.

R. D.