Local youngsters have been to the fore in the Sellers International staged at Huddersfield Lawn Tennis and Squash club.
In the Boys 14 and Under event, home-club member Julian Sykes beat Joseph Cawcutt, of Wetherby, who is two ratings above him, 7-6 7-5, but then went out to the No1 seed Ewan Wilson-Baig, who is also from Huddersfield.
Elland-based Wilson-Baig now plays Vishnu Panikkar, of Doncaster, in the semi-finals.
In the other semi-final, Matthew Clegg faces the current holder Paul Jubb.
One match has been played so far in the Ladies Singles, with Sheffield’s Emma Foster beating Arina Fjodorova to one and four.
The Mixed Doubles qualifying starts tonight, when two group winners will go through to face either Kim and Andrew Atkinson (Thongsbridge) or Mike Tolman and his mother, Sue, in the semi-finals.
Hopes that Ben Gudzelak could be is back in the Sellers International tournament have been dashed.
The new head of racket sports at Edgerton has not been allowed by LTA regulations to enter the tournament.
Gudzelak was set to miss out because of a back injury, but after treatment he was able to play in the Yorkshire League last weekend and he was given full fitness clearance to compete at his home club.
However, Gudzelak’s hopes of replacing No2 seed and defending champion Luke Johnson, who has had to withdraw because of a clash of dates, have been dashed by red tape.
The No1 seed this year is Peter Ashley, from Holcombe Brook, and all the top singles players are in action in the quarter-finals from 7pm tomorrow night.
These will include previous winner from Huddersfield Mike Tolman, who is No7 seed this time and went through by beating Thongsbridge’s Isaac Ezra 6-1 6-0.
Also through are William Foot, from Huddersfield, who beat Josh Cole (Starbeck TC) 7-6 6-1 and Elliott Walker (Huddersfield and Marsden), who went through without dropping a game.
Tournament referee Becky Lee said: “The men’s competition will provide some great tennis, so I would encourage anyone to come down and watch the quarter and semi-finals which will be played on tomorrow night.
“There will be some top-class action and we’ve got all the facilities for families to come down and watch, with catering and the bar open all night.”
Gudzelak, who won the Sellers men’s singles in 2005, is a county player originally from Halifax who was full-time for two years and had a tennis scholarship in Texas.
He is a graduate of Brunel University in London and worked in construction for four years before becoming a full-time tennis coach in 2009.
Stints at Cumberland (in West Hampstead), Gosling (Welwyn Garden City) and the famous Queens club, in London, have set him up for a challenging new role in Huddersfield.
In charge of tennis, squash, racketball and padel, his remit is to increase participation in all four.
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