U15 Junior Grand Prix round-up

39 girls’ teams and 25 boys’ teams were in action at eight venues who kindly agreed to host pools of matches. 

This was the first of two Tier 2 rounds before Christmas - played using the 4v4 format and over two sets - to help develop new teams, coaches and players. 

Tier 1 matches for the best-performing teams will then commence early in the New Year. 

In the girls’ Pool A held at Newcastle Staffs, it was the hosts’ Newcastle Staffs A side that topped the seven-strong table, winning all their six matches. 

They were closely followed by Newcastle Staffs B, who lost just once to their club-mates, while Sheffield were third. 

Newcastle Staffs C, Preston Panthers, Newcastle Staffs D and Tettenhall Tigers were also in action and completed the rankings. 

Eight teams contested Pool B across two groups of four in Cambridge. 

Cambridge C topped Group A with three wins from three, followed by Cambridge A, Welwyn and Hatfield B and Cambridge E. 

ENVC headed up Group B, with Cambridge B as runners-up and Welwyn and Hatfield A and Cambridge D third and fourth. 

Cambridge C defeated Cambridge B 3-0 in the first semi-final and ENVC edged out Cambridge A 2-1 in the other meaning both unbeaten sides met in the final. 

It was Cambridge C who eventually ran out winners beating ENVC 2-1 in a well-contested match, with Cambridge A defeating Cambridge B in the third versus fourth match. 

A tightly-contested Pool C at South Hants saw none of the six teams go unbeaten. South Hants A and South Hants B finished as the top two respectively with four wins and a loss each, but the former had a slightly better set difference. 

Worthing Lions were third, followed by Wessex A, Wessex B and Brighton. 

The final two pools both took place at Wapping with Pool E topped by Richmond A, with three wins and a draw, just ahead of Wapping Wildcats A. 

Richmond B, Team SideOut A and VBDC also competed hard. 

Pool F was another where teams were very evenly-matched and it was Richmond C, with two wins and two draws from their four matches, who just held the edge. 

Team Sideout B were runners-up with two wins, a draw and a defeat, while PlayFit Sports, Wapping Wildcats B and Richmond D made up the rest of the table reckoning. 

The boys’ section saw Newcastle Staffs host Pool A and it was three of the four home club teams entered who took the top three places via a two-group format. 

Newcastle Staffs A and Newcastle Staffs C finished as top and second in Group A, while Newcastle Staffs B and Ashfield Vipers A – just, on points difference – doing likewise in Group B. 

The semi-finals saw Newcastle Staffs A defeat Ashfield Vipers A 2-0 and Newcastle Staffs B get the better of Newcastle Staffs C by a 1-0 margin after the first set had ended in a draw. 

The final saw the A team beat the B team 2-0 while the C team were too strong for Ashfield, winning 2-0. 

MC City hosted Pool C, which was again divided into two groups to accommodate the seven competing teams. 

MK City A led Group A ahead of Welwyn and Hatfield while Cambridge and Rugby Phoenix progressed as the top two in Group B. 

Rugby pushed MK City hard in the semis before the latter claimed the match in three, but Cambridge were much more comfortable in a 3-0 success against Welwyn. 

And the Cambridge side kept that momentum going in the final, winning it 2-0 to win the pool. 

South Hants hosted the four-strong Pool D, where Royal Wootton Bassett emerged victorious with an unbeaten record. 

VBDC were runners-up, with South Hants and Brighton also enjoying the action. 

Team SideOut headed up Pool E played at London Lynx, where the London Lynx A and London Lynx B were the others to compete.

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Find out more about Junior competitions by clicking here.