Cambridgeshire boys and girls 16 and under teams had a very successful pre – Christmas tournament by coming first in their group at Corby on Saturday 20th December and the County go into 2015 with Cambridgeshire top of the Division with two age groups to play.
The 12 Counties Competition is a tournament involving the age groups 10/12/14/16 and 18 and under with teams of 4 boys and 4 girls competing over the winter months on specific dates. Cambridgeshire are in a group with Norfolk, Northants and Oxfordshire.
The boys’ team of Charlie James, Jan Ortonowski, Harry Wendelken and Maki Zivotic played Northants first. Charlie James, who had been in bed all week lost a good match against Cameron Yuill 4/2, 2/4, 5-10 but then Jan Ortonowski beat Matthew Masters 4/0, 4/0; Harry Wendelken beat Henry Master 4/2, 4/2 and then Maki Zivotic beat Sam Smith 4/0, 4/2 to give Cambridgeshire a winning start with a 3 – 1 win.
Next up were Oxfordshire who had a strong number one in Harrison Ridge. Charlie James lost 2/4, 0/4 to Ridge but then Jan beat Sam Heath 4/1, 4/0, Harry beat Alex Skelly 4/0, 5/3 and then Maki beat Thomas Craig 4/0, 4/0 to give Cambridgeshire another 3 – 1 win.
In the final match against Norfolk Charlie beat Matthew Cott 4/2, 5/3. Jan then lost a tough match against Owen Tudor 2/4, 4/5 before Harry beat Finlay Rowan 4/0, 4/1 and Maki beat Alex Watkinson 4/0, 4/1 to again give Cambridgeshire their third 3 – 1 win and top of the group.
A special congratulations to Harry Wendelken who just turned 13 this week to win all his matches and to Maki at number four who played very well to win his matches with ease.
In the girls event Lizzie Pam lead the team with Ellie Coleman at number two and then Dana Viret making her County debut and 12 year old Natasha Scott playing at number four. The team were missing three of their top players so a special well done to Ellie, Dana and Natasha for representing the County so well. In the first match against Northants Lizzie got the team off to a good start beating Leah Milligan 5/4, 4/0. After a close first set Lizzie got the better of her opponent with some hard hitting and aggressive play. Next up was Ellie Coleman who had a tough match against Lauren Phillips and lost 1/4, 1/4. Dana Viret on her debut for the County played very well and solidly beating Stephanie Reynolds 4/0, 4/0. Unfortunately Natasha Scott lost a tight match to Alexandra Lewis 3/5, 3/5 to the overall match was tied at 2 matches each.
In the second match against Oxfordshire Lizzie beat Maria Karditsas 4/0, 4/0 and showed that she was a class above her opponent. Ellie then beat Taysie Gujral 4/1, 5/3 to record her first win and played some solid baseline tennis. Dana then beat Aisha Iowndes 4/0, 4/1 – another ratings win for her. Natasha lost a cliff hanger to Evie Phillips 2/4, 4/2, 9-11 but played very well. This gave Cambridgeshire an overall 3-1 win.
In the final match against Norfolk, Cambridgeshire needed to win to top the group as Norfolk had won against the other two Counties. Lizzie Pam lead from the front with a 4/1, 4/1 win over Vianne Palffy. Norfolk’s Frances Evans then beat Ellie Coleman 4/0, 4/1. Dana then won her third match against Talitha Rowan 4/2, 4/0. In the final match Natasha needed to win to secure first place and she played very well to beat Chloe Hunter 4/2, 4/2 to ensure Cambridgeshire finished first.
Overall well done to all the team as everyone provided an essential win and special congratulations to Lizzie and Dana for winning all three matches.
Cambridgeshire now lead the table after three age groups with 21 points followed by Northants on 15 and Norfolk and Oxfordshire each on 12 points. Next up is the 14 and under age group on 18th January.
Well done team – great effort.
Find all the results here - http://lta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draws.aspx?id=54023245-BC8B-400B-BB7B-A6D26D1AECAA
From left to right – Jan Ortonowski, Charlie James, Maki Zivotic and Harry Wendelken
From left to right Dana Viret, Lizzie Pam, Ellie Coleman and Natasha Scott