The Devon team consisting of Torquay’s Joel While and Chanelle Green, Tarka’s Bradley Phillips and Exeter’s Katie Leck competed in the inaugural AEGON 9 & Under Inter County Competition at Bath on the 18th and 19th of July.
Teams from nine south and south west counties, including South Wales and the Channel Islands, competed in timed singles and doubles matches playing for points.
Devon faced the strongest teams in the south west on day one, Dorset and Avon. Joel took on Dorset’s no.1, Harry Butler, and with great rallies and competitive serving it was all to play for but time ran out and Harry took the win. Bradley fought well in match 2, but could not overcome the wind and a strong opponent. The girls played well, Katie kept the rallies going with great dominance from the back of the court and Chanelle, competing in her first major event, held strong but Dorset was just too strong.
The boys doubles wasn’t quite so straight forward. As the fifteen minute whistle signalled the end of the match, the boys were tied at 17 points each. A sudden death point had to be played and Dorset maintained their unbeaten record, clinching a nail biting final point.
Avon was a very tough match for the girls so it was for the boys to take advantage of Avon’s boys, Joel and Bradley played great singles matches, they were all close matches but the boys triumphed. As predicted the girls were unsuccessful but Katie Leck was only a few points behind Claudia Hallsworth when the whistle blew and Chanelle made a positive impact on Maria Budin in the scoreline.
In the doubles each pairing started well and with some ferocious volleys and super smashes. The scores were drawn when the whistle blew meaning a sudden death point had to be played in both matches. Luck was against the team and though a disappointing result it was definitely a great effort by all.
Putting the defeats of the first day against the tough teams behind them, Devon took on the Channel Islands and Wiltshire on day 2. Wiltshire brought out some great players but with a determined and confident team, Devon took the Channel Islands and Wiltshire by storm and continued some great play. In a great start Chanelle took her first win of the weekend against the Channel Islands and continued her success against Wiltshire. Katie had a glorious win and a closer match with Wiltshire.
Debbie Hale, Talent & Performance Officer, who accompanied the team commented, “It looks like we have created some dream-team double pairings for the future! I would like to thank the parents for their commitment and the players for their effort. I feel it was a successful and enjoyable weekend for all.”