18U Boys County Cup Report

Day 1: 3-6 loss vs Gloucestershire

Northants boys lined up with Joshua, Marcel, Daniel, Tanishq, Jack and Bodie, with Kasper and Oscar Laskowski unavailable.

We faced Gloucestershire on Day 1, narrowly losing 6–3 in a closely contested match.

Singles wins came from Joshua and Marcel at 1 and 2, while Bodie (4–6, 5–7) and Tanishq (three sets) were unlucky to miss out in tight matches.

In the doubles, a strong win at 1 from Joshua & Tanishq kept us in contention. However, two close losses — Bodie & Daniel (6–7, 5–7) and Marcel & Jack (3–6, 4–6) — saw Gloucestershire take the tie.

Joshua was outstanding throughout, delivering top performances in both singles and doubles.

Day 2: 2-7 loss vs Nottinghamshire

Northants faced a tough challenge against Nottinghamshire, going down 7–2 overall.

The day started with a battle at 6, where Bodie fought hard but lost 5–7, 1–6, followed by further losses for Jack, Tanishq and Daniel.

At 1, Josh got Northants on the board with a dominant 6–0, 6–1 win. An incredible effort from Marcel, who battled for over 2½ hours to win 6–4 in the third, left Northants 4–2 down after the singles.

In the doubles, despite a brave performance from Joshua & Tanishq, who narrowly lost 10–12 in a match tie-break after holding two match points, Nottinghamshire secured all three matches.

Day 3: 3-5 loss vs Bedfordshire

Northants made a strong start, with Bodie winning at 6 6–2, 6–3. Bedfordshire responded with a win over Jack Webb, before a solid performance from Tanishq at 4 levelled the tie.

An incredible effort from Marcel at 2 saw him win another marathon match 6–4 in the third after 2½ hours, putting Northants 3–2 up. However, Bedfordshire struck back, with Joshua facing an inspired opponent who levelled the tie with a 6–2, 6–4 win.

In the doubles, Jack & Daniel lost in straight sets, while Bodie & Tanishq suffered a heartbreaking 10–12 match tie-break defeat, despite leading 9–6 with three match points.

Northants’ hopes of survival ended with a 5–3 defeat (one match not played).

Mark Taylor, Captain