U18 - 12 Counties 10th February 2019 - Corby

The 2019 12 counties championships saw the Cambridgeshire teams up in division 1 competing against Essex, Yorkshire and Leicestershire.

Girls

The Cambridgeshire girls’ team of Megan, Neha, Lydia and Charlotte were up against Essex first. Megan led the way at number 1 with a focused performance against Iman winning 5-4 4-1. Neha at number 2 battled back from match points down to beat Lucy 1-4 5-3 10-8. Lydia lining up as Cambs number 3 took on Nyah losing out 1-4 2-4. The final match saw our number 4 Charlotte play Monica, a tough prospect and was defeated 0-4 1-4 making the final result 2-2.

Up next was Yorkshire and a tough tie for the girls. Tight matches didn’t quite go the girls’ way on the day with Megan losing out 6-10 in a 3rd set championship tie-break after splitting sets one and two 5-3 2-4 to Jessica. Neha also lost out on a tiebreak set, this time in the second set to Jayanne having lost set one 0-4. Lydia put in a tough performance against Caitlin but fell just short 0-4 3-5 and finally Charlotte in another tough match losing 1-4 0-4 to Orfa. So, the girls took a 0-4 loss to Yorkshire.

The final match was against Leicestershire and some very exciting matchplay. Most notably Charlotte who showed some serious Cambridgeshire grit coming back from 0-4, 0-3 down to defeat Daniella 0-4 5-3 10-7 in the final match of the day! Megan played clinical tennis getting the win against Lila 4-1 4-2 whilst Lydia also took a convincing win over Katie 4-1 4-0. Neha was out on court again in a drawn out fight against Anisha, coming from a set down to find the win with back to back tie-breaks 3-5 5-4 11-9. A convincing 4-0 win for the girls.

In the other results, Yorkshire beat Leicestershire 4-0 and drew with Essex 2-2. Essex beat Leicestershire 4-0. This resulted in the Cambridge girls coming 3rd in the group with Yorkshire 1st, Essex 2nd and Leicestershire 4th..

Boys

The Cambridgeshire boys fielded the team of, Vincent, Zach, James and Darius.

First up was Essex and a tough first round. Zach at number 2 losing 0-4 1-4 to Ben, James at 3 losing out to Tom 1-4 0-4 and number 4 Darius going down 0-4 2-4 to Anthony. Cambs number 1 Vincent had the closest of the matches and had his chances, eventually succumbing to Matt 4-5 4-1 11-13. So, 4-0 to the Essex boys.

Up next was Yorkshire and Darius getting the team’s first win 4-2 4-2 over Ryan. Vincent and Zach were up against it with opponents Euan and Adam respectively. In a match of great ball striking Vincent went down 2-4 2-4 and Zach lost 1-4 1-4. The closest match of the round was with James who took on Thomas. After splitting the first 2 sets 4-1 1-4 James just lost out 7-10 in the championship tie-break making the final match score 1-3 to Yorkshire.

Finally, the boys were up against Leicestershire which was a closer affair. Wins came for Zach and Darius. Zach showing great fighting spirit losing a set and 3-0 lead to go 4-8 down in the third set tiebreak only to go on a run of 6 points to win the match 4-1 3-5 10-8 against Jordan. Darius also came through a tie-break in the second set to take out Alex 4-1 5-4. After a battling first set James lost out to Andrew 4-5 1-4 and Vincent after a close first 3-5 set had to pull out due to cramp against Ben. This left the score at a 2-2 draw.

In the other results, Yorkshire beat Leicestershire 3-1 and drew with Essex 2-2. Essex beat Leicestershire 4-0. This resulted in the Cambridge boys coming joint 3rd with Leicestershire