DAY 5 - IC U16 JUNIOR CHALLENGE WORLDWIDE FINALS

Welcome to the final round-up from the 5th day of IC U16 Junior Challenge Worldwide Finals at The All England Lawn Tennis Club. Tied 3-3 after the singles, the USA had to forfeit the mixed doubles play-off match (they had to catch an early flight home) and consequently lost to Argentina 4-3 thus ending their unbeaten run; Great Britain beat Japan 6-0; and Italy beat South Africa 5 – 1. The USA had already clinched the title yesterday but there was a three way play-off for second place as Argentina, Great Britain and Italy all finished the week with 3 wins each. The British duo of Bennett & Richardson beat the Italian pair of Fonio & Torelli in the first round 10-5 but went on to lose 10-8 to Olivieri and Zamprogno from the IC of Argentina; who finished second overall. Congratulations to all the players and coaches involved on a successful week of tennis!

Haru Fukushima of Japan and Raveena Kingsley of the USA were the recipients of the boy's and girl’s sportsmanship award respectively which was voted for by their peer group.

It has been a wonderful week of tennis thanks to the efforts of everyone involved - thank you to the IC of GB organising committee and all of the volunteers; the players, captains, coaches, supporters, local schools, sponsors, suppliers; and the respective tennis federations and participating IC nations. In particular, we'd like to thank The AELTC, their committee and all their members and staff for allowing us to host the event at Wimbledon. It was a truly memorable week.

For full details about the event, including player and captain profiles, schedule, tournament history, welcome message from David Waite, a Q&A with Peter McQuibban and other relevant information please download a copy of the Event Programme.

FINAL STANDINGS

DAY 5 RESULTS

Argentina 4 - 3 USA
After wins in both the singles and doubles for the Italian boys and the USA girls, the match came down to a mixed doubles play-off match. Unfortunately the US team had to leave to catch a flight and consequently forfeited the match; resulting in the IC of USA’s first and only loss of the week. However, they had already clinched the title and Argentina went on to finish 2nd overall after a three way play-off.

Match Results
BS1 Genaro Alberto Olivieri (ARG) beat Evan Zhu (USA) 7-6(9) 6-3
BS2 Nicolas Bacella (ARG) beat Brian Tsao (USA) 7-5 6-2
BD Olivieri & Bacella (ARG) beat Zhu & Tsao (USA) 6-4 1-1 Ret.

GS1 Augustina Zamprogno (ARG) lost to Usue Arconada (USA) 0-6 2-6
GS2 Paula Baragnano (ARG) lost to Raveena Kingsley (USA) 3-6 0-6
GD Zamprogno & Baragnano (ARG) lost to Arconada & Kingsley (USA) 0-6 1-6

MXD Argentina w/o

Great Britain 6 – 0 Japan
Great Britain completed a great week of tennis with a strong finish against the IC of Japan winning all of their matches and ensuring they were part of the play-off for 2ndplace overall. They beat Italy but then lost to Argentina and consequently finished 3rdoverall.

Match Results
BS1 Alexis Canter (GBR) beat Kouki Mutou (JAP) 6-0 6-2
BS2 Daniel Bennett (GBR) beat Haru Fukushima (JAP) 6-2 6-2
BD Canter & Bennett (GBR) beat Mutou & Fukushima (JAP) Ret.

GS1 Eden Richardson (GBR) beat Momoko Kobori (JAP) 6-4 3-6 [10-8]
GS2 Ema Lazic (GBR) beat Mai Murahashi (JAP) 6-2 6-3
GD Richardson & Lazic (GBR) beat Kobori & Murahashi (JAP) 6-3 3-4 Ret.

Italy 5 – 1 South Africa
The IC of Italy also secured their place in a three way 2nd place play-off with a strong performance against South Africa. However, they went on to lose their mixed doubles play-off against Great Britain and finished 4th overall.
 
Match Results
BS1 Giovanni Fonio (ITA) beat Jan Louis Martiz (RSA) 6-0 6-2
BS2 Corrado Summaria (ITA) beat Richard Thongoana (RSA) 6-3 6-4
BD Fonio & Summaria (ITA) beat Martiz & Thongoana (RSA) 6-4 6-3

GS1 Federica Mordegan (ITA) beat Lee Barnard (RSA) 6-2 6-1
GS2 Beatrice Torelli (ITA) beat Zani Barnard (RSA) 3-6 6-2 [10-6]
GD Mordegan & Torelli (ITA) lost to Barnard & Barnard (RSA) 3-6 6-2 [7-10]