The sportsmanship of Shropshire’s under-14 boys tennis team was highlighted as they competed in the LTA’s annual 14U County Cup.
The boys made the long trip south to Hassocks, near Brighton, while the Shropshire girls side played closer to home in Stourbridge in the annual competition.
The boys were beaten 4-2 in their opening Group E game by home county Sussex and day two saw them edged out narrowly in a shoot-out following a 3-3 draw against Wiltshire.
But they responded impressively to round off their weekend on the south coast by beating Cornwall 4-2.
Ryan Bedwell, who captained the side, said: “Our boys battled hard all weekend to come back from a tough loss in the shoot-out against Wiltshire and convincingly beat Cornwall.
“I was really proud of the team because apart from their tennis, we received a special mention from the referee regarding our sportsmanship throughout the weekend, which is exactly what tennis is about in Shropshire.”
The boys team featured Matthew Harris, Jacob Rogers, Shinglok So, Peter Swinnerton and Matthew Weaver.
The county girls 14U team, captained by Nikki Hoy, were handed some tough fixtures in Group G in Stourbridge.
They were beaten by Warwickshire, Hereford & Worcester and Northamptonshire, but they never gave up and showed plenty of determination.
Simon Haddleton, Shropshire’s director of county tennis, said: “Our young girls team had a tough weekend but will have no doubt learnt many lessons which we can take forward in the competition next year.
“We were delighted for Clara Hill to register a well deserved win on the last day which epitomised the efforts of the team throughout the competition.”
Clara was joined on County Cup duty by Amy Dean, Isla McDonald-O’Brien, Tamzin Pountney and Imani Shah.
The next County Cup competition, the 10U event, sees qualifying rounds held on May 25 and 26, with Shropshire’s boys playing at Wrexham and the girls at Stourbridge.
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