Young Chichester tennis aces take Sussex title

Teams of four were selected from a squad comprising Ben Horton, Oliver Troy, Will Colley, Luke Spencer, Louis Shaw, Toby Hindmarsh and Jack Oldroyd. 

In the first round Chichester made a clean sweep at home to Storrington. Horton had a close match against Dominic Fritche and held his nerve in the tie-break to win 6-0, 3-6 (11-9). Troy beat Andrew Wakefield 6-2, 6-3, Spencer beat Mark Nader 6-4, 6-3 and Colley beat George Clinch 6-0, 6-0.

In the doubles Chichester showed great teamwork, with Horton and Troy beating Fritche and Wakefield 6-3, 5-7 (10-4) and Spencer and Colley beating Nader and Clinch 6-0, 6-1.

In the second round against Pavillion and Avenue from Brighton, Chichester again played at home but faced some tougher opposition. Shaw battled it out against Miles Healy but lost 3-6, 3-6. Spencer and Hindmarsh fought hard but Spencer lost to Aran Kartal 1-6, 2-6 and Hindmarsh lost to Matt Domagala 4-6, 2-6.

Colley gained success for Chichester with a good win against Rory Cahill 5-7, 6-4, claiming victory in the tie-break.

In the doubles, Shaw and Spencer lost to Healy and Kartal 1-6, 2-6 and Hindmarsh and Colley beat Domagala and Cahill 6-3, 6-3. In the third round, away against The Weald, Horton beat Lawrence Ship 6-0, 6-0, Troy lost to Charlie Kelly 6-3, 1-6 (7-10), Spencer lost to Cameron Miller after a very close second set 3-6, 7-5 (7-10) and Oldroyd had a good win against William Todd 6-2, 6-2.

In the doubles Chichester again showed great teamwork to seal a match victory. Horton and Troy beat Ship and Kelly 6-0, 6-0 and Spencer and Oldroyd beat Miller and Todd 6-3, 5-7 (10-6).

The final round produced  an exciting match in Brighton against Preston, who was also contenders for the title.

Horton made a good start beating Jack Witt 6-1, 6-4, Troy played well to beat Kian Sobhonpanah 6-2, 6-3, Colley lost to Oscar Tyson 2-6, 3-6 and Hindmarsh narrowly lost in the tie-break against Tom Owen 6-3, 6-7 (8-10).

In the doubles Horton and Troy were too strong for Witt and Sobhonpanah, winning 6-1, 6-0. Colley and Hindmarsh gave their best but lost 1-6, 2-6. With the scores level, Chichester and Preston played a deciding shootout.

Horton and Hindmarsh played the nailbiting tie-break against Witt and Tyson to win 11-9 against Preston which also ensured Chichester’s championship.