Three of Gunnedah’s most promising junior tennis players have had outstanding results at tournament level over the past three weeks.
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Cooper Wilkinson’s impressive year continued when he made the trek to Canberra for the Australian 14 and under clay court titles. In the first round Wilkinson defeated Australia’s 14 and under fifth ranked player Peter Politis in an impressive display and went on to make the final eight.
“This was an outstanding achievement for a regional athlete,” coach Dale Martin said.
Martin couldn’t remember a boy from the North West region making the quarter finals of nationals.
“Maybe Ciaran Lavers from Tamworth a number of years ago, but there hasn’t been too many over the years that have achieved that high level,” he said.
Wilkinson backed this performance up with a runner up in the 14 and under singles at the Canberra Gold tournament before reaching the finals of the NSW State Age at Homebush, losing in a close match.
“Cooper deserves everything he has achieved this year and his work ethic is second to none,” Martin said.
Wilkinson is ranked 12th in Australia and third in NSW in his age and will be aiming to play in the Australian 14 and under December showdown in Melbourne.
Gunnedah Tennis Club mates Anna Bishop and Aaron Osmond have also been busy.
Bishop and Osmond competed across Queensland.
At Tweed Heads, Bishop reached the quarter finals of the 12 and under girls singles and won the doubles while Osmond won the 14 and under boys singles and doubles.
Then, in Bundaberg, Osmond again won singles and doubles crowns while Bishop made the semis in the singles while nursing a back strain.
Miami was next where Bishop was a finalist in the 12 and under singles and Osmond won the 16 and under boys singles.
While the going was tough, there was one more tournament to go – the Queensland Clay Court titles held at Carrara.
The pair brought their best. Bishop won the 12 and under singles title and was a doubles finalist while Osmond won the 14 and under singles crown.
Coach Martin was elated to see the results.
“It was Aaron’s last tournament in the 14 and under age group and capped off what was an outstanding year which included NSWCCC selection and a NSW Country singles and doubles title,” he said.
“Anna learnt a lot from her two weeks of tournaments and finished off strongly. Anna went to Queensland to try to get her Australian ranking high enough to make it into the 12 and under Australian Championships in Melbourne and will now join Cooper down there with the elite of the Australian Junior Tennis players.”
All three players have been past or present NSW country champions and are part of the 2018 NIAS tennis program and should be in strong contention for awards at the annual NIAS awards presentation night to be held this weekend in Armidale.
