Tennis players at Langley Park Boys' School, have won the Year 8 and Under title in the HSBC/British Schools' Tennis Team Champion-ships, writes Gordon Law.

In the event played at Redbridge Sports Centre, in Essex, Langley beat their counterparts from Ivybridge Community College, in Devon, 4-2 in the final.

The squad, comprising Chris Riley, David Vance, Sean Thornley, Matt-hew Short and Robbie Mathieson, had reached the decider by defeating Bassaleg, also by four games to two.

This annual event attracts more than 4,600 teams from schools around Britain and is played in four cate- gories eight & under and 10 & under for boys and girls.

Attending for the sixth succesive year was Britain's No.1 Tim Henman, an enthusiastic ambassador of the HSBC Schools' Tennis Programme.

He said: "Watching the excellent tennis I have seen reinforces my view as to how important it is to maintain support at grass-roots level.

"Competitive tennis is essential to developing the game in this country, allowing talented players to be identified and nurtured. It should come as no surprise that many of Britain's top senior and junior players today, including myself, once took part in similar HSBC/ BSTA competitions."

December 21, 2001 16:30