Aegon 9&u County Cup - report by Team Captain Tom Edis
Team: Miles Groom, Josh Bright, James Pearson, Bethan Miles, Hannah Davis, Estelle Van Leeuwen
Gosling Sports Park was the Venue for the 2013 9&u County Cup for Bucks on Saturday 20 July 2013. The group the team was put in saw them face Oxfordshire, Herts, Berks and Middlesex in what proved to be both a challenging and fun day.
First up was Oxfordshire, whose girls seemed far stronger than their boys. Josh steam-rollered Oxon’s number 2 Aiden Casey 7-0 7-1 in the opening match, and Miles and James recorded equally impressive wins over Zac Lion-Cachet and Rafferty Read respectively. The girls were having a much tougher job as Hannah was beaten by Matilda Mutavdzic in straight sets, which left Bethan and Estelle to fight tooth and nail to take the pressure off the doubles rubbers that were to follow.
Unfortunately despite some inspired hitting, both were to be narrowly edged out, with Chloe Elliot defeating Bethan 9-7 10-8, and Jasmine Conway eventually getting the better of Estelle 4-7 7-2 7-2.
The boys doubles was equally tight with Miles and Josh managing to score a victory 7-2 4-7 7-5. Sadly, neither Bethan and Hannah in the girls doubles, or James and Estelle in the mixed could repeat the trick, meaning Oxon took the tie overall 5 matches to 4.
Hertfordshire were a very strong next opponent. Miles produced his best display of the day, unlucky not to emerge victorious against Oliver Tarvet, losing in 3 sets 4-7 8-6 7-4. James too was really finding his feet, having chances to win, but ultimately succumbing 7-5 5-7 7-4 against Chris Smith. Hannah and Estelle in the girls doubles were to gain the only other set in the tie (losing 7-9 7-5 7-2 to Catherine Hodge and Sophie Njuguna), despite the teams’ best efforts.
If Bucks were to get any more wins, then arguably it had to come against Berkshire, with competition favourites Middlesex the last in line. Much to the delight of coach and spectators, every match was as close as it was exciting, with a particularly well-earned victory for Bethan (2-7 7-4 7-1 against Isabel Pursor). Bouyed by her performance in the singles, Bethan then went on to win in the girls’ doubles alongside Estelle 2-7 8-6 7-2 against Isabel and Phoebe Fox. A further win in the mixed for Hannah and Josh against Francesca Davis and Gregor Webster was sadly not quite enough to take the tie overall, as Bucks lost out 6-3.
Middlesex had won all their matches up to this point, and contained some of the best 9&u players in the whole of the South East. Even so Bucks refused to be daunted, and huge credit must go to all the players for how they managed to run such a formidable team close. Special mention in particular here must go to Miles, who came within 2 points of taking perhaps the best player at the event - William Jansen – to a deciding set. James managed to get a set off Middx talented 3rd boy Levi Oliver, and Hannah and Estelle also went the distance in their doubles encounter with Natalie Bell and Monique Gundrum.
For some of the Bucks team this was their first experience of competition at such a level. This has only whetted their appetite for more and inspired them to become better tennis players. With the onset of the busy summer holiday tournament schedule for them, this is surely something that can happen very quickly.