Six of Cambridgeshire's junior players travelled to UEA Norwich today to compete in the annual Eastern Region Single Sex tournament.
The tournament brought together teams from many surrounding counties, and had entries in U13, U15 and U17 categories. Teams comprised of two players, who each played a singles and a doubles together in a match.
Cambridgeshire's entries were all in the U15 category, although many players were younger. In the Boys' competition, Cameron Foo and Peter Du started slowly again a strong Norfolk A team. Having settled into their game, they went on to win comfortably against Bedfordshire B, followed by a nailbiting match against Herts B - winning 21-16, 21-18, 21-20.
That led them to a 3/4 place play-off against Suffolk, which was another extremely hard-fought match. Although the final score was a 3-0 loss, Cameron and Peter could hold their heads high after fighting bravely, and scoring 19-21, 20-21, 17-21.
In the girls' competition, Sophia Abbott and Ghazal Seidi played as Cambs A, while Alice Bates and Rachel Owen played as Cambs B.
Both pairs had excellent group matches, with the girls fighting hard but also enjoying their games. Sophie and Ghazal won through to the 5/6 play-off, which they won confidently against Hertfordshire B 21-18, 21-12, 21-8.
Alice and Rachel entered the 7/8 play-off, against Suffolk B. Rachel's confidence grew as she won her singles 21-15, but in a point-for-point doubles with Alice, Cambs lost 18-21. That left the match and final position riding on Alice's singles, which went neck and neck to the changeover, but then she picked up the pace and won 21-14.
The entire tournament was played in excellent spirits, and all the Cambs players had a fun time. Many thanks to the parents who helped out on the day: Paul Abbott, and David and Roxane Owen.