U14 County Cup Report 2016

National Finals - Nottingham 13th-15th May

Team Manager - Shaun Malcolm

Team Coach - Josh Miller

Players -

Benjamin Heynold, Arthur Fery, Jorge Beltrao, Harry Hewing, Vraj Patel, Guy Den Ouden

13th May - On our first day in Nottingham we started the round robin format. A tough format involved playing 3 counties over the first two days.

Match 1 versus Leicestershire which we lost 3-3 in a shootout

What a match to start the event with some great tennis across all 6 rubbers. Fery/den Ouden played a brave shootout losing out by a few points. All credit to Leicestershire who fought hard.

13th/14th May

Match 2 versus Hertfordshire which we won 4-2

On Friday evening we played the singles without Benjamin Heynold who picked up an injury against Leicestershire. After a long day finishing at 8.30pm we were at 2-2 with Arthur, Jorge, Vraj and Guy competing well. After a tough first day the boys needed to come out strong on Saturday morning. What a response from the den Ouden/Fery and Beltrao/Hewing doubles combinations. On a tense morning we won both doubles with some incredible tennis. The boys felt they could still come through the box.

14th May

Match 3 versus Hampshire & IOW - a 6-0 Win

After a rest and some treatment Benjamin came back into the team for this match. The boys were fired up knowing a convincing win here would put us in the final. Everyone stepped up and by Saturday afternoon the comeback was complete and we had qualified for the final. It was a great team effort with all players competing in at least 3 matches each over the round robin format.


U14 County Cup Final - 15th May

A 5-1 win over Lancashire

The boys had created a fantastic team spirit in fighting back in the group stage. On Sunday we had a great warm up and the team were excited about the day ahead. Guy Den Ouden was our star man at 4th player and got us off to an amazing start. We have never seen so many winners! Jorge Beltrao came through a close match at player 3 but did well to use his forehand effectively. Arthur Fery also did a great job on the last day using his skill and movement to get the win. Benjamin Heynold had a tough match against another GB player Peter Alam to win the County Cup. He came through and the boys joined him on court to celebrate. Well done to Vraj and Harry who played in the doubles in the Final.

Thanks to Josh Miller who was a great support to the team. He trained them well when required and set a great environment for the team. We set out to win the County Cup 2016 and boys stuck to their team laws and achieved the goal. Well done!

Shaun Malcolm