Over the past month, many of our top junior players have travelled across the country to compete at the Rogers Indoor Junior National Championships. These events are divided by age category and take place each in a different city. Saskatchewan shares its national qualification spots with Manitoba, to make up Team Prairies. Here’s how our players faired at each event:
Under 14 Rogers Indoor Junior Nationals – UBC Tennis Centre – Vancouver, BC
The highlight of the 2019 Indoor Nationals for Saskatchewan was Teah Chavez’s impressive performance. Check out our full recap of her success here: Teah Chavez Places 8th at Nationals. The highlights: Teah placed 8th in Girls Singles (an all-time high for Saskatchewan female players), her and her partner (Aurora Pedwell of Alberta) reached the Girls Doubles Quarter-Finals, and she was awarded the Tennis Canada Sportsmanship Award. Congratulations Teah!
Also representing Saskatchewan in Vancouver were Keegan Rice, Charlie McNeil and Nhu Nguyen-Quach. Keegan performed well in Boys Singles, winning a match over Alberta’s Mac Kim in the round robin stage, which placed him in Flight #3. After getting a first-round walkover in his flight, he beat Nova Scotia’s Mark Rainnie in the Semi-Finals 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, but lost out to Alberta’s Chetanna Amadike 6-3, 6-3 in the Final. In doubles, Keegan and partner Kaetan Mehta of Alberta, drew the number one seeds and lost 6-4, 6-3.
Charlie and Nhu competed well but came up short in their round robin matches, landing both girls in Flight #4. Once there the girls played off against each other, where Charlie prevailed 6-3, 6-1. In the following round, she lost to Alberta’s Isabella Naugler 6-2, 6-2, but finished strong in the 3/4 playoff winning 6-2, 6-4 over Nova Scotia’s Esme Macgillivray. In doubles, Charlie and Nhu partnered each other, but lost out to Teah’s team in the opening round 6-0, 6-1.
The U14 Prairies Team was coached by Regina’s Marek Nehasil.
For a full list of results visit the event’s Tennis Canada Tournament Profile: Under 14 Rogers Indoor Junior Nationals
Under 16 Rogers Indoor Junior Nationals – Club de Tennis Ile de Soeurs – Verdun, QC
William Preciado represented Saskatchewan in Boys Singles, but faced tough competition in his opening match, losing to Alberta’s Joshua Oboniye 6-4, 6-0. In doubles, William partnered Manitoba’s Stefan Barre. They competed well together but lost a tight match 7-6(3), 6-2 to the Quebec/Ontario pairing of Haitam Aboufirassi and Sasha Rozin.
For a full list of results visit the event’s Tennis Canada Tournament Profile: Under 16 Rogers Indoor Junior Nationals
Under 18 Rogers Indoor Junior Nationals – Mayfair East – Markham, ON
Anya Chavez and Morgan Waller competed for Saskatchewan in Girls Singles and Doubles. The girls both faced tough draws but played well. Anya drew ninth-seeded Ontarian Dharani Niroshan, losing 6-1, 6-2. Morgan, who will be heading to Ferris State University in the fall, drew Quebec’s Clara Sobius and lost 6-0, 7-5. Interestingly, both Anya and Morgan bowed out to the same player in the consolation draw, Ontario’s Julia Kuszynski.
In doubles, our girls partnered together to win their first round match (and avenge Morgan’s singles result) over the Quebec pair of Clara Sobius and Selma Tounsi. In the next round, they were unable to avenge Anya’s singles loss, where they bowed out to the Ontarian second-seeds Dharani Niroshan and Marina Stakusic 6-0, 6-3.
The U18 Prairies Team was coached by Regina’s Denise Fernandez.
For a full list of results visit the event’s Tennis Canada Tournament Profile: Under 18 Rogers Indoor Junior Nationals
Tennis Saskatchewan congratulates all our players for their successes at Nationals and thanks them for representing our province well!
Photo Credit: Bo Mon Kwan