July saw the Leicestershire Boys 12&U County Cup Team secure an impressive 6th place finish at the national finals.
The qualifying weekend in Northampton was a nail biter, where the team of Louis Marsden, Jobim Ffrench, Aaron Jinks and Oscar Holmes, went undefeated against 4 other counties, the crucial win coming against Warwickshire in a deciding tie-break and backed up with an incredibly impressive team display against a highly rated Notts team. The team came away with great records on the weekend, Louis winning 5 out of 7, Jobim 3 out of 4, Aaron 5 out of 6 and Oscar 3 out of 3 and the team as a whole showed a level of maturity far beyond their years.
The win in qualifying meant the team headed to Bolton to fight it out for their final national placing. With Jobim unavailable, it was left to Louis, Aaron and Oscar to fly the flag for the county and they did so admirably against some strong opposition, with their key win coming in the doubles against Shropshire and guaranteeing them 6th place. Captain Jonny Rudge said "to see the boys go into qualifying expecting to be competitive but hold their nerve and win some really crucial matches was really pleasing. County cup is a great event where team morale is key and I think we worked together brilliantly at times. I couldn't be prouder of their efforts and the way they conducted themselves throughout"
The boys will likely do battle against each other at the end of August at the junior County Championships take place and it'll be interesting to see who comes out on top!