The AEGON 9 & Under County Cup was held on Saturday 21st July and the Hampshire and IOW team were in Group I and played at Coombe Dingle, Bristol.
The Team was:-
Boys: Ouyoung Dinapala, William Northeast, George Russell
Girls: Aisling McGrane, Hannah Smith, Alana Unitt, Estella Hurlock
Captain: Sam Cummings
Hampshire & IOW vs Wiltshire
Ouyoung and Alana both played two tough 3 set matches in their opening singles rubbers and won to get the team under way against a strong Wiltshire team. However we were 5-3 down before the final mixed match but went on to win the match to end the tie at 5-4. The team were disappointed but kept their heads up onto the next tie against Avon.
Hampshire & IOW vs Avon
Avon were another strong county who were on the back of a good victory against South Wales. Ouyoung lost his first after a long and tense singles match but recovered with a great doubles win with William Northeast. The girls won all of their singles matches with three wins which took control of the tie and came out as winners against Avon. The team wrapped up a strong victory with some fantastic doubles matches.
Hampshire & IOW vs South Wales
The team came through comfortable winners against South Wales however they had to pull off some gutsy doubles to pull through. We only conceded one singles match in the whole tie which was a great effort!
Overall
Hampshire and IOW came out as the LTA U9 County Cup runners up after a strong performance all round. The team won 83% of their double matches on the day which might have been the difference on the overall result! It was a great day as these players don’t play many team events and showed the team’s great team spirit and support in all the matches. I could sense the team were disappointed not to win on the day but it gives everyone the motivation to work hard and improve to win next year! Personally it was a great experience and can see these players have a great future in tennis.
Sam Cummings