Islanders pushed to the limit in four-nation event

TEAM CI found the competition tough at Caversham. Six Sarnians were in the squad at Les Ormes Indoor Tennis Centre: Pieter Theron, who captained the senior men; Patrick Ogier and Rob West in the under-17 section; and Nick Thiebault, Catriona Rizzutto and Katie Gouyette at under-13 level.

'The atmosphere and cameraderie of the teams were electric,' said Hugh Raymond, tournament director of the Channel Islands Lawn Tennis Association.

The tournament, refereed by Keith Derwick, was voted a huge success by the players and coaching staff.

Even heavy rainfall could not take the gloss off the event, said Raymond.

'Many of the senior players have world rankings and their junior counterparts are on the way to being established tennis players.

'There is no question that with the right facilities and the right coaches, many of our players will be able to take part in this type of event in the future,' he added.

There were outstanding and confidence-boosting singles wins for Ogier, Theron and Thiebault.

Theron and Pankhurst, Ogier and West, and Thibeault and Cohen were successful in their doubles, with all three pairings going to exciting tie-breaks.

'Despite the weather, the event was a great success and one we should encourage more often.

'Also, the number that attended from Jersey was excellent and thise parents and teams from Ireland, Scotland and Wales were impressed with the tennis and the facilities provided,' said Raymond.

On the first day of competition, the women opened with a 3-0 defeat of Ireland and the under-17 girls a 2-1 win over Scotland, but otherwise the opposition proved too strong.

The girls had the same result on day two, this time beating Wales, while the rest of the teams were out of luck.

And on day three, there was success for the under-17 boys, a 2-1 defeat of Ireland.

The under-17 girls finished second in their group, as did the senior women. The under-17 boys were third, while the rest of the squad was fourth.

Overall, that gave Team CI 11 points. Wales, with four category first places and two thirds, took the overall win with an impressive 20 points, four points clear of Ireland, with Scotland in third place on 13 points.