Thursday, November 01, 2001

A Report from the East Glos Team at the National Junior Club League Finals

A Report from the East Glos Team at the National Junior Club League Finals.

Sophie Wilkinson, Phoebe Owen, Abigail Royston, Res. Rachel Owen. Charlotte Eley, who played in all the preceding matches, was unable to play in the finals because of a school commitment.
Triumphant East Glos U13 Girls Team return with National Junior Club League Trophy.
The finals of the Junior Club League Under 13 girls took place at Gosling Park, Welwyn Garden City from Friday 26th - 28th October.
We travelled up on Friday ready for a practice at 4.30pm. Our 1st doubles match unfortunately began late but both Abigail and Sophie performed well although they had never played together before. The first match was a fairly comfortable win as the score was 6-3, 6-2. Phoebe was able to rest until the following morning.
The hotel rooms were suitable enough for a good night's sleep ready for an early rise on Saturday. Practice was at 8.30am Saturday morning and at 9.00am the first singles match started. Phoebe was first on. Unfortunately for Phoebe, being first on meant that her nerves kicked in and she lost in a difficult match! Abigail was next on and had a tough opponent! Although the score was 1-6 ,2-6, this didn't really reflect the true score! We were now drawing with the other team 2-2. It was now up to Sophie to win her singles and to secure a place in Sunday's final. She blew her opponent off court with a final score of 6-1,6-1. Sophie had saved the day and we were now in the final!
The final took place on Sunday, starting with the singles. Phoebe had a tight first set, which she lost 4-6 .She played very consistently but then her opponent took advantage and won the next set 6- 0. We were then 1-0 down but managed to pull back to 1-1, once Abigail had won her 3 set singles match. Sophie was next to play to bring the score to 2-1 and she won convincingly 6-0,6-0 ! All that was left now was the doubles match and both Abigail and Sophie playing well together won the match 6-3,6-0!
We had now won a National Title!
We were all thrilled by our success having risen to the big occasion. The atmosphere was electrifying! We were presented with a magnificent trophy and a stylish plaque for each of the players.
Semi-Final: East Glos bt Park Langley (Kent) 3 - 2
Final: East Glos bt West Bridgeford (Notts) 4 - 1
[Note: the matches are 3 singles and one double, with one point for winning a singles, but 2 points for winning the doubles]

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