Shrewsbury tennis aces all set for National Premier League Finals in Leeds

Shrewsbury tennis aces all set for National Premier League Finals in Leeds.

Tennis players representing The Shrewsbury Club are excited about the challenge of taking on the country’s elite teams after qualifying for the Hunters National Premier League Finals for the second year in a row.

They will head to Yorkshire to take part in a prestigious indoor tournament - which features professional tennis stars - at David Lloyd Leeds after booking their place among the top club teams in the UK by winning a play-off match in Bristol last month.

The competition involves doubles matches and is played on a round-robin basis, with the Shrewsbury team drawn in the same group as Somerset’s Millfield School and Draycott Stoke.The action starts on Good Friday and will continue throughout the weekend, with the final taking place next Monday, April 17.

British Davis Cup ace Dan Evans and Marcus Willis, who reached the second round at Wimbledon last summer before losing to Roger Federer, both competed in last year’s event.
Jonny Marray, who won the 2012 men’s doubles at Wimbledon, is among the leading players taking part this time and will play for defending champions Cardiff Metropolitan University while host club Leeds can call on the services of Liam Broady, a former British No 3 and currently ranked just outside the top 300 in the world.

The Shrewsbury Club team were one of the top 12 sides in the country at last year’s event, beating the Northern Lawn Tennis Club from Manchester before losing narrowly to hosts David Lloyd Leeds in front of a vocal crowd, with captain Alex Parry and his team mates relishing the atmosphere at the event.

Parry will again captain The Shrewsbury Club side, which also includes Ed Gibbs, Luke Henley and Simon Ferguson, who is a coach at the Sundorne Road venue. Nigel Hunter is the team’s manager.
Parry, who also captains the Shropshire men’s county side, said: “Hopefully we can go one step better than last year by winning our group and qualifying for the next round on Sunday. Everybody’s playing better than they ever have, so you never know what can happen.We’ve got Millfield and Draycott Stoke to play in our group and we know a few of the Draycott players as they represent Staffordshire.

“We’re really looking forward to the tournament and there will be a lot of good players there, the likes of Jonny Marray and Liam Broady, who was once runner-up at junior Wimbledon, but also ex-Davis Cup players such as David Sherwood and Arvind Parmar. It will be a great experience and there’s not many teams from Shropshire who get to play in a top national event like this in successive years.” 

Pictured: All set for Leeds is The Shrewsbury Club's tennis team, from left, captain Alex Parry, Luke Henley, Simon Ferguson and Ed Gibbs, with, second right, Sam Owen, from club sponsors Budgen Motors, who have provided the team with a car to take them to Yorkshire.