South Australian elite junior tennis players have recently been well represented by several National Academy athletes at the ITF’s Oceania Closed Junior Championships held in Lautoka, Fiji.
The four members of the National Academy included Lawrence Bataljin, Chloe Hule, Bradley Mousley and Brooke Rischbieth who travelled with the Australian representative team to the invitational ITF Junior circuit event as well as National Academy Coach Anthony Lane.
Brooke Rischbieth won through to the quarter finals as the number one seed in a heavily contested top half of the draw, but was unable to advance further losing to Victorian Zoe Hives in three tough sets 6/3, 3/6, 6/3.
Chloe Hule also competed in the girls draw and although losing in the first round to New Zealander Bridget Liddell 6/3, 6/4 was able to advance in the consolation draw winning through to the semi-finals. The tournament provided her with a great experience as it was the first international event of her career.
“This was my first international tennis trip and having some of Australia’s top juniors at the event meant I could watch and learn from what they do while on tour” said Chloe.
Brooke and Chloe teamed together in the girl’s doubles advancing through to the semi finals before losing to Naiktha Bains and Danielle Wagland 7/6, 6/0.
National Coach Milo Bradley was pleased with the feedback from the girls saying “The Oceania Closed Junior Championships provides our girls a solid hit out and a good indication of where they are at leading into the ITF Australian Circuit starting in September.”
South Australian Bradley Mousley won through to the round of 16 in the boy’s singles event losing to Victorian Marc Polmans 7/6, 6/1 while Lawrence Bataljin lost a tough encounter with New Zealander Kyle Butters 6/4, 6/2 in the first round. Lawrence then went on to play 4 more consolation matches advancing to the final where he was the eventual winner defeating West Australian Jack Lyttle 6/4, 6/3.
The boys doubles event saw South Australia represented on the finals day of the tournament by Bradley Mousley who teamed with New Zealander Cameron Norrie to win the Championships 7/6(4), 6/4. The win provided Brad with confidence moving forward saying
“Being able to win an event in Fiji and play six matches helps my preparation for events that I have coming up in Australia and Overseas.”
Currently National Academy Adelaide has the following athletes on tour:
- Thanasi Kokkinakis – Training at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra
- Jack Schipanski – Training at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra
The ITF Pacific Oceania Junior Championships is an ITF Development Department event supported by the Grand Slam Development Fund.
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