CHETWYNDE’S tennis aces served up a double treat as they reached the Furness finals of the Cumbria School Games Mini Red Tennis tournament.

The Barrow school’s A and B-teams both advanced to the district showdown after a successful morning at Hoops.

Chetwynde A and Chetwynde B – who had earlier won through to the A-teams final from the B-teams competition – each topped their groups among 10 teams from the Furness Academy and Walney clusters.

They will be joined at Ulverston Tennis Centre today by Dane Ghyll, whose A-team topped the third group.

Nine schools took part in the finals on eight courts at Hoops, with Chetwynde and Dane Ghyll joining Barrow Island, St George’s, St James, South Walney, Vickerstown, Victoria Academy and Yarlside.

Each team included four players – two boys and two girls, ranked number one and number two. They played against similarly ranked players from the other schools in their group, with points added up from all four to decide which team triumphed.

Games were played on a first-to-seven-points basis, with pupils using smaller rackets, sponge balls and playing on courts the same size as those normally reserved for badminton. Players chose between over-arm and under-arm serves, displaying skill and cunning as they sent opponents scampering from one side of the court to the other, up to the net and to the rear of the court as they controlled play with a wide selection of strokes.

Lawn Tennis Association coach Gary Weatherburn is one of the people responsible for the skills on show, having worked with several schools in special workshops in the run-up to the tournament.

The experienced tutor was pleased to see so many Year 3 and 4 youngsters taking their first steps into the game – with both B-team and C-team and the Furness Catholic Cluster finals seeing similar numbers involved.

He said: “It’s fantastic. Numbers are up and to see this sort of enthusiasm is fantastic.

“There are a lot of schools with one, two or three teams, so it’s great to see.”

He added: “It’s a great system to have the different levels. Having mini tennis means you can help develop the skills for tennis on a smaller area and that helps with the transition to full tennis later on.

“You see a lot of youngsters coming into the game and staying with it right through school ages.”

The next step from Mini Red Tennis is Mini Orange, which moves to a full-sized court, but with a reduced area and a lower net. Then comes Mini Green tennis, with full-sized courts and rules established from secondary school.