18U County Cup 2023

Captains Reports for 18U County Cup 2023

Boys 18U County Cup, Division 4 (playing at Norwich)

Captains: Tom Spinks / James Pugh

Team: Charlie, Josh, Finn, Mathias, Jasper, Jay, Max, Will

Day 1 v West of Scotland

Unfortunate to play on the first day as we were the two strongest teams. Good start with wins from Max and Mathias for a 2-1 lead, but West of Scotland were very strong at the top end winning all singles at 3,2&1. We managed a doubles win at 3 to make it 3-4 in the tie, but again two strong doubles teams make the first day result a 6-3 loss.

Day 2 v Norfolk

Strong start for Avon with Max, Jay and Mathias winning singles, then followed singles wins for Josh and Charlie which sealed the win for Avon with a 5-1 lead. Ended up losing all three doubles to finish with 5-4 win.

Day 3 v Cumbria

Cumbria was the weakest in the division and this was highlighted by Avon winning all six singles relatively easily. We then played one doubles match making the score 7-0, which meant the division places were all decided.

Avon finished 2nd in the division so remain in Div 4 for next year.

Congrats to Max and Mathias for winning all their singles matches and to the team for their efforts and banter throughout the trip.

Girls 18U County Cup, Division 2a (playing at Edgbaston)

Captains: Lizzie Flint / Martyn Bray

Team: Nehir, Martyna, Alice, Savanah, Sophia, Edie, Izzie, Jess, Dhruthi

Our very young girls team played in Edgbaston for their 18s County Cup event against Essex, Warwickshire and Kent in Div 2.

This already puts them in approx the top 12 teams of the country, so a challenging weekend.

We started off against Hertfordshire, arguably the strongest team in the group, with 3 of their players ranked in the top 20 in the UK. So after some battles, we weren’t quite there and lost 7-2, but good wins from Izzie and Edie/Jess in doubles made the match competitive.

Next was Essex with only 1 top 20 player and with another great win. In doubles from Jess and Edie managed to go down fighting 6-3 but all 3 doubles were very close, meaning we were near to winning 5-4.

On the final day, a win was needed against locals Warwickshire.

All the girls played solidly for a great 6-3 win to keep the team in Div 2, where 6 out of 9 players all have another 3 years in the event.

Also special mentions to Edie in her last year, winning 5 out of 6 matches and a great effort to win all 3 doubles with Jess. Dhruthi for all her commitment and support to the county over all her junior years and to Martyna, also playing in her last year.

A huge and special thank you to Lizzie Flint, for all her hard work at the event, but more importantly her dedication to Avon over the years. She is stepping away from Team Captaincy and county work, for the time being. Lizzie has given the county some very special moments, with many of these girls and myself, especially including last years great feats in Captaining these 😁

(Please note Dhruthi arrived after the photo was taken)