Men's Winter County Cup

The Bucks Men's team went to Newport to compete in an exceptionally strong Division 2a. The team had a tough start to the event, with some last minute withdrawals due to injury, followed by more injuries across the weekend.

On the opening day, we lost 5-4 to Kent, despite winning all three doubles rubbers. Michael took a three set win in his singles rubber, while Brendan narrowly missed out. The doubles is always crucial over the weekend, so it was a good finish to the day. Vijay and Lee produced a standout victory over Gusic-Wan and Brookes, a pair who had won 14 of their 15 matches at this year’s County Week.

Day two brought an outstanding Yorkshire side, including Paul Jubb whose highest ATP ranking is 180. They proved too strong across the board in a 9-0 defeat. although Toby delivered an excellent performance against Jubb in the singles, losing 6-7 5-7. There were more injury concerns, with Finn and Toby having to retire from the doubles.

The final day set up a relegation battle against South Wales, who had also lost both matches. In round 1, Finn retired to focus on the doubles, while Calum got a win to put us on the board. At 3 and 4, Lee and Brendan both lost in 3 setters, but Toby and Michael gave us a chance going into the doubles, both winning in straight sets to make it 3-3. With a change of pairs, we lost our first match, before Calum and Michael levelled it. The tie came down to the final doubles rubber, where, despite a tremendous effort from Toby and Brendan, the Welsh pair narrowly prevailed. A great effort from the team, over a challenging weekend.

Team: Michael Shaw (captain), Toby Martin, Lee Tribe, Brendan Emmanuel, Calum Fairey, Finn Lester, Vijay Prashanth