After four weeks of training the Kent girls 12 under team of Emma Sawkings, Theodora Enslyn, and Phoebe-Mireille Ecuyer Dale headed to Chichester to compete against the counties of, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire & Dorset. Unfortunately the last minute withdrawal of squad member Ella Wood due to injury left the girls a player short but a quick SOS call to Caitlin McCoulghlin put us back to full strength.
Day one saw Kent draw up against an incredible strong Surrey squad. The team of Emma Sawkins playing one, Theodora Enslyn Playing two and Phoebe Dale playing three put up a spirited performance but were eventually comfortably beaten by the eventual winners.
Saturday afternoon saw Kent matched up against the girls from Hampshire, Phoebe playing again at singles postion number three got the girls of to a great start with an incredibly hard fought victory winning a marathon of a match 4-1 3-5 11-9. Unfortunately Theodora and Emma couldn’t keep the momentum going, losing both their matches leaving Kent 2-1 down after the singles. In the doubles Emma & Phoebe went toe to toe with the strong pair from Hampshire losing the first set but coming back brilliantly to take the second only then to be piped to the post in a closely fought third set tiebreak.
After an enjoyable evening meal at Pizza Express the players, coach and parents went to bed reflecting on a tough day on court and looking forward to the challenge of another two matches on Sunday.
Up bright and early for practise the next day the girls were looking forward to the challenge of playing the second seeds Sussex. First match up saw Caitlin making her debut at number three compete hard before losing a tight first set to the left hander from Sussex. The second set drifted away leaving Kent one down after the first round of matches. Theodora Enslyn playing at two played some of the best tennis of the weekend before eventually running out of steam to lose 4-2 5-4 in a match that lasted over an hour and a half. The final match of the fixture saw a courageous effort from Emma Sawkins, as she lost to the highest rated player at the competition 4-1 4-0.
In the final match of the weekend Kent played a very closely matched team from Dorset. Playing back in a regular position of number three Phoebe got the girls off to a flyer with a very convincing 4-0 4-1 victory. Theodora playing two struggled to repeat the great form of the day before losing in straight sets to a strong Dorset player. Then came probably the best match of the weekend with Emma battling incredible hard for every point before finally going down in a third set tiebreak to a strong Dorset number 1. With the match delicately balanced at 2-1 the pair of Emma and Phoebe were selected to play the important doubles. In a high standard first set the girls worked extremely hard, hurting their opponents with Emma’s big groundstroke’s and phoebes volleys but unfortunately the set went the way of the pair from Dorset in a tiebreaker. In the second set the efforts of the weekend finally caught up with the Kent girls who went down 4-1.
Although over the weekend for the Kent girls didn’t manage to win a match I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their hard work, enthuasium and fighting spirit. Their behaviour on and off court was a credit to them and Kent LTA. Also a big thank you to all the parents who gave up their weekend to come along to support, it was much appreciated.
Martin Whitehouse
Kent Girls 12 under County Cup Captain.