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Wigan Wonder on the
Road to Wimbledon
One of Wigan’s brightest young sports
stars is set to fly the borough’s flag in a national competition taking
place at the home of tennis. Bryony Chapman, 13, from Standish has been
given a wildcard entry into the National Finals of ‘The Road to
Wimbledon National 14 and Under Challenge’ (8th to 13th August).
Over 14,000 young tennis players entered this year’s tournament being
held at Wimbledon, which began with club closed events between April and
June, followed by county finals and then the 44 county winners and 20
best runners-up qualifying for the National Finals.
Keith Eckersall, Tennis Development Officer from Wigan Leisure and
Culture Trust said, “Bryony is a fantastic all round athlete with the
potential to go very far in the sport. She trains regularly at Robin
Park Tennis Centre and is part of a young team of tennis players who
regularly show great enthusiasm and ability in equal measures. We have a
strong coaching set up at Robin Park and Bryony is the perfect
ambassador for the Tennis Centre.”
The ‘Road to Wimbledon 14 and Under Challenge’ is sponsored by the All
England Club and run in association with the LTA. The event forms an
important element of the Club’s Road to Wimbledon junior tennis
programme, which was launched in 2001 to encourage tennis clubs
throughout the UK to give more support to junior tennis. The winners and
runners-up in the singles will be awarded a week’s training at the LTA’s
winter training base in La Manga.
Tournament Director and former British Davis Cup Captain, Paul Hutchins,
said: “The Road to Wimbledon National 14 and Under Challenge has
expanded significantly and is proving to be highly popular throughout
British tennis clubs. For the 64 boys and 64 girls at next week’s
National Finals, this is their Wimbledon.”
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Meanwhile, Robin Park Tennis Centre hosts the 5th annual Wigan junior
tennis tournament (August 8th to 13th) as part of the Sunday Telegraph
Centre Parks Grand Prix. This is a level 3 event, which attracts players
of an extremely high standard.
There are 70 events in the Grand Prix, and points are awarded for doing
well in the separate age groups for boys and girls; Under-10s, Under-12s
and Under-14s. The top four players at the end of the season will
compete in play-offs at Centre Parks, Nottingham or La Manga Club,
Spain.
Wigan’s event has over 200 entries in 14 events, the top seeds are:
Billy Harris (Isle of Man) 10U; Harry Meehan (Liverpool) 12U; David
Porter (Stockport) 12U; Ian Burns (Wirral) 14U; Sam Ashcroft
(Derbyshire) 14U; Chris Vost (Blackpool) 16U; Dean Moore (Accrington)
16U; Katie Boulter (Leicestershire) 10U; Kim Schmider (Lymm); Dominique
Crompton (Knutsford) 12U; Rebecca Williams (Liverpool) 12U; Anjoli
Foster (Birmingham) 14U; Celia Fraser (Birmingham) 14U and Bryony
Chapman (Wigan) 16U.
Local players expected to do well are Jonathon Rigby, Oliver Walkden,
Matt Roberts, Hannah Green, Eleanor Peach and Philip Dawson, who all
train at Robin Park and were part of the team that recently won the
Greater Manchester Youth Games.
Play starts at 9.30am on Monday and continues each day up to 6pm. Finals
day is on Saturday. Admission is free and spectators are welcome. For
more information contact Keith Eckersall, Wigan Leisure and Culture
Trust, on 01942 828554.
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NOTES TO EDITORS: For more information on this News Release, please
contact Chris Dunbar, Public Relations Officer, Wigan Leisure and
Culture Trust on 01942 486937 or at c.dunbar@wlct.org.
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