The 9U County Cup Group I took place again at Oxstalls Tennis Centre near Gloucester.
The Hampshire & IOW team was:
William Addleton, Oliver Cole, Dennis Dimov, Casey Drake
Emma Bebbington, Victoria Ernsberger, Eva Lakey, Maria Mills
There other four other counties in the Group were: Avon, Wiltshire, South Wales and Gloucestershire.
Up first we went up against the home team Gloucestershire. They had a very strong line up and the boys battled hard to win 1 out of 3 singles matches, two of these being 3 set matches. The Girls made it all square after the singles with some great performances including Emma who came from a set down to win. As a team we played so well in the doubles and gained 2 out of 3 matches to win the tie.
Up next were South Wales who were the defending champions from 2016. They brought over another great team who were favourites this year. Oliver won his singles and Casey had performance of the day losing a tight 3 set match against their number one player. Unfortunately we didn't manage to get another win in the tie but the effort and determination was fantastic from the team.
Wiltshire were next for Hampshire & IOW and each year we have had some great battles. We made a great start winning two out of 3 singles with William losing narrowly in 3 sets. Wiltshire had some very strong girls and we won 1 out of 3 matches. All square after all the singles unfortunately we weren't able to win any of the doubles.
Avon were our last fixture of the day. Avon have always brought a strong team year in year out. We made a great start winning 2 out of 3 singles with the boys however, unfortunately, we weren't able to win another match. All the players battled and tried really hard throughout the matches.
It was a great day and a few matches which came our way may have flipped the overall results. We had 3 children playing a year early so it's looking good for next year. Thank you to parents, children and Hampshire & IOW for this opportunity.
Sam Cummings, Team Captain.