Shropshire Star

Holly Mowling makes a mark in Miami

Shropshire’s ladies tennis captain Holly Mowling enjoyed helping Great Britain’s Over-35s team finish seventh in the Young Seniors World Team Championships in America.

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The Bridgnorth Tennis Club coach, on the winning side in all three matches she played, described taking part in the International Tennis Federation event as the highlight of her playing career.

Hugh Jaques, originally from Shrewsbury and now playing his tennis at Warwick Boat Club, also lined up in the prestigious event at Miami Beach after being selected to represent Great Britain men’s Over-40s team.

Having previously been given the honour of captaining England in an international tournament, Mowling featured in three of Great Britain’s five ties in the USA.

Each tie consisted of two singles matches and a doubles match, initially on a round-robin basis in the group stages, before it then became a play-off draw to determine the final position of teams.

Mowling, from Broseley, was joined in the GB ladies team by captain Lindsay Cunningham, from Berkshire, Somerset’s Natalie Ayton and Hampshire’s Debbie Hale, her doubles partner.

The first group match saw GB defeat Argentina 3-0, with Mowling and Hale winning their doubles match 6-2, 6-3.

The duo also teamed up in style in game two, prevailing 6-1, 6-2 as GB overcame the challenge of Australia 3-0.

The final group match saw GB beaten by second seeds France, with Mowling sitting this one out.

The defeat ended GB’s hopes of emerging with a medal and they went into the play-offs to determine who would finish from fifth to eighth place.

Mowling and Hale once again won their doubles rubber 6-1, 6-1 as GB were edged out 2-1 by Canada, but GB responded well to overcome Paraguay 3-0 to secure seventh spot overall.

Mowling said: “It was an amazing experience representing Great Britain and being part of a great team of players in such a prestigious event.

“This is the highlight of my playing career and something I am very proud of. Coming away with three wins from three matches is something I can be very happy about. I enjoyed the whole experience and it was great to see players from all over the world.

“It was great to have another Shropshire player representing Great Britain in Hugh. It’s a huge achievement having two players from little, rural Shropshire representing GB!”

Jaques’ team, which also featured Surrey’s Mark Beim and Warwickshire’s Thomas Wride, came up against some very tough opponents with the standard extremely high. They ended with a record of three wins and three defeats to eventually finish in 15th place.

In the group stages, they beat Turkey 3-0, Jaques partnering Beim to a 6-1, 6-2 doubles victory, but lost by the same scoreline to Argentina and Denmark.

In the play-offs, GB beat Costa Rica 2-1, but then lost 3-0 to Norway before signing off with a 3-0 success against Mexico.