The ladies were competed in Division I in Eastbourne this year after getting promoted in 2019 from Division 2.
The Team was: Esther Adeshina, Freya Davies, Debbie Hale, Lisa Hanley, Charlotte Howard. Harriet Jones, Taro Keens, Aisling Mcgrane, Ellie Millard, Hannah Smith
The other counties in the Division were:
Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Middlesex, Surrey, Yorkshireertford
Day 1 vs Surrey
The team was : 1st pair Lisa & Harriet, 2nd pair Taz & Esther, 3rd pair Hannah & Freya
On a very hot sunny day, the Hampshire & IOW ladies had a fabulous first day winning 7-2 against a strong Surrey team. Debbie came in with Taz to play in the 3rd round.
Day 2 vs Yorkshire
After the great day 1 result the team remained the same but in a different order:
1st pair Taz & Esther, 2nd pair Hannah & Freya, 3rd pair Lisa & Harriet
Another very hot sunny day, and another fantastic result 7-2 against Yorkshire. Aisling came in with Taz to play the 3rd round match.
Day 3 vs Middlesex
The team remained the same as day 2 with the prospects of a tough day against a feisty Middlesex team: 1st pair Taz & Esther, 2nd pair Hannah & Freya, 3rd pair Lisa & Harriet
We won 2 out of 3 third set 10 point tie breaks, most of the matches were very close, but managed a fantastic 6-3 win.
Day 4 vs Hertfordshire
The team remained the same for what could be a decisive day against Hertfordshire as they had also won 3 out of 3 matches: 1st pair Taz & Esther, 2nd pair Hannah & Freya, 3rd pair Lisa & Harriet. Aisling and Debbie came in to replace the 3rd pair in the 3rd round.
Another very hot day and unfortunately the ladies had to play away from Devonshire Park at a place called Moira House. We had five 3rd set tie-breaks, and managed to win 3 of them. The team played their hearts out and were very disappointed to lose 5-4.
Day 5 vs Leicestershire
There was still a possibility of us being able to win the Division, however it also depended on the result between Hertfordshire and Surrey.
The team remained the same apart from the order: 1st pair Hannah & Freya, 2nd pair Taz & Esther, 3rd pair Harry & Lisa. After the first round Ellie and Lottie came in for Lisa and Harry at 3rd pair.
The team did brilliantly winning 7-2, they battled hard because we needed to win as many rubbers as possible to secure 2nd place above Surrey.
The final result was: 1st Hertfordshire, 2nd Hampshire and IOW, 3rd Surrey, 4th Middlesex, 5th Yorkshire, 6th Leicestershire.
Special mention must be made to the new partnership of Hannah and Freya who managed to win 14 out of 15 matches and topped the players statistics in Division 1. It was Hannah’s first County Week.
As normal the team were brilliant, I am very proud to be their captain, everyone contributes to the success of the team in so many different ways.
Congratulations!!
For individual results, please see: https://competitions.lta.org.uk/sport/draw.aspx?id=DC58C623-EBAD-4CD8-B375-4BD6E0277E03&draw=2
Results: Beat Surrey 7-2
Beat Yorkshire 7-2
Beat Middlesex 6-3
Lost to Hertfordshire 4-5
Beat Leicestershire 7-2
2nd – stayed
Sue Espley, Team Captain