Durham & Cleveland were again hosts of the 9&U County Cup this summer. The event was played at Sunderland Tennis Centre on Saturday 13th August. Division B was one of ten groups played across the country that day. Division B consisted of 4 counties from across the country which included: Northumberland, Cumbria and Yorkshire.
The Durham and Cleveland team consisted of 4 boys and 4 girls: James Paluzzi, Sam Faulder, Oliver Boddy, Gabriel Roxby, Alexia Reynolds, Pippa Brown, Megan Leck and Beth Sullock. Each match was the best of 9 rubbers with 3 boys singles, 1 doubles, 3 girls singles, 1 doubles and 1 mixed doubles.
Durham and Cleveland Captain Anthony Reynolds commented:
“We showed great character and determination in our first match against Northumberland; competing well against some very strong players, with James Paluzzi winning the first rubber against their number 1 seed Jaiden Khanna. Unfortunately, we lost the rest of the boys and girls singles matches. James and Sam then won their boys doubles match, before we lost some very close girls and mixed doubles matches in 3 sets; eventually losing overall 14-4. We played our second match against Cumbria, demonstrating some great discipline and focus; winning all but 1 boys singles and doubles match for an overall 14-4 win. Our final match turned out to be a very competitive match against another very strong county, Yorkshire, who finished first in the group after narrowly beating Northumberland 10-8 in an epic match. Our players gave their all, but lost 18-0 after putting up a great fight until the very last point.
This was the players first County Cup together and morale was high; raising the team spirit, which was evident throughout the day. The atmosphere was great and the event turned out to be a great success thanks to everyone involved.