Max Besworth is headed to his fourth straight Ontario high school tennis championships after winning a silver at the WOSSAA tournament Tuesday at the Stratford Tennis Club.
The 19-year-old Stratford Central student was defeated 5-7, 1-6 by Iain Sneddon Jr. of London Oakridge in the boys singles final at WOSSAA, but both advance to OFSAA June 1-2 at the Rexall Centre in Toronto.
Sneddon Jr. is the 34th-ranked male singles player in the province. In the Under-16 category he's ranked fourth in the province and 11th in Canada. He has competed internationally.
This will be Besworth's first trip to OFSAA as a ranked player. He won three medals in the unranked category, including a gold in boys singles last year. He shared silver in boys doubles in 2006 and a gold in boys doubles in 2007.
Besworth was one of seven Central athletes competing at WOSSAA and one of four Huron-Perth players who qualified for OFSAA.
Steph Kreuter and Greg Vivian of Stratford St. Michael qualified in the unranked division of mixed doubles, while Josie McCann of Exeter South Huron earned an OFSAA berth in the unranked division of girls singles.
Other Central athletes competing included Monika Andrekovic, eliminated in the first round in girls' singles; Morgan Davis, defeated in the first round in boys' singles; Rae Schulman Dupuis and Rebecca Johnson, who fell in the opener in girls' doubles; and Anne Sewell and Cameron Kramer, who lost in the opener in mixed doubles.
In the unranked division of boys singles, Zach Costa of London Banting and Kristian Johnston St. Thomas Arthur Voaden qualified for OFSAA.
In girls singles, Nikki Budai of London Mother Theresa defeated Katie Spivak of London St. Thomas Aquinas 6-0, 6-1 in the ranked division. Emia Coto of St. Thomas St. Joe's and McCann advanced in the unranked division.
In boys doubles, Dylan Crimmins and Nadar Fadel of London Lucas defeated Ben Malt and Hunter Doubt of London Saunders in the final 6-4, 7-6. Both move on to OFSAA.
In girls doubles, Monica Jordan and Georgia Robinson of Aquinas and Natalie Goldberg and Karishma Taneja of Lucas will represent WOSSAA in the unranked division, while Elise Dann and Suzanne Tillman of Mother Theresa will represent WOSSAA in the ranked division.
