Wales held off the challenge of Scotland and Ireland to take the honours in the 2015 Home Nations Tennis Championship in Glasgow.
The competition, played across 18U, 14U, and 12U age groups, between Scotland, Ireland and Wales, went to the final round of matches to determine the winner.
Wales U14s scored a 6-0 win over Ireland, then shared the singles and doubles against Scotland to finish 3-3, with the title determined on a count back to games.
The U18s were led by Cardiff’s Matt Story – winner of the 2015 BBC / Sports Wales Young Sportsman of the Year award – who won all four of his matches, including a straight sets win over Junior Commonwealth Games silver medallist Ewan Lumsden.
Wales beat both Ireland and Scotland by a game, to give them a points tally that ensured the trophy came back to Wales, even though Ireland took the honours in the 12U competition.
There were some notable comebacks, including Megan Davies from Wrexham who fought back from 1-5 against Scotland to take the set and the match, 7-5 6-0.
Ricky Hernandez-Tong from Cardiff came from behind against Aiden McHugh to win in a match tie break.
Finally, with the event wide open and all three countries still in a position to win, Rebekah O Loughlin (Crickhowell) and Joely Lomas (Swansea), the gold medal winners at the Junior Commonwealth Games in Samoa, produced a title winning performance to snatch the girls’ doubles from Ireland on a match tie break.
The 10U players were also in action, in a challenge match which saw Wales beat Scotland 11 matches to 1.
“It was a fantastic performance by Team Wales,” said national team coach, Ellinore Lightbody. “It’s the result of continued hard work and dedication to improve over the past four years.
“We have tried to maintain consistency and players’ belief in their ability to produce through hard work and commitment,” she added. “We had a fabulous team spirit, and Wales showed the passion and determination to come through many close matches – a credit to the players, their coaches and the team captains.”
The teams were captained by: Chris Lewis (18U), Craig Evans (14U), Ellen Jones (12U), and Emily Watson (10U).
Peter Drew, chief executive of Tennis Wales, commented: “All credit to our national coach, Ellinore Lightbody, the captains and players for this achievement. It’s further evidence of the burgeoning talent coming up through the ranks in Welsh tennis, and a great sign for the future.”
Full results of the tournament are available here: http://lta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament.aspx?id=E8F12A47-4F72-4E62-A755-4B571E9EFAB3
Information on all aspects of tennis in Wales is available from Tennis Wales at 029 20 463335 or www3.lta.org.uk/in-your-area/Wales/ and for regular updates follow Tennis Wales on Twitter @tenniswales
