A BOY from Hale made the finals of a national tennis tournament, demonstrating his impressive talent in the sport.

Nine-year-old Oliver Critchley, a student at the Manchester Grammar School (MGS), competed in the Grade 3 Tennis competition in Billesley, along with 27 other budding tennis players.

He fought off stiff competition on the day making it down to the last two.

He lost a tense final to a boy from the Midlands who is currently seeded number 1 in the region.

Oliver has now moved up to the next level of competitive tennis and his next tournaments will be in the ‘Green’ band – a level up from the ‘Orange’ band under which he competed in Billesley.

It means he’ll now face players who are older than him.

Ben Hanson from MGS said: “Oliver’s sporting prowess has long been noted at MGS and we are proud to support all of his endeavours.”