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Tain tennis foursome prove to be ace


By Staff Reporter

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FOUR of Tain Tennis Club’s bright young talents went agonisingly close to winning one of the Highlands’ top junior leagues.

Tain Tennis Club players Kyle Corbett, Kieran Allan, Jonah Edwards and Alexander Campbell.
Tain Tennis Club players Kyle Corbett, Kieran Allan, Jonah Edwards and Alexander Campbell.

Kyle Corbett, Kieran Allan, Jonah Edwards and Alexander Campbell were considered huge underdogs in the Galbraith Highland Tennis 12 and Under Division One League.

But after a nail-biting final round of matches, the unfancied foursome were level on points with victors Elgin A defeated only on ‘set difference’ across the eight rounds.

Set difference, a percentage measure, is the tennis equivalent of goal difference in football.

Adrian Allan, assistant coach to John Waring and Scott Fraser, felt the unlucky runners-up had confounded all expectations.

Tain is the Scottish mainland’s most northerly competitive tennis club and is also one of the very smallest.

He said: “The lads actually weren’t too gutted as they had only just been promoted last year, winning Division Two by a point.

“Tain is small club compared to Elgin and Inverness so, from the coaches’ point of view, we’re delighted they held their own so impressively. They had the odds stacked against them as they only had a squad of four, with no reserves, which meant none of them could get ill or injured.

“We were initially hoping to finish third or so, but they excelled – and it was exciting when it went right down to the final round of matches.

“They over-performed, I’d say.”

Allan felt the success was testament to the great work of coaches Waring and Fraser, but also to the commitment and dedication of the young foursome.

He added: “They train about twice a week, Saturday and Wednesday, and some of them also have personal coaching and other tournaments.

“One or two have started playing adult doubles as well, as they can handle the pace against older guys.

“Our top two, Keiran and Kyle, had the third and four best statistics in the league.

“They’re good prospects and, hopefully, their success will encourage more players locally to take up the sport at junior level.”


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