Warwickshire Men’s tennis side produced one of their greatest County Week team performances of recent years to defeat the powerful Berkshire side 7-2 and win promotion from the highly competitive Group 3, just a year after they’d come up from Group 4. Gavin Henderson’s young team started the day knowing that only a comfortable win over Berkshire would ensure promotion and they looked sharp and aggressive from the opening exchanges. When the new second pairing of Simon Ferguson and Alex Griffiths unexpectedly beat the Berkshire firsts, Warwick Boat Club coach Marcus Willis and Alexander Okonkwo 12-10 on a thrilling match tiebreak to give the Midlanders a 3-0 lead after the first round, victory looked well on the cards. But it was the Warwickshire thirds Cameron Malik from Stratford-upon-Avon and National Under 18 champion Luca Pow who ultimately clinched the win, beating WIllis and Okonkwoo in straight sets to boost the team’s morale sky-high. Malik and Pow had sensationally won 3 out of 3 against West of Scotland the previous day as a scratch pairing and they continued where they left off, the imperturbable Malik proving the perfect foil to Pow’s feisty, big-hitting game and once again they kept a clean sheet. The Warwickshire firsts Harry Lazell from Warwick Boat Club and Mason Recci (Solihull) won 2 out of 3 to underline their side’s strength and the Bears ended in second place behind unbeaten Buckinghamshire to clinch the entirely unexpected promotion.

“I’m speechless,” said captain Gavin Henderson during the celebrations afterwards. “We went into this week just hoping to consolidate and stay up in Group 3. When we lost to Buckinghamshire on the first day. we scarcely dreamed we’d be in with a chance of promotion. But everyone – from the newcomers to our long-serving stalwarts - was on fire. There was this huge desire and passion plus great teamwork and they just spurred one another on. Everyone played their hearts out and I’m so proud of them all. Cam Malik and Luca Pow were a revelation at third pair – such a great combination of explosive hitting and canny strategy. Mason, Harry, Simon and Alex all had a great as did Richard Partridge and our debutant Ferran Redza, all of them battling through on crucial points. On this sort of form, the sky’s the limit and it’ll be fascinating to see how they cope next year in Group 2. Go Bears!”

Katie Shaw’s young women’s side, lying fourth in Group 3 at Cheltenham, were still locked in battle against Gloucestershire late on the final evening, trailing by 2 rubbers to 4 before the final round. The week had seen a string of fine performances from Summer and Savannah Yardley and Madison Rumney, all from Solihull, plus Lois Porter from Balsall Common and Birmingham’s Tamara Malazonia plus debutants Mary Hoggard and tour player Michelle Dzjachangirova.But with several of their most experienced stars absent through injury and two ultra-tight 4-5 defeats earlier in the week, they were fighting desperately to avoid relegation.

Results

County Week Group 3

Cheltenham (East Gloucester Club) Women’s Championship,

Warwickshire trail Gloucestershire 2-4

Frinton-on-Sea Men’s Championship

Warwickshire beat Berkshire 7-2 to finish second in the Group and win promotion to Group 2 with unbeaten Buckinghamshire.