Coquitlam Tennis Club Junior Program 2016: Friend Hangs On to be the Best Again

Junior Club Awards 2015 | For the second year in a row the Best Junior Player of the Year Award belongs to Riley Friend. This year the race to win this coveted award was so close that it could have gone to Dilraj Phull. It all came down to the consistency of Friend's tournament results through the season. The last time it was this close was in 2011 and the race was between Alexander Baumann and Jedi Tetik. The five time award winner Baumann took the award because his results were more consistent that year.

After Friend had been to the finals several times, he finally won his first open tournament in July when he took the Stanley Park Open tournament in the development category as an unseeded player. He fought hard through all his matches and came back from a set down in his last three matches. As the 2014 award holder, Friend was pressured by Phull early in the season and the rivalry pressed on until the end of the season.

Phull's overall game has improved greatly and it had shown up in his results as well. He won his first award as the Most Improved Junior Player of the Year. Phull also had his first tournament victory early in the season. He first open title victory came from the club hosted Evergreen Cup in May when he took the under 14 singles title.

Thirteen years old Steven Baumann, already a seventh time nominee at this year end awards and his third time nominated in the Best Effort category, won his second award during the evening. His Best Effort Award this year will go along with his Most Improved Junior Player of the Year Award he won last year.

The fourth award went to Keiko Pan who was in her last year as an eligible junior. She collected the Sportsmanship Award after earning the most votes in this category.

BEST JUNIOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Nominees:
Danica Davidovic
Riley Friend (Winner)
Inaya Halaba
Dilraj Phull
Matthew Wong

Riley Friend's 2015 Tournament Highlights

Singles Winner
• 84th Stanley Park Open – Development (July)
U18 Singles Main Draw
• Evergreen Cup – Competition (May)
U18 Singles Consolation Draw

Singles Runner-Up
• Coquitlam Open – Development (August)
U18 Singles Main Draw
• CTC Junior Club Closed (July-October)
U18 Singles Main Draw

Singles Semi-Finals
• Biondo Junior Grass Court Championships – Competition (July)
U18 Singles Main Draw

Singles Quarter-Finals
• Coquitlam Open – Competition (August)
U18 Singles Main Draw
• Bob Putnam Junior Challenger – Competition (August)
U18 Singles Main Draw

Doubles Runner-Up
• Coquitlam Open – Development (August)
U18 Doubles Main Draw
• Biondo Junior Grass Court Championships – Competition (July)
U18 Doubles Main Draw
• CTC Junior Club Closed (July-October)
U18 Doubles Main Draw

Doubles Quarter-Finals
• Coquitlam Open – Competition (August)
U18 Doubles Main Draw

MOST IMPROVED JUNIOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Nominees:
Danica Davidovic
Riley Friend
Alexandra Mandewo
Jean Paul Pamarang
Dilraj Phull (Winner)
Colin Wang