Norfolk girls mix it with the best at Roehampton

Norfolk nine and under girls Vianne Palffy and Katherine Barnes competed well in the Mini Orange Masters event at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, eventually finishing 10th and 14th respectively.

The girls had come through qualifying events to take their spot in the tournament, for the top 16 players in the country, and both were unlucky not to finish higher as each player lost tight matches in the round robin stage.

Palffy began with a hard-fought win over Tara Ellis of Yorkshire, eventually prevailing 8-6 in the final set. This was her only win in the group and she lost to eventual Masters champion Britney De-Silva from Middlesex and Sussex's Sonay Kartal.

Barnes had three tight losses in her group, falling in a third set to both Surrey's Gemma Heath and Essence Martins from Middlesex. A narrow loss to Leicestershire's Anna Michelle Chesca, who finished third overall, left Barnes in the play-offs for 13th place.

In the play-offs, Palffy beat Grace Eland of Cumbria before losing to Indu Ragunather to leave her in a credible 10th position.

Barnes picked up her first win of the day as she toppled Lancashire's Eleanor Peet but missed out on 13th spot after a loss to Tara Ellis of Yorkshire.

t Acle Tennis Club held a Sports Relief event which raised �250 thanks to a turnout of over 50 people.

The weather was far from ideal but the hardy participants braved the windy conditions to enter a sponsored rallying competition and test their serve speed.

The longest rally was between Olivia Nicholls and Jack Edwards who managed 281 before it started raining. Eight-year-old Alfie Nicholls also managed a rally of 68 with his dad Martin.

The speed gun was a huge success with queues all afternoon. The fastest recorded serve was 119 mph by Hugo Westveer, about 14 mph higher than anyone else managed, including 18 and under county team member Edwards.