Home defeat for Charnwood A
IN the Leicestershire Winter Indoor Mixed League on Sunday, Charnwood A took on Ashby A in Division 1 at Loughborough University.
Teams have four players with women’s and men’s doubles matches followed by two mixed doubles.
In the men’s doubles, Charnwood’s Chris Cottrell and Paul Maguire took on 19 year old Tobey Johns and his 15 year old partner Ben Aldabass.
The Ashby youngsters made a fast start, taking advantage of the rustiness of their opponents to race into a 4-0 lead. Cottrell and Maguire battled back to 5-6, but ran out of time in the 40 minute timed match.
In the women’s doubles, the Ashby pairing featured 16 year old Isabella Savania alongside Julie Guzder, who is still a top player despite being a decade older than her three teammates combined!
Charnwood’s pair of Lucy Matthews and Hannah Holmes were hampered by the fact that Holmes had spent the morning running the Sherwood Pines 10k, so her energy levels were not high.
Ashby eventually edged the rubber 7-4, but this was a creditable effort from Matthews and Holmes in the circumstances.
In the mixed round, Cottrell and Matthews combined to take on the promising Aldabass and the classy Guzder.
The Charnwood pair could not really threaten this combination of youth and experience, but battled well in a 12-4 defeat.
The final match saw an exhausted Holmes partner Maguire to take on Johns and Savania. Despite a brave performance from the Charnwood pair, the Ashby youngsters had too much energy and won 9-4 to complete a 4-0 clean sweep for their team.
Charnwood’s captain Kevin Leck commented that while his team had perhaps not had the best preparation, they contributed well to a competitive match. Particular credit goes to Hannah Holmes for making the effort to play on the same day as running a 10k!