Loughborough University men’s tennis team have made British history by winning the European title at the Barclays ECTA Champions League Finals over the weekend (13-15 November).
The quintet of Jony Kinsella, Scott Dickson, Josh Miller, Stuart Searle and Javi Ramos beat number one seeds Rouen of France to become the first ever British side to claim the men’s European University tennis league title.
Loughborough’s ladies also recorded their best ever result at the grand finale of the annual league competition; reaching the final two but narrowly losing out to British rivals Leeds Metropolitan.
“I’m really proud of both teams both on and off the court,” said Loughborough tennis coach Jon Pankhurst. “Everyone pulled together really well and that showed by them achieving the best ever results from our University tennis teams. “To win an event like that is exceptional and for the women to also get to the final is a really great achievement. I’m so pleased with how they all did.”
Both teams left it until late on the Saturday to clinch their spots in their respective finals with both matches being decided on a tiebreak shoot out.
With all sides level after the sixth fixture, Loughborough’s men overcame Leeds Metropolitan and the women beat Rouen in the third 10-point tie break which was played late into Saturday night.
In Sunday’s finals the men’s team took an early 3-0 lead and, despite losing a thrilling fourth rubber on the third set tie-break, recovered for an historic 4-1 victory.
The women were unable to make it a Loughborough double when number one seed Julia Bone withdrew with a chest injury. Reserve Emma Magson joined Lucy Fletcher, Zoe Bambridge and Becky Scrivins for the thrilling final which went down to the final match. Loughborough won two of the four singles matches, but Leeds claimed both doubles to score 4-2 for the title.
Loughborough’s students were amongst eight men’s and seven women’s teams representing Universities from England, Ireland, Scotland, France and Croatia at this year’s competition held at the Gosling IHPC.
The European Champions League organised by ECTA, supported by British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) – the national organisation for higher education sport – and sponsored by Barclays, offers tennis players the opportunity to study and play in Europe while combining a first-class academic education with high-level competition.