U18 - 12 Counties - 2 February 2020

On the girls team we had strength across the board, unfortunately our first set of opponents in Bedfordshire only had 2 players turn up so then Natasha stepped up against Bedfordshire number 2 and in a highly competitive match she came out victorious 10-8 in the match tiebreak.  Chaaya at number one was up against a very skilful an athletic opponent in Jacqueline but unfortunately it wasn’t to be even having played well in patches.
 
Next up we had Hereford and Worcestershire, Chaaya again showing some great battling skills was trying everything possible to find her form but couldn’t quite get over the finish line in this rubber.  Neha got off to a flying start in her first match of the day.  Her opponent then pegged her back to take it to a match tie break in which Neha was very dominant winning it 10-1.  Lydia was playing an opponent with a very similar game style leading to some very entertaining rallies and after a very long encounter she won out 10-7 in the match tie break.  Natasha unfortunately had a slight niggle with her shoulder meaning half-way through her second match had to start serving underarm.  This clearly inhibited her play however she showed some great competitive skills to compete and win out 10-7 in the match tie break.  Meaning that we beat Hereford and Worcestershire 3-1 in the overall match score.
 
Towards the end of the day it gets impossible to predict what is going to happen our final opponents were Nottinghamshire.  With this in a 2-2 draw special mention should go to Chaaya who was able to find her form and get a convincing win, backed up with a very strong dominant display from Lydia.  Meaning that the girls finished the day winning by half a point on the Corby 12 Counties scoring system. 

​The boys first opponents were also Bedfordshire and they got off to a fast start blizzing their opponents with a clear win in the rubber 4-0.  Next up for them was also Hereford and Worcestershire with Yujiro and Darius competing toughly and playing well in the bigger moments.  Leon and Ethan showed a lot of heart and resilience, however it was not to be on the day meaning a 2-2 draw between us and Hereford and Worcestershire. 
 
As Hereford and Worcestershire and Nottinghamshire drew 2-2 it set up the day up for an exciting finish between us and Nottinghamshire.  Darius put in a very convincing performance winning very promptly.  In terms of quality the match of the day had to go to Yujiro against Phoenix.  The standard was very high with Yujiro doing all the right things at the right moments.  It wasn’t Leon’s day meaning that unbeknown to him Ethan was involved with a close encounter deciding whether we were victorious for the day or drawing on points with both Hereford and Worcestershire and Nottinghamshire. 
 
Well done to all the team and bring on the 18 and Under County Cup at the end of February 2020.