ODIHAM’S young tennis ace, Ryan Golesworthy, was part of the Hampshire under-12 boys team that finished third in the AEGON County Cup divisional round held at West Worthing Tennis Club.

After a successful first day, which saw Hampshire beating Sussex, the team met the eventually winners, a very strong Kent side.

Golesworthy knew straight away in his singles match that he was in a battle but, for the first few games, he went toe-to-toe with his opponent.

As the match went on, the Odiham player’s game rose to a higher level and he took it 10-7 in the third set tie-break.

Unfortunately, Hampshire lost the match to Kent, but claimed third place with a win over Buckinghamshire as Golesworthy won both his singles and doubles matches.

Golesworthy’s second team event over the summer was another major team tennis competition.

The top club teams from the four regions of the country, the North, Midlands, South East and South West, descended on the National Tennis Centre at Roehampton over one weekend to battle it out in the Aegon Team Tennis Premier 12-and-under event.

Having been undefeated all season at singles for David Lloyd Southa-mpton Academy, Golesworthy was keen to maintain his record – and he did not disappoint, beating Nuffield Tennis Academy player James Huby 6-3, 6-3. This gained a vital win for the Southampton side.

Golesworthy and Wilson Neaves then won their doubles and that led to an exciting 10-point shoot-out in the deciding doubles match, which Southampton won.

The final was against Bromley Tennis Centre, who were seeded number one.

Golesworthy maintained his 100 per cent singles record as he beat Harvey Conway 6-3, 7-5.

However, the rest of the team did not fare as well, with Bromley proving too strong and winning the doubles matches to clinch the title.

Both the Hampshire County Team and the David Lloyd Southampton Academy teams were led by team captain Karim Aouichaoui.

He said: “Ryan has represented his county and club to the very top national level, showing some very gutsy and top quality tennis.

“He plays smart tennis, thinking steps ahead of his opponents. It makes being the on-court coach a very easy and rewarding job. Ryan deserves the important wins that he picked up due to his hard work and efforts.”

Golesworthy next played at the Grade 3 Regional Tournament at the Colbornes Woking Open.

He breezed through the tournament with wins over Zac Pacey (6-1), Yashas Puli (6-1, 6-0) and Toby Rust (6-0, 6-1), before beating Callum Thoms 6-0, 6-3 to take the under-12 singles title.

The Odiham player was also part of the winning doubles team.