The Team (Based on Rankings Friday 1st May)
- Olivia Rook 105644714 6.1
- Alice Howitt 105016206 8.1
- Chandani Sundaram 107389135 8.2
- Anna Barnes 104331909 9.2
Saturday 27th June
Somerset v Gloucestershire 4-6
Singles 1 Grace Piper (5.2) beat Olivia Rook 4-1 4-2
Singles 2 Megan Rundle(6.2) lost to Alice Howitt 5-4(8) 1-4 [0-1](8)
Singles 3 Tresha Kumar (7.1) beat Anna Barnes 4-1 4-0
Doubles Grace Piper and Thea Sprawson lost to Howitt and Rook 4-1 4-1
Tie Break Shoot-Out
Rook and Howitt beat Piper and Kumar 10-6
A really tough match for the girls but great performances all round. Alice Howitt was our stand out player. She beat a player higher rated and higher ranked in a high quality match. Alice hit aces and winners to get herself into a winning position and her opponent just had no idea on what to do in the end.
Doubles was the key to our success and Olivia and Alice played exceptionally. The Somerset pair did not know how to play them. A faultless performance and a comfortable win.
The Somerset captain changed the pairings for the shoot-out but our pair stayed solid and won fairly comfortably.
A great start to this year’s campaign!
Devon v Gloucestershire 2-6
Singles 1 Emily Syms (6.1) lost to Olivia Rook 3-5 1-4
Singles 2 Olga Aphrodite Diavastis (7.2) lost to Alice Howitt 1-4 4-5 (3)
Singles 3 Jessica Hill (7.2) beat Anna Barnes 2-4 1-4
Doubles Hill and Syms lost to Howitt and Rook 1-4 1-4
Another inspired win from Alice, a comfortable win for Olivia and another easy doubles win allowed us to qualify for the semi finals in first place in the group.
Sunday 28th June
Semi-Final
Avon v Gloucestershire 3-5
Singles 1 Eleanor Nobbs (6.2) lost to Olivia Rook 4-5(3) 1-4
Singles 2 Katya Saint (6.2) lost to Alice Howitt 4-5(2) 2-4
Singles 3 Amy Leather (7.1) beat Chandani Sundaram 4-1 5-3
No Doubles due to late start because of bad weather
What a great performance by our team! Olivia slipped over first game and was close to pulling out of the match. An injury time out for Olivia and her not wanting to stop showed great character and determination to win a close first set and then win the match.
Alice Howitt pulled out a remarkable win against an opponent ranked in the top 50 and a higher rating. She chased everything and demoralised her opponent as she got everything back.
Chandani’s opponent was another top 50 player and was a powerful hitter. She made Chandani work really hard for every point. Unfortunately she couldn’t do enough.
FINAL
Gloucestershire v Wiltshire 0-8
Singles 1 Olivia Rook lost to Amelia Bissett (6.1) 2-4 0-4
Singles 2 Alice Howitt lost to Jessica Doerr (6.1) 0-4 1-4
Singles 3 Chandani Sundaram lost to Ellen Jones (8.1) 2-4 1-4
Doubles 1 Howitt and Barnes lost to Doerr and Beatrice Watts 4-2 2-4 (0-1)
This match was very difficult for our team. The Wiltshire 1 and 2 are very strong players. We got overpowered by their aggressive play in those two matches. Chandani played a very consistent opponent and couldn’t find a way through this girl’s solid defence.
I gave our reserve a match in the doubles as we had already lost the tie. They put up a good performance losing narrowly in a champions tie-break.
Overall
Finishing 2nd was a fantastic effort as we finished 3rd last year and 4th the year before that. We are showing progress in this age group! The girls behaved very well and were a pleasure for myself to captain. They performed very well and showed determination in all their matches.
Mark Lunn