Another one for the history books!
What a day for Poverty Bay’s Matthew Foster. The New Zealand Junior Singles began with 29 entries across two pools for section play.
The in-form players of the morning looked to be Shawn Perry, Sam Anderson, Nathan Trowell, Presley Williams and Matthew Foster.
Matthew continued his good form into post section, cruising through his first two games before meeting Hutt Valley’s Jordan Keene in the semi final. This was a tougher game but Matthew came away as the winner to earn his place in the final.
The other side of the draw saw Nathan Trowell defeat Sam Anderson in the quarters, reversing the result of their match up in the morning. Nathan’s run was cut short in the semi final by Shawn Perry who must have been in dynamite form based on the scores posted throughout the day.
Matthew Foster hit his straps early on in the final and looked as if he would pull away, but Shawn played a cracker to keep the score at 5-2. As the game progressed though, it became clear that Matthew will take out the 2020 New Zealand Junior Singles.
This was a historic win for two reasons. Matthew Foster became the first Poverty Bay junior to claim the title, and also the first junior to win after finishing second in his district junior singles. His cousin Nathan Trowell just pipped him in that final, but both boys came into the tournament with huge winning potential.
Congratulations Matthew!
The plate event was won by Taranaki’s Sam Landers over Otago’s Lilly Paterson, and the South were triumphant over the North in the inter-zone match.
