11U Boys County Cup Report
The boys’ teams of Louis, Ajax, Idhaant, Charlie and Adam travelled to Chichester to play in Play off group 1A in the 11 and under County Cup. They joined the teams of Hertfordshire, Devon, Sussex, Gloucestershire and Berkshire. The group was divided into two sections with Cambs playing Hertfordshire and Devon in their section and wherever you finished you played the opposite number in the other section.
Cambs were second match to be played on the Saturday and faced Hertfordshire who in turn had already played and beaten Devon 5 rubbers to 1. Conditions were horrendous with very strong winds making tennis difficult for anyone without too much weight of shot. The boys played on artificial clay. First up were Charlie Goodchild at number four against Rufus Johnson and Idhaant Bhasin at number three against Ari Saujani. All matches were the best of 3 FAST4 sets with the third set a tiebreak to 10points and two points clear. Charlie was rather nervous and consequently made quite a lot of unforced errors in the first set which quickly passed 0/4 but then in the second set played more aggressively and competed well to take the set to a tiebreak at 3 games all but sadly lost this 3/7 – first match to Herts. On the adjoining court Idhaant started well and managed to get 2/1 ahead but then again made too many unforced errors and struggled in the strong winds and then lost 5 games in a row to trail 2/4, 0/2. He fought hard to get to 1/2 and had a game point in the next game but sadly was unable to convert this and lost 2/4, 1/4. At 2 matches down it was left to the top two players Louis Garner and Ajax Millwood to win at least one match to ensure the tie was still alive going into the doubles! Ajax playing against Andrian Capsa found himself 0/2 down with the first two games going to the deuce point and on each occasion Andrain won it with a net cord! Not to be discouraged Ajax fought his way back and the set went to a tiebreak which Ajax took 7/3 – one set on the board! Louis on the other court playing against Noah George hit aggressively and with confidence to control his match. He had a slight wobble at 2/0 up and lost that game and the next went to the deuce point but then took control and won the set 4/1. Things were looking better! Ajax used his groundstrokes effectively especially his backhand down the line and controlled the second set to end up winning the match 4/3, 4/2. Meanwhile Louis’s powerful groundstrokes and excellent retrieving saw him win 4/1, 4/0. The match was poised at two rubbers each.
After much thought we went into the doubles with Idhaant pairing up with Adam Sulyman and Louis and Ajax playing together with the aim of winning at least one of the doubles. Idhaant and Adam started off very well and played some solid tennis and going 3/1 up only to be pegged back to 3/3 and then sadly lost the tiebreak 5/7. With some encouragement they came out fighting and took the second set 4/0 and the match went to a match tiebreak. Although they fought hard in this, they narrowly lost it 7/10. On the other court Louis and Ajax were in complete control and played good attacking doubles to win comfortably 4/1, 4/1 and so to the shoot-out.
Cambs played Louis and Adam in this and the boys didn’t disappoint as they got off to a good start as their opponents were a little nervous. They took an early 4/1 lead only to be pegged back to 4/4 with a few errors but then found their rhythm again and gradually added point after point with some aggressive play from both Louis and Adam and clinched it by 10 points to 4. Well done team.
A good win on Day 1.
Day two started off early against Devon.
Cambs were on good form early Sunday with the team being Louis, Ajax, Idhaant and Adam. Adam got the team off to a great start beating Rudi Lobato 4/0, 4/0 and then Idhaant beat Haldon Jackson in quite a tough battle 4/1,4/1 winning some key deuce points to make the score look easier than the match actually was. Next up was Ajax against Iseo Gould and he again played a really solid game winning 4/1, 4/0. Louis at number one played some aggressive attacking tennis and overwhelmed the promising and highly talented Joseph Ackland 4/2, 4/0. With the match won after the singles then Louis was rested in the doubles and Ajax paired with Adam and played Joseph and Iseo and if a good close fought affair just lost 4/1, 2/4 3 -10 and then Idhaant and Charlie paired up against Haldon and Oscar Lovelock and again had a close battle but emerged 1/4, 4/0 10-2 winners to give Cambs an overall 5/1 win.
So, it was a final against a strong Sussex team with the winner going to the finals. This was always going to be a tight match and needed the whole team to be at their best.
Adam continued his fine form at number four and after a tense start where he only won one of the first 9 points he settled down and played a very solid match using his forehand to great effect and beat Cameron Barnes 4/3 (3), 4/0 to get the team off to a great start. Charlie came in at number three and looked a little nervous to start with losing the first set 0/4 but put up a good fight in the second but narrowly lost the tiebreak 8/6 and so the match 0/4, 3/4 - one rubber each. Next up were Ajax and Louis playing against Tom Munday and Mason Wimalasena respectively. Ajax with his controlled rallying and using the wind effectively beat Tom 4/1, 1/4 and then 10-7 in the match tiebreak. Louis seemed a little anxious and tense in his match and didn’t play in his usual consistent way but did manage to take the first set 7/5 in the tiebreak and looked as if this might settle him, but he made too many errors and lost the set 1/4 – another match tie break. Mason had all the momentum with him and won this easily as Louis got frustrated and cross 3-10 so two rubbers each after the singles but still all to play for. Unfortunately, the doubles pairings of Idhaant and Adam and Louis and Ajax weren’t able to produce their best tennis and Sussex won the two doubles relatively comfortably and so took the match 4/2. Heartache for the team.
Although the final did not turn out as we hoped, the boys played very well over the weekend in what were very tough windy conditions and did themselves and the County proud. Thanks to all the parental support. Hopefully lessons learned and the team will come back better and stronger next year!
Sue Rich, 11U Boys Captain
