Guernsey's young tennis stars have defeated Jersey in the first inter-insular held in the Channel Islands for many years.
The weekend's games saw matches in Jersey and Guernsey with the older players cross to Jersey for the Under 18 tournament, and the 14 and under playing in Guernsey.
After the eight singles matches in the 18 and under category the scores were level at 4-4 meaning either island needed to win 3 out of the 4 doubles matches to clinch the trophy.
Through a number of exciting games, the Hiscox U18 Boys won 5-1 and the Hiscox U18 Girls lost 2-4, giving Guernsey the overall win 7-5.
Coach Rob West said some of the games were particularly close and it was "a great day for tennis".
“There were some really long and impressive singles matches in both the boys and the girls fixtures," he said.
"Two of our Guernsey players lost out in close Champions Tie Breaks, and so we could easily have been ahead after the singles. It was truly a great day for tennis with a high standard of play from all competitors. Personally, I’m obviously very happy for Guernsey, but all players were a credit to themselves, their coaches and their Clubs. This has been a great warm up for this year’s County Cup matches when Guernsey and Jersey will join forces to play in the UK.”
Pictured: The U14 Boys in their team sweatshirts thanks to sponsor Hiscox.
In the younger categories, Guernsey's Hiscox 14 and Under boys were leading 3-1 in the singles at lunch. With a clean sweep in the doubles, they won convincingly 5-1.
Coach Jo Robinson said: “I am hugely proud of the way the boys played today, with focus and commitment. It was wonderful to see them all supporting each other and creating a great team spirit. With Luca Robertson, our youngest player, only 11 years old, the future is exciting for tennis in Guernsey and I hope this will spur them on to keep training hard and working to improve.”
Jack Bachmann, Captain of the U14s, agreed that it had been a great day of tennis.
“It was an amazing experience to play for Guernsey," he said.
"I think the team played the best we could, as the results show. It was nice to be able to get to know the Jersey players a bit more which will help for when we play together in County Cup later this year. Our kit made us feel like a real team so thank you to Hiscox for supporting us and making this weekend possible.”
Rupert Dorey added: “It was an incredible experience today. Nerve racking at the start, but then we all relaxed. I loved playing with Jack in the doubles. It was fun to play in a competition as a team with the other players from Guernsey."
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