What an amazing day at Bath Tennis Centre this Saturday in the LTA 9U County Cup. Both Devon 9U teams were pitched against some strong teams from Cornwall, Somerset, Avon and South Wales in a round robin format of 4 singles and 2 doubles against each county to see who would go through to the South Finals!
The Devon boys represented by Harry, Jacob, Sam, Weichen and Harry were up first and had a tough start against Avon. The boys though were thoroughly professional, and in great form, as they brushed them aside 5-1. They followed this with another good performance to leave Somerset reeling as they swept them aside by the same score. Next was the crunch match against South Wales with both teams undefeated at this point, and with South Wales not dropping a rubber either to this point. However, that changed quickly with the Devon team playing some superb and gritty tennis to come through a tight encounter, again dropping just the 1 rubber to win 5-1.
This meant a win against Cornwall and Devon would be crowned champions! Despite a late change in the scoring format, and playing pretty much non stop for over 3 ½ hours, Devon were not going to be denied. One last huge and gutsy effort saw them over the line with 4 straight singles win and Devon were CHAMPIONS and progress to the South Finals on 6th June.
The Devon 9U Girls buoyed by the success of the boys certainly rose to the occasion in the girls event. Even a late start, the prospect of playing well into the evening and an ever changing schedule and scoring format did not dampen their spirit. The girls – Amelia, River, Esme, Rosie and Kayleigh – played with heart and competed for every point. However, they also had to compete against 2 of the strongest girls teams in the competition! Avon were up first but despite the girls best efforts were just too strong as they lost 5-1, it was a similar story against South Wales. However, winning that rubber against Avon seemed to lift them as well as giving them belief, as they stepped up to narrowly defeat Somerset and follow that with a very encouraging win against Cornwall.
The Devon Team Captain’s Tracy, Ollie and myself were so impressed and proud of all our players on Saturday. The boys winning always makes things sweeter, but actually I couldn't be prouder of the girls who seemed to cope so well with the situation and definitely rose to the occasion. I felt all the players played some fantastic tennis in trying circumstances. In short both teams were magnificent - competed hard, gave everything and most importantly played with a big smile and a big heart.
Well done to all the players (and parents), and a huge thank you to Tracy and Ollie who were brilliant all day, and made sure that our players had a day to remember!
Will McNally