Game Set and Match and Check mate

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Above are pictures of South Canterbury juniors who participated in the annual quad held in Dunedin last weekend.It was a great contest with all cups up for grabs until the final round.Unfortunately South Canterbury came up short this year losing a few close contests.Pleasing however was the form of the boys in all age divisions for South Canterbury, the 14s never lost a single rubber ,and the 12 boys dropped only 2 matches for the whole weekend.Whilst a few regard this event as important for selection to Southern teams it is my idea that this should not overshadow the reason you participate.The first and foremost is the fact you are representing your provence whether you are the Number 1 player or the number 4th player and you are participating in a team environment not an individual event. The number 4th ranked team mate is just as important as the Number 1 ranked player , Otago had success with this at the weekend, whilst no superstars they where indeed solid from Number 1 to number 4 and it was this strength that saw them clean sweep all the cups.These events are all positives for juniors that compete winning or losing everyone learns from participating.Against Southland we lost a 12s tie by a single game and then lost a count back in the 12s against Otago, every game you win, every set you win regardless if you have lost the match is very important in the overall outcome of a match.Juniors often can fall into casual play after winning the first set easlily.Theres an old saying in sport "never give a mug an even break" if you can win a set 6-0 or 6-1 make sure you repeat this intensity in the second set.