The GB under 16 team cruised to a 3-0 victory over Israel. Hannah won 6-0 6-0, Mimi 6-4 6-1 and Hep/Hannah took the doubles 5-3 4-1. Whether it will be third seeds Spain or Turkey they will have to beat to qualify for the European finals is still to be decided, as that match has gone to a decisive doubles
The under 18 results are now in. A 3-0 win over Portugal (Imogen winning 1-6 6-1 7-5, Hannah 6-0 6-2 and Gabia/Hannah 6-2 6-2 so they do earn a crack at the Slovaks
Spain won the doubles yesterday to face Great Britain, with a place in the finals at stake. The singles have gone as expected - Hannah winning 1-6 6-2 6-3 and Mimi losing to Charo Esquiva Banuls (JWR26) 3-6 5-7. Again it rests on the doubles.
Despite a fine win by Gabia over the JWR15 (Nina Vargova) the under 18 team lost 2-1 to Slovakia. Gabia won 3-6 6-4 6-3, Imogen lost 6-1 6-4 to JWR3 Renata Jamrichova, and Imogen/Hannah lost the doubles 6-2 6-1 They will play Turkey for 3rd place in the group tomorrow
Incredibly close but the under 16s have kept their hopes alive of qualifying for the Junior Billie Jean Cup thanks to a 4-6 6-4 [10-8] win for Mimi and Hannah in the deciding doubles. Spain will be in the BJK Cup anyway as hosts. We can join them if we finish in the top 5 at next week's finals. Defeating Latvia tomorrow in the seeding match would help us avoid the very strong Czech team in the key quarter-final matches (which supply 4 of the BJK qualifiers)
Another victory via the doubles today for the under 16s, but on this occasion the scoreline in the doubles was emphatic (in fact all 3 matches had bakery products). Both GB and Latvia drafted in their third player for the singles, and Hep won that encounter 6-2 6-1. Mimi then lost the number 1 singles 2-6 1-6, before she and Hannah romped through the doubles 6-1 6-1
The upshot is that the team will be seeded 2 (behind the Czech Republic) for the finals starting Monday (in the Czech Republic). Although the U16 Summer Cup has been going since 1977 Great Britain has never won it, showing both the challenge for British players of winning on clay and the strength of certain nations (the Czech Republic or Russia have won 9 of the last 10)
The under 18s finished 4th in their qualifying group after a 2-1 defeat by Turkey (Gabia winning her singles)
Hi David - sorry for not following the structure ! So which age groups are now into world finals and which are European cup finals - in essence what stage are we at in all these various events as Ive lost track!!
Hi David - sorry for not following the structure ! So which age groups are now into world finals and which are European cup finals - in essence what stage are we at in all these various events as Ive lost track!!
U14 Boys & Girls finished their European Cup and successfully qualified for the World Juniors which start on Monday (see preview here with links at the bottom to stats for all the participating nations)
U16 Boys & Girls are into the European finals starting Monday involving 8 nations, with the additional carrot of Davis Cup (6) / Billie Jean King Cup (5) places up for grabs (Spain as host nation for the Billie Jean King Cup has the sixth place, but we knocked them out of the European final)
The draw for the European Summer Cup under 16 finals has taken place and we face Germany, probably the strongest of the unseeded nations (they lost to the Czech Republic in the seeding round) led by 2022 Les Petits As champion Julia Stusek (WTA 888). The winners of that tie reach the semis and also book one of the 5 available places in the Junior Billie Jean King Cup
Another nailbiter but again the under 16 girls team win a decisive doubles to guarantee both a semi-final place here and a Billie Jean Cup slot in November
Hannah again won both singles and doubles - her singles opponent today wasn't shabby either, having won a J300 event on clay earlier in the year.
Their semi-final opponents Serbia have a strong number one, so the odds are on another decisive doubles tomorrow
U16 QF
(2)GBR 2 Germany 1
Hannah Klugman beat Sonja Zhenikhova 4-6 6-3 6-0 Mingge Xu lost to Julia Stusek 6-4 2-6 0-6 Klugman/Xu beat Stusek/Zhenikhova 4-6 6-4 [10-6]