Record fourth title for Grimley as Stalker bags a hat-trick
Matthew Grimley won a record fourth U19 boys’ doubles title today at the U15/19 National Junior Championships at Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility in Motherwell.
And in the U15 events Brooke Stalker won a hat-trick of girls’ singles, doubles and mixed to become the only treble winner on the day.
In the U19 boys’ doubles a hard-fought final lasting almost an hour was punctuated by some spectacular defensive play by both sides, but in the end Grimley and Jack MacGregor were too much for second seeds Adam Pringle and Joshua Apiliga.
They won 21-18 18-21 21-13 to secure a fourth title for Grimley and a first for MacGregor and speaking afterwards, Grimley said: “I’m really happy with it. I didn’t have Chris here with me which was hard but Jack played really well and we managed to pull through and get the win which we’re really happy about.
“They were defending really well all through the match so we had to try and take some of the power out and win a few more points in the mid-court and it’s a really good feeling that it worked.”
MacGregor continued: “They were playing really well and we knew we would have to come out on fire to beat them. Obviously we are quite a new partnership so we knew it would be tough but luckily we played quite well.
“It’s my first Scottish title after moving up from England last year so it’s great to come away with a win.”
A competitive boys’ singles event could have been won by any of the top four players.
The first and second seeds Pringle and Apiliga had to work hard to even get to the final, with both recovering from losing the first game in their semi-finals against Grimley and Callum Smith respectively.
Not only did Pringle recover from going a game behind, he also saved four match points in the deciding game to win his semi-final 11-21 21-17 22-20 while Apiliga beat Smith 20-22 22-20 21-13.
The final went according to seeding with Pringle beating his doubles partner 24-22 21-16 to win his first U19 national title but in the girls’ singles Lauren Middleton upset the form book.
Middleton came from a game behind to beat top seed Rachel Sugden 19-21 21-17 21-18, avenging her defeat to Sugden in last year’s final, and she won her second title of the day in the girls’ doubles when she and Sarah Sidebottom beat Rachel Andrew and Rachel Cameron 21-17 21-13.
In the last final of the day, Pringle won his second title when he and Andrew beat Grimley and Sidebottom 21-18 18-21 21-18.
In the U15 events Brooke Stalker and Keryn Swan beat Mary Kong and Vibha Raman 21-18 21-11 to retain their girls’ doubles title, but Stalker was far from finished.
She beat Swan 21-14 21-18 in the final of the singles before teaming up with Anthony McGuire to beat Swan and Finlay Sheriff 21-15 15-21 21-16 in the final of the mixed, making Stalker the only player to win a hat-trick on the day.
Angus Meldrum beat Grant Lewis 20-22 21-6 23-21 in the boys’ singles but there was redemption for both Lewis and Sheriff in the boys’ doubles when they won 21-18 21-11 over Meldrum and Logan Ireland in the final.
Full results at www.tournamentsoftware.com
Final results:
U19
Boys’ singles: Adam Pringle bt Joshua Apiliga 24-22 21-16
Girls’ singles: Lauren Middleton bt Rachel Sugden 19-21 21-17 21-18
Boys’ doubles: Matthew Grimley & Jack MacGregor bt Joshua Apiliga and Adam Pringle 21-18 18-21 21-13
Girls’ doubles: Lauren Middleton & Sarah Sidebottom bt Rachel Andrew & Rachel Cameron 21-17 21-13
Mixed doubles: Adam Pringle & Rachel Andrew bt Matthew Grimley & Sarah Sidebottom 21-18 18-21 21-18
U15
Boys’ singles: Angus Meldrum bt Grant Lewis 20-22 21-6 23-21
Girls’ singles: Brooke Stalker bt Keryn Swan 21-14 21-18
Boys’ doubles: Grant Lewis & Finlay Sheriff bt Logan Ireland & Angus Meldrum 21-18 21-11
Girls’ doubles: Brooke Stalker & Keryn Swan bt Mary Kong & Vibha Raman 21-16 21-18
Mixed doubles: Anthony McGuire & Brooke Stalker bt Finlay Sheriff & Keryn Swan 21-15 15-21 21-16