THE season finale for the Jersey Badminton Association Academy took place last weekend.
The Summer Closed Tournament is an annual event, bringing down the curtain on the season for the Island’s best junior players as they battle it out for their respective age group crowns.
Thirty-eight entries took part across eight different events, with boys and girls ranging from aged eight to 18 competing last Saturday and Sunday at the New Gilson Hall.
Kicking off the weekend on Saturday morning was the age 11-14 groups, including both boys and girls competing in singles and doubles events.
The boys singles was dominated by the outstanding Rory Le Masurier.
The 12-year-old Victoria College student went through Group A unbeaten with four victories, qualifying for the knockout stage along with Lucas McAllister and Jacob Cox.
Group B saw the impressive Dylan Ip also qualify unbeaten, with Alex Cheah and Tom Wright joining him in the knockouts.
In the semi-final stage, Le Masurier overcame Cox 21-14 to reach the final, where he would meet Ip, who beat McAllister 21-14 in the second semi-final.
It was a good standard final, eventually brought home convincingly by Le Masurier 21-15 over Ip.
The girls singles went a similar way to the boys, with Delia Donciu proving the best of the bunch.
The girls singles was played as a “best of three sets” style event, each set being played to 15 points.
Donciu dominated throughout, winning all four of her games without dropping a set to claim the title.
Bella Barnard performed extremely well to finish runner up, with Sandra Wojciechowska claiming third place.
The boys doubles event was closely contested, with Le Masurier teaming up with singles finals opponent Ip, this time to share the trophy as they bested Cox and Saharsh Singla in second and McAllister and Neasham in third.
In the girls doubles, Donciu combined with Nina Laz to claim her second trophy of the morning.
They finished unbeaten in first place, ahead of the runners-up duo of Barnard and Wojciechowska, with sisters Jasmine and Eliyah Schwartz finishing third.
Saturday afternoon was the turn of the Elite age group, ages 15-18.
There was some outstanding talent on display in both the boys and girls singles events, with Mateusz Kopec claiming the boys title and the impressive Donciu once again claiming the girls trophy.
Kopec was in scintillating form as he demolished his field, winning all five of his matches to claim an unbeaten trophy, which included an impressive 21-6 win over Le Masurier.
OB Racjan finished runner up, with Le Masurier close behind him in third.
The girls singles saw just two competitors, who competed in a straight final.
Donciu was once again in magnificent form with racquet in hand, comfortably claiming her third trophy of the weekend, despite a courageous effort from opponent Eliyah Schwartz.
Sunday morning was the turn of the younger age group, ages eight to ten.
Competing in a mixed singles event, it was the exciting Eric Laz who took the glory with three wins out of three.
Second place went to a determined Campbell Ashby, with Esmé Schwartz impressing throughout and finish in third place.
JBA coach and tournament organiser, Rob Armstrong, said: “It was a wonderful event to end our season.
“We had a good turnout and the standard of play was fantastic.
“All players should be extremely proud of their efforts, particularly some of our younger players who were very impressive.
“We want to keep offering our players the chance to play and also compete.
“These tournaments provide long-lasting memories for these young athletes and we have some excellent players who deserve their moments of recognition.
“We want to still keep those numbers increasing though. Our next tournament now will not be until November, the Junior Winter Closed Tournament, so we have plenty of time to get recruiting.”
Anybody wanting to get involved with the JBA should contact Rob Armstrong at jbamembership@runbox.com.
Winners
Age 8-10
Mixed Singles: Eric Laz
Age 11-14
Boys Singles: Rory Le Masurier
Boys Doubles: Rory Le Masurier and Dylan Ip
Girls Singles: Delia Donciu
Girls Doubles: Nina Laz and Delia Donciu
Age 15-18
Boys Singles: Mateusz Kopec
Boys Doubles: Rory Le Masurier and Mateusz Kopec
Girls Singles: Delia Donciu
