A YOUNG tennis ace at an Oswestry club has been named the best in his age group in the county after a successful 2020.

Alfie Edwards, a member of Oswestry Team Tennis, enjoyed a strong 2020 which led to him becoming number one in Shropshire for the under 10 age group.

The 10-year-old’s success has gone national too, after he reached 41st in the official Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) UK U10 rankings.

His success has been helped by his coach, Matthew Lee, who is an LTA-qualified coach based at Ellesmere College Tennis Academy.

Alfie’s consistency and determination is something Mr Lee finds very impressive with improvements in every lesson.

He said: “Alfie is a really determined, hard-working and competitive tennis player.

“He trains well and I see improvements every lesson, whether this be technically, tactically or physically.”

Alfie was able to continue his training throughout large parts of the pandemic at Oswestry Team Tennis courts in Cae Glas Park.

Mr Lee said the club was fortunate to have access to such facilities during the summer and allowed Alfie to continue to train.

Mr Lee added: “We were very fortunate that we were able to use the OTT courts in Cae Glas Park this summer to continue our training through Covid-19 when indoor facilities were closed.

“Alfie has had some great results over the last year and I very much look forward to continuing working with him and seeing where his tennis takes him.”

During the very disruptive year, Alfie managed to play seven competitions, winning four of them and losing in two very close finals – one of his defeats coming by just two points.

He has also represented Oswestry Team Tennis for the last couple of years in Shropshire team competitions.

His hard work consists of three training sessions a week with Mr Lee on the indoor courts at Ellesmere College as part of a group and individually.

He began training with the Oswestry-based club in 2015 after taking at interest in the sport at the Oswestry Community Games event.

Alfie went on to spend two years training at the club, before moving on to train at Ellesmere College.

Clive Knight, chairman of Oswestry Team Tennis and organiser of Oswestry Community Games said the club is proud of Alfie for his achievements and regarded him as the latest talent to be produced on the club conveyor belt.

Mr Knight also reserved praise for coach Matthew Lee, himself a graduate of the club’s junior pathway.

He said: “Alfie follows a number of significant players at county level and above that Oswestry Team Teams has helped to develop over many years.

“He is in the hands of a very capable coach in Matthew who incidentally also started playing tennis with OTT when he was a child.”

Mr King added: “Alfie’s focus on this amazing game is an example that many of our children could well aspire to follow.”