THE junior competition was the focus in a busy weekend’s schedule at the Weymouth Town Tournament, which was played in perfect conditions at Greenhill.

George Morrissey and Bradley Webb fought a close final in the under-16s’ group, with the former nicking it 7-5. Millen Hurrion added to his haul of titles by blasting through the boys’ under- 11 tournament, beating Bradley’s younger brother Dominic 6-0 in the final. Meanwhile, Annie Redding defeated Katherine De Kretser 6-1 to take the girls’ under-16 section.

Justin Smith could still be playing in the under-16s’ tournaments but will be very difficult to stop in the men’s draw. He faced off against Dorchester rival Peter Notley.

The two know each other well from the local leagues and Smith, classy with both forehand and backhand swings, played a faultless first set to blitz his opponent to love. The determined Notley never gives an opponent an easy game though and recovered to trade long rallies with Smith in a marathon second set, going down 7-5.

Notley continued this better form by teaming up with Alan Cash in the doubles to give red hot favourites Julien Lawes and Tom Legg a good game.

They varied the pace and defended well to frustrate the number one seeds for spells in the match, but were unable to live with the sustained ferocious hitting and could not gather momentum to avoid a straight sets defeat. Lawes and Legg then demolished the last remaining contenders in the group, Ed Evans and Jon Mason for the loss of two games and cruised into the semi-finals to be played later this week.

In the ladies’ doubles group two teams look to be heading towards the final, Dorchester’s Sarah Skidmore and Zoë Acutt, who scored two very impressive wins over their closest rivals and should now win the group. Caroline Cash and Emma Gardiner look likely to be their opponents after coming through a tough match against Joy Hennessy and Rhose Lawes in two close sets.

Hennessy and Lawes soon had to forget team spirit and battle in the ladies’ singles draw, Hennessey having to come up with winner after winner to pierce the dogged resistance of Lawes, who seemed to win countless rallies that at one point seemed out of. The former however held her nerve to take the spoils 6-4, 7-5.

* Shaun Hennessy from Blondz has given the organisers a boost at the halfway stage of the competition with some much needed sponsorship.

Results: Men’s Singles: Justin Smith bt Peter Notley 6-0, 7-5 Ladies’ Singles: Joy Hennessy bt Rhose Lawes 6-4, 7-5 Men’s Doubles: Andy Lawes/Hugh Lawes bt Dan Morgan/Dave Morgan 6-4, 6-1, Alan Cash/Peter Notley bt Chris Lawes/Matt Lawes 6-0, 7-5, Julien Lawes/Tom Legg bt Alan Cash/Peter Notley 6-1, 6-3, Julien Lawes/Tom Legg bt Ed Evans/Jon Mason 6-2, 6-0.

Ladies’ Doubles: Zoë Acutt/Sarah Skidmore bt Caroline Cash/Emma Gardiner 6-2, 6-3, Zoë Acutt/Sarah Skidmore bt Joy Hennessy/Rhose Lawes 6-3, 6-4, Caroline Cash/Emma Gardiner bt Glenda Fraser/Jennie Kennedy 6-2, 6-3, Caroline Cash/Emma Gardiner bt Joy Hennessy/Rhose Lawes 6-3, 7-5.

Mixed Doubles: Joy Hennessy/Mark Henman bt J Kennedy/Andy Lawes 6-0, 6-1, Zoë Acutt/Keiran Morrissey bt Jennie Kennedy/Andy Lawes 6-2, 6-2.

Under-16 Boys’ Final: George Morrissey bt Bradley Webb 7-5.

Under-11 Boys’ Final: Millen Hurrion bt Dominic Webb 6-0.

Under-16 Girls’ Final: Annie Redding bt Katherine De Kretser 6-1.

TONIGHT’S ORDER OF PLAY 6.15pm: Andy Fraser v Ben Skidmore; Andy Lawes v Matthew Brook; Alan Cash & Pete Notley v Bobby Whitely & Billy Blackmore 7.30pm: Alan Cash v Dave Morgan; Andy Fraser & Mark Henman v Alex & Ben Skidmore; Sarah Skidmore & Zoë Acutt v Glenda Fraser & Jennie Kennedy; Rhose Lawes v Amy Nicholson.