18U Teams at 12 Counties Championships
18U Girls Report
Captain: Tony Ravenscroft
Team: Oliwia, Marina, Holly and Caoimhe
Our first tie against a strong Buckingham team was a tough one.
Oliwia and Marina were on court first against their no.1 & no.2 respectively.
Oliwia had a close first set with high quality tennis from the baseline as well as some finesse around the net from both players. The first set went the way of the Bucks No.1 and the momentum continued for Bucks, Oliwia losing out in straight sets.
Marina, who was representing her county for the first time fought hard to try and gain advantage and after some close games also lost in straight sets.
Holly was next up against Bucks No.3 and lost in straight sets.
Caoimhe was last on and had the closest match winning the first set 5-3. Her opponent raised her level for the 2nd set and the match tie break gaining the win to secure the 4-0 win for Bucks.
Next up was Notts.
Oliwia had a tough match against their number one who was much higher ranked. Oliwia lost but competed well at a higher level.
Marina lost the first set against their number two, she fought back, attacking with margin to win the 2nd set. Her opponent wasn’t giving anything away in the 2nd set and Marina lost out 5-10.
Holly beat their number three in straights sets, using her attacking groundstrokes to gain advantage and not give her opponent time.
Caoimhe lost in straight sets after some close battles.
The tie was 3-1 to Notts.
The tie against Beds was very close.
Oliwia committed to being aggressive and playing the right way, this did come with errors and a match loss but positive tennis.
Marina leant a lot from her previous two matches and found good form in her final match. Not giving her opponent any time to get settled, Marina attacked with precision to win 4-1, 4-0.
Holly had a close match losing 2-4, 3-5.
Caoimhe finished off with a win, being more aggressive to control the points.
2-2 draw with Beds.
There has been lots to gain from this event especially with the 18U Girls County Cup coming up.
The girls gave it their all and improved through the day.
We finished 3rd overall.
Well done girls!!
Tony Ravenscroft
18U Girls Captain
18U Boys Report
Captain: Mike Langston
Team: Sam L, Sam C, Toby and Joe
Bucks first match, a repeat of the last few years! Bucks as you would expect had a strong team, with no weak link across all 4 players. With only a couple of points separating H&W & Bucks, the team knew this was an important one!
Our order of play was Sam L at 1, Sam C at 2, Toby at 3 & Joe at 4.
Each of the lads played some very competitive games, with all of them having chances in each of the matches. Joe was the closest on the scoreboard in this round, taking it to 3 sets and narrowly losing out to a steady opponent. Sam L was was another close call with a competitive second set, serving to hold at 3-3. With lower back pain hindering his serves, he couldn’t quite hold on, with the Bucks player breaking and then holding to see out the match.
The boys second match was against Nottingham, who also had a solid 4 players.
The H&W boys were eager to bounce back from the first round defeat & put on 3 fab performances in the opposite bubble (which was much warmer).
After the first round warm up H&W were settling in to the tennis with Sam L, Toby and Joe all managing to close out 3 good wins for the team. Credit to Joe in this round for keeping a cool head & managing to overcome some minor controversy to get the win against his opponent from Notts.
The last match of the day was against Beds & with 1 win already under the belt, there was still a shot of promotion into Div 1, but the team would need a win here and Notts to upset Bucks in the other fixture.
The H&W team played their best tennis of the day, although the warm bubble and long day was starting to take a physical toll. The boys did a great job to power through to get a 3-1 win overall. Sadly bucks were able to overcome the Notts team to take top spot for the day and promotion across all age group categories.
Overall a very good day of tennis, with all of the players competing well and doing the county proud!
Mike Langston
18U Boys Captain
