10U Boys North Area Finals
The boys team of Vincent, Adam, Eli, Hugo and Philip travelled to Boston to play against Yorkshire, West of Scotland, East of Scotland and Warwickshire on 8th and 9th June.
The boys were all very excited to be playing in the finals. The format was to play each County so there were 2 matches each day. Each match consisted of 4 singles and then 2 doubles and if the rubber score was 3 matches all then a tiebreak shoot out to 10 points was played. Scoring format was the best of three FAST4 sets with the third set a match tiebreak to 10 points, 2 clear.
Sue Rich was captain on Day 1 and Jasmine Smith on Day 2.
First up on the Saturday was West of Scotland who had a very strong looking team. The players played in reverse order with numbers four and three starting and then players two and one.
Hugo took on James Crowther and went into a 3/0 lead and looked very comfortable but then his opponent found his range and fought back to take the set to a tiebreak and then closed it out 7/4 and then took control of the second set 4/0. On the next court Eli had a tough match with James Huangand was soon 0/4 down but fought hard in the second set to come back to get this to a tiebreak but sadly lost 3/4. This left Cambs 0/2 down with Vincent playing the highly ranked Louis Taylor and Adam facing Ben Scott – on of them need to win so the match was still live going into the doubles. Vinny played well but lost the first set 1/4 but showed his determinations in the second and this went to a tiebreak which Vinny narrowly lost 5/7 so it was all up to Adam! Adam lost the first set 1/4 but came back strongly in the second set and took this 4/0. He was then on a roll and took the momentum into the tiebreak which he competed really well in and won it 10-2 – the Cambs fighting spirit was there! We still had everything to play for in the doubles later in the day.
Next up in the singles on the Saturday were East of Scotland who had two strong players at the top end but it looked like Cambs had a chance of winning the bottom matches.
Philip came in for Hugo at number four and played a solid game against Alfie O’Brien and won comfortably 4/2, 4/1. Eli was equally impressive against Remi Gonzales Rochefort and won 4/1, 4/0 to give Cambs a 2/0 lead. Vinny was up against the very impressive Frank Atkins and despite some good rallies was out gunned 4/1, 4/2. Adam started off really well against Kian Khochfar winning the opening set 4/0 but Kian had a comeback in the second and took this 4/2 – another Adam tiebreak. Adam raised his game and used his athleticism to win the tie break 10-5 and ensure a 3/1 lead after the singles.
And then onto the doubles against West of Scotland – was all our doubles practice going to pay off – that was the question?! Vinny and Adam were really up for their match against Ben and Louis and played some great tennis with good teamwork and encouragement and over came the Scots 4/3 (4) and 4/0. Meanwhile Eli and Hugo were a bit flat in the first set against Alec Brodie and James Huang but then came to life in the second set and took this 4/2 and then played a good tiebreak to win this 10-8 –the match was all square at 3 rubbers each and a shoot out needed. One player from each pair for the doubles shoot out - so Adam teamed up with Hugo as they had played together before. What a nerve-racking tiebreak! At the first change of ends it was all square at 3 all but then West of Scotland took a 7/5 lead at the next change and went 8/5 up but Cambs fought back to 7/8 only to lose the next point and were 2 match points down 7/9 but they continued to battle and got to 9/9 and had a match point at 10/9 only to lose this but held their nerve and took the match 12-10 – what a performance! What a team!
In the doubles against East of Scotland Eli paired up with Philip as Hugo was exhausted and easily beat Remi and Alfie 4/1, 4/0 to secure victory over the East. Vincent and Adam had another epic match against Frank and Kian with all four players playing some great doubles, good volleys, good teamwork and long rallies. Cambs lost the first set 3/4 but won the second 4/3 and then had another nail-biting match tie break. They led 5/2 at one stage, were pegged back and then 6/8 down, 8/9 down but again saved a match point and won the tiebreak 11/9 to win the match overall 5 rubbers to 1 and leave the team top after day 1.
With Sue having to cover coaches in a full day of County Training, Jasmine Smith took over for the Sunday in her first experience of Cambs County Cups.
Jasmine found the whole experience gripping and she supported and encouraged the boys who had two tough matches all day with great enthusiasm.
On the Sunday they played Warwickshire first who had a good team. Hugo at number four could not make any impression on Kingsley Johnson and lost easily at number 4. Eli had a much tighter match against Kavis Arunkumar at number three and despite battling hard just came up short 2/4, 3/4 leaving Adam and Vincent to try and pick up at least one match to ensure it was still live going into the doubles. Adam played very well against Harry Rudolph winning 4/1, 4/0 and then Vincent had a great match against Arjun Hari and got into a good position at 4/3, 2/0 up only for Arjun to raise his level and take the set 4/2 and then pipped Vincent in a tight match tiebreak 10-7. Cambs were 3/1 down again after the singles!
Next up were the singles against Yorkshire who were the best team there. Philip playing at number 4 put up a good display against William Grundy before losing 3/4, 1/4. Eli had a tough match against Joel Morton losing 1/4, 0/4. Vincent was also beaten easily by Sebastian Brock 1/4, 0/4. This meant Adam had to win to keep the match alive – he battled really well against George He winning the first set 4/3, lost the second 2/4 and narrowly lost the tie break 7-10 giving Yorkshire a winning lead after the singles.
Then it was back to the doubles and Warwickshire – two wins needed to get to a shootout. Eli and Hugo had a great game with Kavis and Harry and won 4/3, 1/4, 10-7 and then Vincent and Adam had another epic against Arjun and Kingsley winning 4/1, 1/4 and 10-6 in the tiebreak. Three rubbers each and another shoot out. Adam and Hugo played this and sadly lost 5/10 to give Warwickshire the win and meant Cambs finished fourth overall.
In the final doubles against Yorkshire Adam and Vinny pulled off another doubles win over Sebastian and Sammy Goldthorpe 2/4, 4/3 (7) and 10-0 to remain unbeaten in doubles all weekend – very well done boys! Eli and Philip lost their final doubles against George and Joel to give Yorkshire a 5/1 win.
Great weekend and great team spirt from Adam, Vinny, Eli, Hugo and Phillip, well done boys and thanks to all the parents for their support – oh so close to being second had the team won the shoot-out against Warwickshire but in the end Cambs ended up fourth.
Sue and Jasmine – so proud of the boys – thanks everyone.
