Lionel Cox 2013 – Bucks 10&u
Team: Joel Good (Halton), Orlando Roberts (Westway), James Arnall (Milton Keynes TC), Ellie Stopps (Gerrards Cross Bull Lane), Gabrielle Ireland (Halton), Manasi Kumar (Gerrards Cross Bull Lane)
The Lionel Cox 2013 provided a great opportunity for some of Bucks’ 10&u players who’d done so well in the 9&u County Cup the previous year, as well as a few new faces in the team, to show some form against the regions’ best juniors.
For Orlando, James, Gabrielle and Manasi this was their debut representing their county in competition and all were to emerge from the weekend with great credit.
With this years’ event being a play-back draw rather than the traditional round robin due to the inclusion of extra counties, competition was sure to be especially fierce.
The weekend promised nice weather (so unusual for Lionel Cox!), and also great tennis after the boys cruised past Berkshire in their opening match on Saturday morning, winning three rubbers to love, and dropping just five games between them in the process. All three of our boys hit the ground running from the off, determined to play aggressive tennis and showed no fear.
The girls too were up for the fight in their first tie against Suffolk. Ellie won convincingly against their number one player Georgia Parker, playing with real maturity. Unfortunately, Gabby and Manasi couldn’t quite follow suit, going down narrowly in their matches against Isabelle Eaton and Maddie McLaughlin repectively.
By the time the boys kicked off their second round matches against Suffolk, rain was threatening play. With Joel, Orlando and James all behind before the inevitable (and horrendous!) downpoor of rain, and then hail(!), it was a tough task after lunch to turn things around against fourth-seeded Suffolk.
Even so, despite James going down to Suffolk’s strong third player Adam Rudolph, Orlando produced heroics coming from a set and a break down to defeat Harper Mills 1-4 4-2 10-4. This left Joel to fight it out with one of the best 10&u boys at the event, Haadi Shah. Joel was to produce some of his best tennis in a compelling second set before eventually succumbing 4-1 5-3.
At this stage the event was severely behind schedule, with all matches for the remainder of Saturday to be decided by just one short set each. The girls had to play an ‘East Region Allstars’ team comprised of several counties’ best players. This was to give the girls arguably their best chance of a win, with just two breaks of serve denying Bucks; Ellie and Gabby unfortunately losing to Kayleigh Hale and Grace Leigh respectively, both by 4-2 after Manasi was defeated by Greta Griceviciute.
Sunday morning started in much more positive fashion, with the players keen to build on promising performances the previous day.
The boys entertained Norfolk first. Again all 3 showed tremendous fight against a traditionally strong opponent. Orlando starred once more, producing his best tennis of the weekend to beat Norfolk number two Regan Bessey in straight sets. James was also showing the kind of form that impressed so much in training, battling hard in a fantastic tussle with Norfolk number three player Fred Withers, although ultimately coming off second best.
Joel played the set of his life in his match against Scott Whiting, racing through 4-0, with rallies punctuated with his trademark dropshots! However, Scott fought back to take the second set 4-1, before overcoming Joel in the match tiebreak 10-4. A disappointing result for sure, but a performance to be proud of from all of the boys here.
The girls were also to take on Norfolk. An encouraging win for Ellie 4-1 4-1 against Eleanor Widdows was the highlight in an overall defeat, although Gabby and Manasi were starting to play their best tennis and show that they are capable of competing at this level.
The final round of matches for Bucks saw the boys first up against Bedfordshire. A win would have been a fantastic reward for some brave displays, as well as an overall 7th place from 12 counties. Joel managed to hold his nerve against big-hitting one player Callum Cawsey, winning the match tie-break 10-4 after one gruelling set apiece. For Joel it was his first win in a few attempts against this opponent.
With James coming through with relative ease against Finlay Cummings, it left Orlando once again to provide fine entertainment in his match, relaxed with the knowledge that the tie had been won. His eventual defeat in yet another match tie break to Edward Searle mattered little as the boys celebrated a highly commendable weekends’ work.
That left the girls to fight it out in their remaining fixture against Northants. After brave resistance from Ellie, Gabby and Manasi, the girls ultimately went down 3-0. However, all of them were rightly proud of their efforts.
With the County Cup looming large, the Lionel Cox proved to be an excellent warm-up. It also provided awareness to the Bucks debutants Orlando, James, Gabby and Manasi of exactly the level they can expect come June.
Tom Edis 10U Bucks County Team Captain