April 29, 2024

8U County Cup Report

The Herefordshire & Worcestershire 8U Boys and Girls County Team played teams representing Staffordshire, Shropshire and Gloucestershire at The Shrewsbury Club on Sunday 28th April 2024 in Group H of this years County Cup event.

Captain: Chris Marlow
Assistant: Harvey Ravenscroft

Girls Team: Ariana, Chloe, Poppie and Louisa
Boys Team: James, David, Ashwin and Rishi

Girls Event:

Arrival:

The team arrived early and at 9:45am we have a good warm up, hit some balls and prepare for their matches. Thank you to their parents for arriving promptly!

The matches got underway at 10:30am.

Round 1 v Staffordshire:

All the girls go on together and Harvey and I assist with the scoring of the matches. Our team is looking strong throughout and all our players are moving well chasing down balls. Poppie comes off first too strong for Elizabeth winning 10-1 she has a big smile on her face (which she keeps all day long!) After the first round of matches we are 3-1 up and looking great. In the second round of singles Ariana gets another win out rallying her opponent and winning 10-6. Lousia and Poppie are too experienced for their opposition and comfortably get over the line. Chloe has another close match and although playing some excellent tennis her opponent was just able to finish the match off 8-10. 6-2 up going into the doubles. Ariana and Chloe have a great game with Niamh and Chloe just getting through it 10-8. Lousia and Poppie keep their no-nonsense winning streak going winning 10-4.

Score: H&W Win 8-2

Round 2 v Gloucestershire

The H&W girls make short work of their first round of singles matches and the tie is quickly 4-0. In the second round the matches are marginally closer but we are off again fairly speedily as the girls are not hanging around. 8-0 after the singles matches and the girls are all smiles. Ariana and Chloe crush their opposition 10-0 with very consistent both back doubles and Lousia and Poppie are too good for the Gloucestershire girls and win 10-4. The girls are making this look too easy!

H&W Win 10-0

Round 3 v Shropshire

The girls are looking really confident going into their last matches. They are all just as energised as when they started. The girls race to a 4-0 lead after the first round of singles. Ariana plays a great match moving Phoebe side to side winning 10-4. Chloe looks great beating Xanthe 10-6 and Lousia and Poppie again get comfortable wins. After the second round we are 7-1 up. Ariana and Chole team up well again in the doubles and are really strong at attacking the net player and get another brilliant win 10-4. Lousia and Poppie are too consistent and communicating well see out the last match 10-2.

Score: H&W Wins 9-1

In short:

1st Place – Winners!
High level of commitment from the players. The effort and performance from the girls was great all day.
Brilliant team spirt from both parents and players!
100% of doubles matches won!

Well done everyone!

Boys Event:

Arrival:

The team arrived early and at 1:30pm we have a good warm up, hit some balls and prepare for their matches. Thank you to their parents for arriving early (some very early!)

The matches got underway at 2:30pm.

Round 1 v Staffordshire:

All the boys go on together and just like the girls event Harvey and I assist with the scoring of the matches. The first round for singles matches were all very competitive. James loses to Ben 9-11 after quite a few questionable queries from the Staffordshire player. David beats Luke using good power to rush his opponent. Ashwin gets over the line 10-8 against Arlo but Rishi loses 7-10 to Albie. 2-2 after the first round of singles. David loses out 8-10 to Ben in a great match. David was 7-2 down and fought really hard to get back into the match but just lost out. James comfortably beat Luke 10-0; Rishi beats Arlo on Ashwin loses to Albie. 4-4 after the singles. The Staffordshire seem to have 2 stronger players Ben and Albie who have won both their singles. Thinking about playing on the weaker players the H&W team go on for their doubles. James and David face a match point but fight through brilliantly to win 12-10. Unfortunately, Rishi and Ashwin lose out 7-10 with a couple of unforced errors being the difference in the match.

Score: Draw 5-5

Round 2 v Gloucestershire

The boys play Gloucestershire and go 3-1 down after the first round of singles matches. David gets a win but James, Ashwin and Rishi lose. Ashwin couldn’t quite get over the line on his 2 match points and lost 9-11 and Rishi made a couple of uncharacteristic unforced errors to lose to Jakob 7-10. James’s opponent Ben was very good at defending and the cleaning up on the easy balls. The next round of singles are crucial! H&W do amazingly well to win this round 3-1! David loses out to Ben and James beats Flynn but Rishi and Ashwin really step it up! Ashwin was behind in his match against Jakob and uses his awesome speed to hustle and chase and fight to win 12-10 and Rishi stays calm and mentally strong to find a way over the line against Joshua to win 12-10! 4-4 going into the doubles! James and David win comfortably 10-3 by hitting to the weaker player and attacking the net player but Ashwin and Rishi are embroiled in another battle. The boys keep it together and although there were one or two avoidable errors (like volleying the serve) they see out the match 14-12! An epic match!

H&W Win 6-4

Round 3 v Shropshire

One of the Shropshire boys was feeling unwell and went home so one of the Shopshire girls who competed earlier stood in – although the matches would be marked as a walkover the boys did not know this and went out to fight hard for every match knowing that the number of matches won might be the difference between winning and losing the day. James plays his best match of the day beating Oliver 10-3 playing positive attacking tennis. David and Ashwin win well although David got confused on the score which did distract his concentration. Rishi was 8-4 up but lost out 8-10 to Harry who chased every ball down. It’s been a long day and Rishi looks like its catching up with him. 3-1 after the first round. James and Ashwin win well. David is in a battle with Oliver but hitting side to side well comes away winning 12-10. 7-1 up after the singles. James and David play solid tennis from both back and beat Charlie and Oliver 10-6. Ashwin and Rishi also get another win.

Score: H&W Wins 9-1

In short: