Suffok’s 10U quartet of Isabelle Eaton, Maddie McLoughlin, Justice Hall and Tawana Senah put up a fantastic performance in the Aegon National Finals at the Bolton Arena, finishing 4th against the country’s best. Having beaten Cornwall 4-0 and Hampshire 3-1 on the opening day, this highly promising team went oh so close against both Staffordshire and the mighty Lancashire on the Sunday, putting Suffolk tennis firmly on the national map.
Against Staffordshire they were 2-1 up following excellent singles wins from Maddie McLoughlin and Justice Hall. They then lost the doubles in three sets and had to play a match tie-break shootout which they just lost 10-7. 3rd place had to be conceded to Lancashire after another agonizing match tie-break shootout, with the score again locked at 2 matches all. Many congratulations to coach Chris Daynes and his team, who have a bright future ahead.
It’s the turn of the 12Us this weekend, as both our Girls’ and Boys’ teams compete in the qualifying round of the Aegon inter-county competition. They will be competing in Group D, and will need to be at their best against their East Region rivals Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk.
Toby Bawden will be looking after the Boys at Lincoln, the team comprising Zvonko Bencedic, Travis Ireland, Haadi Shah and Harper Mills. Ben Roberts-Law takes charge of a Girls’ team of Harriet Petley, Kylie Bylchev, Sofia Khalyaeva and Macey Hendin, who travel to Haileybury, Hertfordshire. The very best of luck to all these talented young players, who should do well.
Whilst these players are just starting out on their tennis careers, it should not be forgotten that many of our enthusiastic seniors are still representing Suffolk at slightly older levels. The over 70 Ladies went down 1-3 to Lincolnshire recently, with the over 50s also involved in two away fixtures. They went down 0-5 to Hereford and Worcestershire, but went one better before succumbing to mighty Warwickshire 1-4.
Last Sunday the Ipswich Sports Club hosted a charity tournament to welcome wonderful Wimbledon and to remember former British number one Elena Baltacha. In the sunny weather came the tennis competitors wearing yellow costumes following Bally’s wishes for her charity “The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity”. Some came in yellow tutus and some came as Spongebob and Minions characters. A fine time was had by all, the tournament was won by Kevin Sutton + Debra Young, and a marvellous £1046.55 was raised.
Next week we will preview the British Tour event at Felixstowe, when many of the up-and-coming stars of the game will be competing at Bath Road. It will soon be time to update the various Suffolk Schools’ results, with pupils of all ages competing and enjoying their tennis over another busy Summer term, and unbelievably, to look at ahead at another exciting tournament calendar ahead.