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Post Info TOPIC: Boys & Girls: 2023 Tennis Europe U14/U16 Winter Cups


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Boys & Girls: 2023 Tennis Europe U14/U16 Winter Cups


It is back, starting this week. Not necessarily the strongest teams we can put out.

https://www.tenniseurope.org/news/147944/1416U-Winter-Cups-by-Dunlop-Latest



-- Edited by DavidC on Friday 3rd of February 2023 06:27:45 PM

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The first time these events have been staged since 2020, though without the under 12s - whose events were cancelled "due to force majeure". The structure of each event is that nations are divided into 4 qualifying groups (mainly this weekend, but the under 16 boys are in Sunderland next weekend) with the top two in each group qualifying for finals in 2 weeks time.

The under 14 boys are by my calculation sixth in terms of the combined ranking of the top two players, but historical performance rather than current ranking is key to the allocation to qualifying groups. As a result GBR find themselves in a group with 2 nations (Czech Republic and Slovakia) who are higher ranked, meaning we are only third qualifying seed. Day 1 went well, as Mark Ceban and Rhys Lawlor easily disposed of Serbia 3-0 (all in straight sets), but they now need to beat second qualifying seeds Slovakia tomorrow to progress to the finals. Pavana Nrshinga is the third player in the team.



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The under 16 girls of Mika Stojsavljevic, Allegra Korpanec Davies and Abby Kelleher are top qualifying seeds in their group, and had a bye today. They face Portugal tomorrow for qualification.

The under 14 girls (Hollie Smart, Edie Griffiths and Celine Ricaud) were not ranked high enough to be seeded in their group, and lost out narrowly today to host nation Turkey. Edie won 7-5 6-1, Hollie lost 6-7(3) 6-1 3-6 before Hollie/Celine were edged out 10-8 in a match tiebreak. They therefore cannot qualify for the finals

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Good news from Austria as the under 14 boys win their crunch battle with Slovakia to qualify the team for the finals. Rhys lost 7-6(5) 7-5 but Mark beat their number 1 Leon Sloboda (TE13) 6-3 6-3 before combining with Rhys to win the doubles 7-5 6-4. They play the top qualifying seeds Czech Republic tomorrow for seeding rights



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Good news as well from Portugal where the under 16 girls also edge through 2-1 against the host nation. Allegra beat the Portuguese number 2 6-1 6-3 before Mika lost to their number 1 (who has won her last 4 ITFs) 4-6 6-2 6-1. Abby and Allegra won the doubles decisively 6-3 6-0 so they qualify and play Ukraine tomorrow for seeding rights.

The under 14 girls had an easy consolation victory against Finland (3 straight sets wins - Edie and the doubles being double bagels)

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Both the under 14 boys and under 16 girls have managed to win their qualifying groups, so will be seeded (not always a blessing in the Winter Cups as some nations use the seeding round as an opportunity to give opportunities for the third player and/or alternative doubles combination. They are less likely to do so in the Summer Cups because finishing in the top 5/6 in the finals qualifies nations for the World Juniors / Davis Cup / BJK Cup)

The under 14 boys romped to victory with Rhys winning 6-1 6-2, Mark 6-1 6-1 before Rhys/Pavana lost the doubles.  Here is the official team photo, with captain Chris Wilkinson second left  Their final is in Germany starting on the 16th

The under 16 girls lead Ukraine 2-0 with Abby winning 6-3 6-3 and Mika 6-1 6-4  Their final is in France starting on the 17th



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The under 14 girls finished with a comfortable 3-0 win over Slovenia (straight sets wins for Edie, Hollie and the two in partnership)

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The remaining qualifying group gets underway tomorrow in Sunderland - the under 16 boys, who are unseeded. The inexperienced team of Zechariah Hamrouni, Maximilian Carrier and Arthur Attrill will have their work cut out to make an impression in the group. Their opening match is against 3rd qualifying seeds Sweden, who include one player ranked in the ITF top 200

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The under 16 boys did extremely well to snatch a 2-1 win over Sweden. Max won the second singles 6-1 3-6 6-1 before Zechariah lost a 3 hour marathon to their top 200 ranked player 7-5 6-7(5) 6-4 Arthur and Zechariah then combined to win the doubles 6-4 7-6(6) Top qualifying seeds Ukraine are the opponents tomorrow, with a place in the finals at stake.

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The under 16 boys have done remarkably, despite my low expectations, and have qualified for their finals next weekend. Against Ukraine Max won 6-2 6-3 and Zechariah upset their number one (who has a 26-8 record in ITFs so far) 6-4 3-6 7-5 to secure an unassailable 2-0 lead. Playing at home seems to have been a tonic for the team, and they take on second qualifying seeds Czech Republic (who include one player ranked just outside 100 junior ITF ) tomorrow for seeding rights

Here, courtesy of @TeamBathTennis is a photo of the squad, including coach James Pankhurst and team captain Martin Weston



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A 2-0 loss this morning to the Czech Republic (Max losing 6-1 6-2, Zechariah 6-2 6-4) means the under 16 boys will be unseeded in the finals starting on Friday in France

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The under 14 finals start tomorrow and our boys are seeded 3. Unfortunately we drew France, arguably the strongest unseeded nation, who include Les Petits As finalist Daniel Jade, after his nationality changed from Lebanese

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A great first day for the under 14 boys, not dropping a set to France, with a strong performance from Rhys backed up by Mark again winning the clash between the two top ranked players in Europe. Top seeded Turkey also had a 3-0 win and they are our semi-final opponents. Their number 1 gave Mark the most trouble in Tarbes, Mark only edging that 7-5 in the third. There is live streaming of one court at least promised (I guess though that it will be the other semi between Germany and Poland) - click link from the Winter Cups page here

U14 QF

(3)GBR 3 France 0

Rhys Lawlor d. Jules Nicolas Rimbaud 6-0 6-2
Mark Ceban d. Daniel Jade 6-4 7-5
Lawlor/Nrshinga d. Jade/Lengley 6-3 6-3

SF

(1)Turkey v (3)GBR



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The under 16 finals start tomorrow. The boys are drawn against top seeds Romania while the girls are seeded 2 and face Poland in the quarter-finals

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Is there a particular reason our better known juniors aren't playing in this?

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