Junior players from Burton Tennis and Squash Club have been taking part in the Aegon Team Tennis competition. This is a team competition open for all LTA registered clubs. Its aim is to provide players of all ages with regular league matches against similar standard players in a competitive team environment.
The first of these was a home match against Wollaton Tennis Club in the 9U category. The team comprised Sibi Jothlkumar, Ted Bloor, Leo Emery and Yusuf Haroun. The rubber consisted of eight singles and two doubles matches. Each player sported team tracksuit jackets and were all ready for action from the first point. The team spirit and encouragement they gave to each other was excellent.
The team played extremely well, winning every match to give a perfect start for the 9U team.
The 12U team’s first match of the season was away at Basford Tennis Club. Jack Triptree, Steven McHale, Jamie Blower and Oliver Leonard were the four representatives for Burton.
After the 4 singles, Burton found themselves 3-1 down with a very good win for Jamie. The other matches were very competitive and the players fought very hard.
In the doubles Jamie and Ollie managed a great win for Burton after a gruelling two hour match. Unfortunately, although their match was close, Jack and Steven narrowly missed out in their doubles fixture. The overall match score was 4-2 to Basford though Burton’s players can hold their heads up very high and be proud of the effort given and the manner in which they played their matches.
The16U fixture was played at Burton against Cheslyn Hay. The team members were Jack Benton, Michael Mchale, Cameron Stewart and Tanvir Grewal.
After the four singles Burton were 3-1 down, although Tanvir did record a great win. The other matches were very competitive and the standard of tennis was exceptional. The team, although playing very well, ultimately gave way to a team of players who were considerably older and more powerful. They were, however, far from disgraced.
The team was then awarded a walkover in the first doubles and in the second, Tanvir and Cameron managed a great win to square the match 3-3 in rubbers.
The decider was a tie break shoot out with the winners being the first pair to ten points. This had to be one player from each of the doubles pairs. After a team discussion, Jack and Tanvir were selected to play.
The match was incredibly close and saw an excellent standard of play. Eventually, after a nervy and tense battle, Burton emerged victorious by a margin of ten points to eight and won the match overall. Everyone concerned was very proud of the team.