IC of Luxembourg vs IC of Ireland 19th-21st July 2013

Team Captain Report on IC fixture v IC Luxembourg, Friday 19 July to Sunday 21 July 2013
at The Spora Tennis Club

Result - Match drawn 4-4

Team IC Luxembourg                                                     Team IC Ireland

 Glenn Barnich                                                                   Ronan Reid

 Paul Hoffmann                                                                  William Guiry

 Henri Reiter [Capt]                                                           Robbie Harrold

 Guy Loos                                                                          Jimmy Wilson

 Lucien Goeders                                                               John Goggin

 Francois Krecke                                                               Martin Daly

 Magdalena Zdenovcova                                                   Eimear Sloan

 Danielle Meunier                                                              Patricia Lord

 Koppes & Milenkovic [Mens Doubles]

Tennis

 Fixture commenced with 8 singles on medium/fast red clay in hot sunny conditions. Keenly contested singles finished honours even at 4-4 [see all results below]

IC Lux No 1 lady, Magdalena Zdenovcova is a former WTA Tour player from Czech Republic with career high ranking of 180. It was a superb performance by Eimear Sloan to push Magdalena to 6-4 in first set.

 After very enjoyable lunch at Spora Club the afternoon Doubles consisted of 2 Mixed and 2 Mens.

 IC Lux Husband & Wife Team, Magdalena & Henri proved too strong for Eimear & Ronan despite strong second set from IC Ireland.  Our second Mixed, Patricia & William restored parity at 5-5 with a comprehensive win.

 IC Ireland 1^st Mens Doubles were the sacrificial lambs and went down to very strong IC Lux 1^st Doubles.

 IC Ireland 2^nd Mens Doubles Martin & John secured the overall fixture draw with a 10-5 champions tie break victory.

 The 6-6 result was highly satisfactory against a very strong IC Lux Team. As well as a former WTA Tour player they also had a couple of gents playing one level below Bundesliga.

Hospitality

Our hosts excelled in the hospitality department from the moment they greeted us at the bus station. They ferried us to and from our Hotel all weekend.

 IC Lux Team Captain, Henri made all of the arrangements including a very special Hotel deal.

 We were entertained to drinks and dinner in a converted brewery on Friday evening [Pete Lowther & Celine joined us for drinks].

Immediately after the conclusion of the tennis on Saturday our hosts served champagne on the lawn.

 On Saturday evening we were hosted at a private club in the centre of Luxembourg for drinks and dinner. We were joined by IC Lux President, Jose and his partner, Spora Club President, Robert and his wife, former Lux WTA player Anne Kremer [career high ranking 17] and many other spouses and members.

 Post the formalities many of our hosts joined us on the streets of Luxembourg where we enjoyed the annual music festival and one or two beers well into Sunday morning.

 
Summary

IC Lux were magnificent hosts, it is hard to imagine how they could have done more for us.

 IC Ireland was a great mix of youth and experience and we gelled very well as a Group.

 Objective one was to enjoy ourselves and no doubt this was achieved. The very creditable draw as well as having so much fun and making new tennis friends was the bonus.

 It was a privilege and a pleasure to captain IC Ireland Team.

Thank you