Leicestershire boys & girls teams competed in the 12&U AEGON County Cup at Nottingham tennis centre on the weekend of 30 June/1 July.
The girls’ team: Lizzie Allwood, Anna Chesca, Katie Leck & Katy Gradon (Captain - Paula Horobin) competed exceptionally well, winning all their matches to qualify for the National finals at Bolton Arena.
The girls defeated the Lincolnshire team in their first match in a close tussle, but by a 4-0 score line. Their 2nd match also resulted in an outstanding win against the group favourites, Warwickshire, by 3 rubbers to 1. The Warwickshire girls were all higher rated, however the team spirit & determination of the Leicestershire girls meant that, after the singles, they held a 2-1 lead. Lizzie & Anna then pulled off a tremendous win in the doubles from 1 set down to clinch the match. The girls then rounded off a satisfying weekend by beating the Nottinghamshire girls by 4 rubbers to 0.
The boys team: Rahul Dhokia, Roman Kenny-Manning, Angus Osborne & Alex Lunn (Captain – Matthew Wilford), also produced some excellent performances at Nottingham beating both Northants & Lincolnshire by 4-0 score lines and Nottinghamshire by 3 rubber to 1. Their final match against the group favourites Warwickshire was an extremely closely fought contest, ending in a tie break doubles shoot out to decide the group winners. Unfortunately, on this occasion, the Leicestershire boys lost out; however they will definitely gain confidence from their team performances over the weekend.
A special mention must be made of Matthew Richmond (a member of the boys 18&U team) who provided tremendous support for both teams over the weekend. Matthew gave his time to help out with warm-up sessions & provided encouragement to both teams which all helped towards providing a great team spirit.
By Paula Horobin