The under 12 team of Jack Draper, Jacob Fearnley and George Loffhagen started the season of Winter Cup events in fine style thumping Hungary, Ukraine and Austria 3-0 without dropping a set to qualify as one of 4 seeded teams for the finals in 2 weeks time. Next week the under 14s (Jack Molloy, Les Petits As semifinalist Max Stewart and Dominic West) and under 16s (Daniel Bennett, Joel Cannell and Marcus Walters) will try to reach their finals.
The under 14s and under 16s are under way, with the former hoping to emulate last year's success by Jay Clarke, Sam Ferguson and Marcus Walters. The current U14 team started strongly but need to beat the Czech Republic tomorrow to qualify for the finals. The under 16s also won so face Denmark in their decider tomorrow.
U14 qualifying QF
(3) Great Britain 3 Bulgaria 0
Jack won 6-4 6-1 Max won 6-0 6-1 Max & Dominic won 6-2 6-0
U14 qualifying SF
(3) Great Britain v (2) Czech Republic
U16 qualifying QF
(4) Great Britain 2 Austria 0
Daniel won 6-3 6-2 Marcus won 5-7 6-3 6-3 Daniel/Joel result not yet in
In the past we've struggled to get decent teams in these competitions but we seem to be doing better now on a more consistant basis and not having the odd fluke result
The under 16s found the French far too strong, but have done well to make the finals. The under 14s had a super win headlined by Max defeating the Tennis Europe no. 1 and Les Petits As finalist Miomir Kecmanovic (both Max and Miomir lost to the winner Samuele Ramazzotti
U14 qualifying F
(1) Serbia 0 (3) Great Britain 3
Jack won 3-6 6-3 7-5 Max won 7-6(4) 1-6 6-2 Max/Dominic won 7-6(5) 6-1
U16 qualifying F
France 3 (4) Great Britain 0
Joel lost 4-6 3-6 Daniel lost 4-6 2-6 Joel/Daniel lost 7-6(4) 4-6 10-12
Finals for the under 12s are next weekend and the other age groups the weekend after
A superb comeback yields our first under 12 Winter Cup
F
Serbia 1 GBR 2
Jack lost 6-7(0) 0-6 Jacob won 6-3 7-6(2) Jack/Jacob won 7-5 6-3
From the Tennis Europe site:
The final of the boys event in Roznov pod Radhostem (CZE) was a much closer battle, with Great Britain having to come from behind to become the first-ever non-Russian winners of this new age category of the competition.
The Brits had opened their campaign with 3-0 wins over Hungary, Ukraine, Austria, and Poland before conceding a dead doubles match in the semifinal against Belarus. Their Serbian opponents had served notice of their intent by winning their qualifying group in Kazan (RUS) by defeating the hosts and defending champions 3-0 in the final match, following wins over Romania and Finland.
The Serbs had high hopes of going one better than the girls team when Kristijan Juhas maintained his unbeaten run at the final rounds to beat Jack Draper in the first rubber. After a close first set, the Serb swept through the tie break without conceding a single point, and continued in the manner in the second set, wrapping up the match with a 7-6(0) 6-0 scoreline.
Jacob Fearnley then leveled the tie, maintaining his own unbeaten record in the competition with a hard fought 6-3 7-6(2) win over Mihailo Popovic which lasted just under two hours.
With the score at 1-1, the four players returned to the court to play the first ever deciding doubles rubber in a 12 & Under Winter Cups final. Draper & Fearnley took control of the match towards the end of the first set, breaking for a 7-5 lead and consolidating early in the second before sealing a 7-5 6-3 win.
I desperately want to make a comment here, because there are of course a number of issues this raises, but I think it would be unfair to say anything other than good job all round.