These prestigious matches are for players who have not played in County Week / Cup matches within the last five years and included the winner and runner-up from the top County Singles Ladder league.
The Hampshire & IOW Team was:
1 James Rosenthal, 2 Conor Doyle, 3 Callum Li, 4 Ed Blake, 5 Sam Li, 6 Charlie Dryden, 7 Laurence Channing, 8 Matt Morris
The idea is to promote, encourage and recognise the quality adult players we have outside of the County Week team within Hampshire & IOW.
The format was similar to a Winter County Cup with all players playing two singles and a doubles.
Dorset had a strong team with five ex-County Week players playing.
After the first singles we had stormed into an early lead going 7/1 up. Great performances from all players, we all jumped on them early!
In the second round Dorset were warmed up and all the matches started to have that County Week feel and were much tighter. We still came out 6/2 winners with great performances again from all.
Next came the doubles…
Dorset were now fully warmed up and that competitive county match atmosphere continued. All matches were tight, but we came out 3/1 winners for a total win of 19/5 (doubles counted for double points). A quality performance from the Hampshire & IOW team.
Praise goes to James, Conor, Callum and Matt who won all 3 rubbers and all were controlling their matches very effectively. The doubles was particularly good to watch. Four quality matches that could have gone either way.
The day had a great feel with approximately 50 supporters from both sides coming to watch and cheer on. Hopefully we can continue this interest as we have county training each month towards the next match or tournament, as there seems to be a great buzz around these matches.
There is County Training each month for anyone who is interested in playing in these matches. You can contact Sandra at the County Office for full details – Sandra@hampshireiow.tennis.
Results:
| James bt Tim Jarvis 6/4
Conor bt Ben Pritchard 7/5 Callum bt Tom Nation 6/0 Ed bt Owen Blakely 6/0 Sam Lost Alexis Paris 4/6 Charlie bt Jack Trent 6/0 Loz bt Jake Russell 6/4 Matt bt Greg Booth 6/2 |
Ed Lost Tim 0/6
Charlie Lost Ben 6/7 James bt Tom 6/1 Conor bt Owen 6/2 Callum bt Alexis 6/0 Sam bt Jack 6/1 Matt bt Jake 7/6 Loz bt Greg 6/2 |
| Ed/Charlie Lost Tim/Owen 6/2 4/6 10/6
James/Conor bt Ben/Alexis 6/3 6/1 Sam/Callum bt Greg/Tom 6/1 7/5 Matt/Loz bt Jake/Jack 6/2 4/6 10/2 |
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We are in the process of organising more County matches and tournaments for the future.
Julian Godfrey – Men’s Captain
