The Northumbria Lawn Tennis and Squash club in Jesmond played host to the 2003 Northumbria Junior Open at the weekend with several notable performances from Durham and Cleveland junior players.

Star of the show was Norton's Danny Hockbourn who won the under-11 competition in convincing style whitewashing his Cheshire opponent in under 20 minutes. As Danny will be able to play in this age group for the rest of the season, many more trophies should soon be filling the Hochbourn household. A late entrant for this years Scottish Junior Open to be held at Edinburgh in December the experience of continental opposition should prove Danny with the stiff competition he needs to progress even further.

Double County Champions Laura Settersfield and Lee Skinner both had to play up an age group due to December birthdays and had disappointing results. Laura looked strong in her opening matches and reached the final of the under-17 girls in convincing style. Her Yorkshire opponent in the final took no pity on her younger Norton adversary and gradually wore Laura down by playing a tight and controlled game that had Laura blowing hard after the first game. Despite winning the first game Laura's loose play in the remaining games set up a 3/1 win for the Pontefract player but valuable experienced was gained for the future.

A back injury two days before the competition was not the ideal preparation for County under-17 and 19 Champion Lee Skinner who was playing his first tournament at the under 19 age group. A cautious win over Merseyside's Phil Young set up a demolition of Yorkshires Jamie Sutcliffe despite losing the first game from a position of strength. Last years under-17s Championship runner up became this years under-19s runner up as Michael Pearson from Lancashire stopped a first tournament win for Lee at the under-19 age group. A runner up cheque of £30 was no consolation for Lee who had beaten Pearson in last month's Inter-County Championships at Preston in convincing style.

Guisborough's Joss Harris was runner up in the under-15 plate competition giving a good account of himself and continuing to make good progress despite only starting to play squash 2 years ago. Pictured is Northumbria County Player and Level 2 coach John Dale presenting trophies and cheques to Danny Hockbourn under 11s, Josh Harris under 15 plate, Laura Settersfield under 17s and Lee Skinner under 19s.