Amelis Bissett (Photo: Matchtight)

Bissett, coached by Craig Proctor, took the step up to U16 level in her stride as she won the girls’ singles title with a 6-4 6-1 victory over number-one seed Annali Olivelle in Saturday’s final.

She had earlier teamed up with Team Bath access player Tiana Fox to win the U16 girls’ doubles with a 6-0 6-3 success against Sophie Clark and Olivia French.

Up-and-coming young players from all over the world competed in the tournament, with the U16 boys’ singles final seeing Germany’s Nino Ehrenschneider get the better of Poland’s Gabriel Bilinski 6-2 6-1.

The doubles final saw Bilinski team up with Britain’s Oscar Weightman to overcome Ehrenschneider and Slovenian partner Maj Tomac 7-5 6-0.

Britain’s Ali Hassan won both the U14 boys’ singles and doubles titles, teaming up with Jack Pinnington Jones for the latter. France’s Isabelle Bassi beat Fox in the U14 girls’ singles final, while the doubles title went to Millie Mae Matthews and Sophia Underwood.

There were several good performances from Team Bath players during the week, with Ned Batstone recovering well from a first-round defeat to win the consolation event for U16 boys.

Joe Leather lost in a third-set tie-break after a battling effort against Portugal’s Andre Rodeia and Yusuke Tamaki pushed number-two seed Oscar Weightman all the way in his second-round match.

It was the first time the University of Bath had hosted a tournament for Tennis Europe, with Grand Slam winners Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal among the hundreds of players to have developed their skills on the Junior Tour during its 26-year history.

Barry Scollo, Director of Tennis at Team Bath, said: “The tournament was a big success and a great way for the tennis programme to kick off the University’s 50^th-anniversary year.

“Visitors from overseas were very complimentary about the facilities here at the Sports Training Village and there will be a lot of opportunities to grow the event in future.”

Find out more about the Team Bath Tennis programme here.

Report courtesy of Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd.

The squad also included boxers who were representing England for the first time following their selection after successful performances at the Junior and Cadet National Championships.  The Irish squad boasted considerable experience in the form of Olympic Youth Silver medallist and ex-AIBA World Junior Champion Ciary Ginty (Geesala BC).

Both nations met at the National Stadium in Dublin on Friday 27th March for the first leg of the competition. Chloe Watson (pictured), England’s Team Captain, led from the front to give England a 1:0 lead in a split decision against Kayleigh Lynch (Golden Gloves BC).

The experienced and talented Ebony Jones continued her winning ways by convincingly beating Shannon Reilly (Bray BC) in a unanimous decision.  With some impressive performances by debutants from the visiting nation, England managed to lead the first leg of the double header 6-3.

The second leg was hosted by Clann Naofa Boxing Club in Dundalk on Saturday 28th March and was a sell out affair.  Sadly Chloe Watson couldn’t continue her winning ways losing unanimously to Navan’s Shauna Blaney. However, Youth Middleweight Chantelle Reid managed a double win this weekend beating Sara O’Brien (Carickmacross) in a unanimous decision.

Irish Olympic Youth Silver medallist Ciara Ginty proved too much for Ellie Scotney (Lynn) at lightweight but she gave a fantastic account of herself given the relative experience deficit.

Overall Dundalk saw a 4-4 draw; a win and a draw is a considerable result for England for this double header and shows exactly the tremendous talent we have coming through for England Boxing.

Double Header Results

National Stadium Dublin, Friday 27th March England won 6-3

Juniors

46kg Chloe Watson (Birkenhead Venture BC) beat Kayleigh Lynch (Golden Gloves BC) split 2:1

60kg Shelly Sweeney (Harrow and District) lost to Shannon Reilly (Bray BC) Unan

Youths

48kg Molly Perkins (Far Cotton) lost to Emma Flannery (Baldoyle BC) split 1:2

51kg Ebony Jones (Heart of Portsmouth) beat Jackie Lynch (Golden Gloves BC) unan

54kg Jade Ashmore (Chesterfield) beat Sophie Tierney (Clonard BC) split 2:1

57kg India Wilkinson (St Paul’s) lost to Amy Broadhurst (Dealgan BC) TKO3

60kg Ellie Scotney (Lynn) beat Ciara Sheedy (Aglish BC) unan

60kg Shona Whitwell (St Ives) beat Saoirse Kelly (Sliabh Luchra BC) unan

75kg Chantelle Reid (Allenton) beat Aoife Burke (St Mary’s BC) split 2:1

Clann Naofa BC Dundalk, Saturday 28th March  Ireland and England drew 4-4

Juniors

46kg Chloe Watson (Birkenhead Venture BC) lost Shauna Blaney (Navan BC) unan

60kg Shelly Sweeney (Harrow and District) lost to Shauna O’Callaghan TKO1

Youths

48kg Molly Perkins (Far Cotton) beat Chloe Fleck (Canal BC) unan

51kg Ebonie Jones (Heart of Portsmouth) beat Caitlin Ryan (Middleton BC) TKO1

54kg Jade Ashmore (Chesterfield) lost to Chloe Commisskey (Glin) split 1:2

60kg Ellie Scotney (Lynn) lost to Ciara Ginty (Geesala BC) unan

60kg Shona Whitwell (St Ives) beat Shannon Edge (Edenderry BC) split 2:1

75kg Chantelle Reid (Allenton) beat Sara O’Brien (Carrickmacross) unan

Report from Lucy O’Connor