DORCHESTER Tennis & Squash Club’s tennis teams have become Dorset champions in three categories of the Aegon Teams tournament, proving themselves to be capable of beating the best clubs in the county.

The club entered 10 teams across the age groups.

The successful teams were the men, who won all their matches in the County League and now progress to the play-off stages where they will face a very strong team from Bristol to fight for the right to play in National Division Two next year.

The squad of Alex White, Ben Skidmore, George Morrissey, Guy O’Neill and Kevin Willemse defeated four other Dorset clubs, with White and Willemse remaining unbeaten.

The boys’ 14-and-under team also won all their matches to become county champions. Their squad of Joe Chambers, Joe Albon, Charlie Barnett, Ellery Ford and Matthew Smith played well as a team, with Smith remaining unbeaten.

Like the men’s team, each match was comprised of four singles and two doubles pairings playing against other clubs within the county.

The girls’ teams only play in a team of two, each playing a singles and a doubles match.

Dorchester's 14-and-under girls' team, with a squad of Emily Noel, Jenna Bennett and Gabby Bennett played four other clubs and did not lose a match. In doing so they became the club’s third group of county champions.

Pauline Chambers and James Noel captained the two junior teams to their victories.

Dorchester also entered teams in other age groups with varying success.

The eight-and-under team became area champions after very comfortable wins against Shaftesbury, Sherborne and Weymouth, playing some exceptional tennis in the process.

The team consisted of Josh Jackson, Noah Mayers, Henry Theobald and Jemima Owen.

They finished in third place at the county finals after losing to a strong West Hants club in the semi-final.

The nine-and-under team, captained by Mark and Becky Sanders, lost to a very good Weymouth team in the area competition, finishing second in their league after beating Shaftesbury, Sherborne and Weymouth Seconds.

They qualified as lucky losers to go through to the semi-finals but unfortunately lost to an extremely strong team of players from West Hants.

However, they put on a good display of tennis, had a fantastic team spirit, and will hopefully go on to play together for many years to come. The team was made up of Ben Sanders, Noah Smith, Nathan Sloley, James Greig and Albert Blackburn.

The 10-and-under team fought hard to take third in their league with some encouraging performances from all the players.

A special mention goes to Ethan Robinson for some strong performances against the top players in the county, and Nathaniel Skinner for fighting to the last in his matches.

The club entered two teams in the boys’ 12-and-under league with the A team having a tough time in County Division One and finishing in fifth place.

The B team performed better in the second division and claimed third.

The boys’ 16-and-under squad were in a very strong league and did well to finish in third place, while the girls’ 18-and-under team came second to a very strong team from East Dorset.

A club spokesman said: "Many congratulations to all the players.

“For the juniors this is hopefully the starting base for years of team tennis to come.

“The club would also like to thank the parents and coaches for their support of the teams over the summer. Without them the teams wouldn’t be able to exist.”