Tuesday, July 29, 1997

Championship Junior Sectionals begins today

By TED DUNNAM

Assistant Sports Editor

Nearly 400 entrants, including 40 from Abilene, begin play today in the Hendrick Center for Rehabilitation Championship Junior Sectionals at several sites in Abilene.

Competition begins at 8 a.m. and continues through Saturday.

The boys 18 competition will be held at Cooper High School, the boys 16 draw will be played at Rose Park Tennis Center and the boys 14 draw will be played at Abilene High School.

The girls 18 competition will be held at Abilene Country Club, the girls 16 draw will be played at Abilene Christian University, and the girls 14 competition will be staged at Lincoln Middle School.

"Most of the draws have 128 players in it so you're going to have to win seven matches to win a title," tournament director David Davis said. "We've got 80 percent of the top 10 players in each age group competing in this tournament so there will be a lot of good tennis.

"The points earned here count double as far as rankings are concerned so you can really help yourself at this tournament."

The double-elimination tournament will have a feed-in consolation bracket through the quarterfinals. All singles play begins today with doubles scheduled to start Wednesday.

"We'll have Division I, II and III coaches talking to players about what they are looking for in a recruit," Davis said. "Kelly Martin of Team Hendrick Sports will be a guest speaker and talk on shoulder rotation on the serve."

Players from Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth will be competing in the tournament.

"The entries are up by 49 from last year which should give us an even stronger field," Davis said.