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DOMINATION: Sam McIntyre and Justin Smith

JUSTIN Smith and Sam McIntyre dominated the boys' events at the Dorchester Junior Open tournament with the former bagging three titles.

More than 70 competitors, aged six to 16, enjoyed the spring sunshine in what has become a popular contest.

Smith and McIntyre both had easy passages into the under-14 and under-16 finals while the pair combined forces to win the under-16 doubles.

Despite a spirited performance, and some exciting rallies, McIntyre narrowly lost out to club-mate and doubles partner Smith who claimed both singles titles.

Ben Skidmore retained his under-12 doubles title with new partner Isaac Verkaik. The duo were pushed to a third set tie-break by the scratch pairing of Cameron Lambden (under-12 singles winner) and 11-year-old James Sewry from Weymouth.

Sewry was also unlucky in the under-16 doubles final where, despite taking the first set, he and his partner Jordan Frederick eventually lost to top seeds Smith and McIntyre.

Another success for the county town club was the rapidly improving Tara Chittenden who overcame team-mate Elle Baker to win the girls' under-10 event.

In the boys' final, Weymouth's Bradley Webb got off to a good start but could not quite match the experience of Bournemouth player Mark Laishley.

There were successes too for Weymouth players in the mini Red and Orange age groups.

The under-9 final was contested by Millen Hurrion and Dominic Webb, with the former just holding on to beat the determined younger player.

In his first major tournament, eight-year-old Joe James came runner-up in the Red event.

Tournament referee Chris Penny said: "Entering competitions is so important for a player's development. It provides the opportunity to put coaching into practice and discover what it takes to become a champion."

9:01am Friday 18th April 2008

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