The team consisting of Josh Craze, Alex Vosper, Ryan McCann, Maya Ichim, Sophie Ryland and Evie Fitzhenry along with coaches Tracy Brown and Ollie Sharpe had a fantastic day at the Aegon 9 & Under Regional County Cup at Taunton.
Ollie reports:
The team started off against Dorset who were always going to be one of our toughest oppositions. Big wins from all of the players across the board secured a 6-3 win. Next up was Cornwall who we beat comprehensively 9-0 in a very professional manner. The Channel Islands also went down 9-0.
Last tie of the day saw us play Somerset who were also fighting for the overall win. With tough matches for Josh Craze at boy 1 and Alex Vosper at boy 2, Ryan McCann pulled out an important win at boy 3. In the girls singles all 3 of the Devon girls won crucial matches to keep the win on track.
With the tie standing at 4-2 to Devon, Josh and Ryan paired up and unfortunately lost in 3 sets to the number 1 and 2 from Somerset while playing some unbelievable tennis. In the girls' doubles it was another dominant performance from Maya Ichim and Sophie Ryland who were a force to be reckoned with in the girls’ doubles throughout the day. With the tie and the title in the bag it fell to Alex and Evie Fitzhenry to bring the team home and win the remaining mixed doubles match confirming the 6-3 win.
Special mention has to go to Maya and Sophie who remained unbeaten the entire tournament which was a real help to the team’s bid for victory.
So the regional title and the medals came home to Devon this year.
Ollie said, “I was massively proud of all of the team who gave everything out on the court. All of the players took on our advice at each change of ends and fought for every last point and set as we had asked at the beginning of the day. As a team they supported each other through the wins and also the few losses along the way which made our job as captains a lot easier.
It really was an honour to captain such a brilliant team and an absolute pleasure to share the captaincy with Tracy.”
