success

SAM Horrix had continued success at St Anne's Easter Junior Tennis Open Tournament. Sam, a member of Ilkley Lawn Tennis and Squash Club, where he is coached by Nick Fitzpatrick, has won his second tournament in two weeks.

He celebrated his tenth birthday during the two-day event and gained confidence from his win at Hull two weeks ago and proved a force to be reckoned with against Lancashire and Cumbrian county squad players.

For the first three rounds where matches were decided on the best out of eight games, Sam won his group comfortably 8-0, 6-2, 8-0 for a place in the quarter-finals. He then played one set which he took 6-1 to go on to the semis which followed the usual three set format.

Sam played the Cumbrian Under-10 No 1 and won 6-0, 6-1. He went on to win the final 6-1, 6-1.

Sam has played in the St Anne's tournament since he was eight years-old, when he surprisingly reached the semi-finals. Last year he was runner-up so it shows continued improvement in his game to win it this time so convincingly.

He received a trophy and £20 worth of tennis accessories during the presentation of prizes held after all the events had finished.

Last September Sam was invited to train with the Yorkshire Lawn Tennis Association pre-formance squad and has just been selected to play No 1 for Yorkshire alongside Thomas Davis and Tom Chadwick in an Inter-county competition. Success in this event would take Yorkshire to the national play-offs.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.