12U Boys County Qualifiers 2019
12U Regional County Cup at the legendary Torquay Tennis club
Izzie, Alex, Sophia and Ellie were captained by Paul Maggs and Lizzie Flint las weekend and here is their report.
“Displaying clinical and impressively gutsy performances, the girls stepped onto court at 9.45am on Saturday to make a successful stat against Devon (3-1) to kick off our difficult group. We then lost to Wiltshire in a nervy contest, (revenge is sweet) not finishing until 8.30pm. That meant that after a VERY quick pizza, we would return on Sunday morning to compete in the semis.
This is where we really became a team on a roll, beating Dorset convincingly to set up a rematch in the final against Wiltshire. With an outstanding performance from both Izzie and Sophia in their respective singles, they would both play some high class doubles to lead the team to victory and onwards to the National Finals at Bolton.”
Way to go girls and all the best in Bolton.
My 12U Boys County Cup Experience, by Jasper
After we arrived at the hotel, we dropped our bags off and went to the club that would be hosting the event. We hit some balls and got a feel for the courts.
We returned and chilled out for a while in our rooms, then headed out for dinner. Arriving back at 8, we got an early night for the big day ahead.
The following morning, we had a delicious breakfast to power us through the day. After which we grabbed our things for the hot day ahead and set off for the club at 9.
After a good warm-up (in the 30 degree heat), we were on-court against our first opponents – South Wales. They had some great players but Avon ending up taking the win 3-1. Then came the formidable Surrey. We gave it our best but ending up losing 3-1, with a fantastic display of doubles – winning 15-13 in the match breaker!
It was a tiring and rather sweaty day, so we headed back to the hotel, had a shower, got changed, and went out for a lovely meal at ZIZI’sthen back to our rooms for much needed rest and recuperation.
The next day, we had an early start of 7:15am, arriving at the club for 8:15am. Thankfully, we were blessed with a slightly cooler day. We got off to a great start, going 3-0 up after the singles against Buckinghamshire, before sealing the deal to win 4-0 after a great doubles match in the afternoon.
Later, we out-classed Berkshire, winning 4-0 without dropping a set. After a quick presentation to the winning team – congratulations Surrey – we jumped back into the mini-van and settled in for the journey home.
12U County Cup Boys – words from the Captain!
A thoroughly enjoyable weekend. The boys showed a great camaraderie throughout. Day 1 saw Woking wither in the heat but the boys didn’t let that affect their play. Starting the County Cup with a convincing win vs South Wales. The afternoon brought the hardest test of all, Surrey. Who, despite a good fight, were just too strong.
Day 2 Avon proved to be very worthy runners-up with convincing wins vs Bucks and Berkshire.
Everyone approached the game well and showed resilience with some great experience under the belts. Well done boys.