Qualifying:
The Girls 10U County Cup group qualifying event was held at Sherbourne LTC in Dorset over the weekend of 18th-19th May. The Hampshire & IOW girls battled in South Group E, against Dorset, Wiltshire and Surrey.
Team Captains: Lottie Howard, Sarah Rutherford and Joe Revelle
The Team: Maia Ambroze, Diana Florence, Sophia Rutorova, Isla Skeates
Scoring Format: 2 Fast4 Sets, with a 7-point tiebreak at 3-3.10 point tiebreak to be played at 1 Set all. No AD scoring.
Day 1 – Match 1 vs Wiltshire
The girls brought great energy in the first round of singles matches with all winning convincingly, giving Hampshire & IOW a 4-0 lead after singles. The doubles pairs were Isla & Diana and Sophia & Maia. Both pairs showed fantastic teamwork, and we took both rubbers, leaving the final score against Wiltshire, 6-0.
Day 1 – Match 2 vs Dorset
After a few rain delays, the girls were back on ready to take on Dorset. The positive team moral maintained throughout, and the girls walked away with all 4 singles rubbers, again giving Hampshire & IOW a 4-0 lead after singles. The same pairings took to the doubles court, and achieved the same result, leaving the final score against Dorset 6-0.
The 10U girls were unbeaten on Day 1!
Day 2 – Match 3 vs Surrey
The winner of this tie would qualify for National Finals, so we knew we had to be on our ‘A’ game. Sophia and Maia unfortunately just fell short to their high-level opposition in singles, however, Diana and Isla kept impressive composure and won both their matches, levelling the score after singles at 2-2. Looking ahead to the doubles, we decided to keep the same doubles pairings as the previous 2 matches, Sophia & Maia and Isla & Diana. Surrey and Hampshire & IOW took a doubles rubber each, sending it to a shoot-out. Nominated to play the shoot-out was Isla & Maia, whilst the rest of the team, captains and parents supported from the sidelines. The girls smashed it and took no prisoners, winning 10-3, making Hampshire & IOW the Group E winners, and earning themselves qualification into the South area National Finals.
National Finals
The girls 10U County Cup South National Finals event was held over the weekend of 8th-9th June at David Lloyd Southampton… ‘home turf’ for our girls.
The opposing counties: Avon, Berkshire, Essex and Middlesex
Team Captains: Lottie Howard and Jack Ison
The Team: Maia Ambroze, Diana Florence, Sophia Rutorova, Isla Skeates
The scoring format was the same as for qualifying.
Day 1 – Match 1 vs Avon
The girls were full of energy, eager and hopeful for an exciting weekend ahead. Sophia and Maia put out a great level of competitiveness in their singles securing 2 wins for the team. Isla and Diana followed and took care of business winning both their rubbers, leaving Hampshire & IOW with a 4-0 lead after the singles. Pairs Sophia & Maia and Isla & Diana took to the court for doubles, which resulted in one win and one loss, giving Hampshire & IOW a 5-1 win over Avon.
Day 1 – Match 2 vs Berkshire
Next up were Berkshire. Sophia and Maia put up a good fight but unfortunately just fell short to Berkshire’s 3&4 players. Dynamic duo, Isla and Diana came out swinging and equalled the playing field at 2-2 going into the doubles. After some tough deliberations, we made the decision to switch up the pairings to Isla & Sophia and Diana & Maia. This decision paid off as both pairs were victorious, giving Hampshire & IOW a 4-2 win over Berkshire. 2 teams down, 2 teams to go…
Day 2 – Match 3 vs Essex
We knew Day 2 would be a tough challenge with Essex and Middlesex awaiting. Sophia and Maia competed well but it wasn’t to be, and Essex took the 3&4 singles rubbers. Isla and Diana were impressively stubborn and held off the Essex 1&2, bringing Hampshire & IOW to a level 2-2 after singles. Sticking to the same pairs as the Berkshire tie, the girls fought super hard, and both matches were pushed all the way into a third set. Unfortunately, Diana & Maia just narrowly lost, but Isla & Sophia kept their cool and managed to secure the win, sending the team into a shoot-out. The nominated pair for the shoot-out was Isla & Diana. The girls aced it and gave all supporters a spectacular display of doubles. 4-3 win over Essex.
Day 3 – Match 4 vs Middlesex
The girls were nervous going into this match as they knew they were playing for the trophy. Maia & Sophia lost their singles, Sophia only narrowly losing out in a championship tiebreak, however, both never gave up and showed incredible fight throughout. Diana dug in to win a tight contest over the Middlesex 2, and Isla showed the competitor she is and comfortably won over the Middlesex 1. The score, yet again, was 2-2 after singles. Pairs Isla & Sophia and Diana & Maia took to the doubles court. The girls gave every bit of energy they had left, and showed great competitiveness and resilience in the doubles, but Middlesex proved to be just a bit too strong and took the edge, resulting in both pairs losing and an overall 2-4 loss for Hampshire & IOW.
The Hampshire & IOW 10U girls finished 2nd overall! Team Captains, Lottie and Jack, were blown away with the outstanding effort from all in the team over the course of the weekend. It was an incredibly long challenging weekend, but the girls kept their spirits high throughout and demonstrated what a strong cohesive team should look like. An amazing achievement for Hampshire & IOW, and one that will be difficult to top. All the girls should be very proud of themselves!
Lottie Howard – 10U Girls Captain
