St Edward's Chronicle October 2016

31 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

Tennis By Duncan Buckmaster, Head of Tennis

were unbeaten in the two fixtures, but lost to Wellington, Stowe and Tudor Hall. The U15D’s only had two fixtures and unfortunately lost both but took Stowe to the final game narrowly losing 5-4. The Shells had a very tough term; the A’s lost all 7 fixtures but their tennis has improved and this showed with how close the games were towards the end of term. The B’s won their last fixture against Tudor Hall and the C’s won against Bloxham and Tudor Hall. The final competition of the term was ISTA. We sent a senior boys’ team of Jack Power, Gregg Kratt, Ed Beccle and Henry Bray who narrowly lost to Ewell Castle and Cokethorpe on championship tie breaks. The U15 boys’ team of Alexander Martin-Lof ( The Beacon ), Gong Limsong ( Chulalongkorn University Demonstration School ) and Tom Wright ( Highfield ) and the U15 girls’ team of Bea Mountain and Daisy Chancellor ( Cheam ) were unable to make it to the second day. The U15s Hattie Harries-Jones and Kyla Haslett- Hawkins got through to the final 16 of the main competition, narrowly losing to a strong Surbiton pair.

Clara Wilson

The senior boys’ 1st VI had a fantastic season, joining the teams of 1978 and 1979 with an unbeaten record. They played brilliant tennis at times and had to dig deep on others, especially against Winchester where it came down to the final match. Other notable wins were against Abingdon, Cheltenham and Bradfield. The unbeaten team were Greg Kratt ( Swanbourne House ), Jack Power ( St Hugh’s ), Georgios Doxiadis ( St Catherine’s British Embassy School ), Theo Barker ( Thomas’s, Battersea ), Edward Beccle ( Cothill House ), Henry Bray ( Dragon ), Edward Tanner ( Moulsford ) and Peter Yakovlev ( St Andrew’s College ). The U16 boys had a very tough term; they fought well to win against Abingdon but were unable to repeat this feat. The girls’ 1st VI, led by captain Romey Oulton ( Thomas’s, Battersea ) and her partner Serena Lloyd ( Dragon ), got off to a flying start with a 9-0 win against Bloxham but were brought back to earth with tight losses to Stowe and Dean Close. However, without their first pair, the VI produced a fantastic performance against Bradfield to win a thrilling encounter 5-4. Lucy Higgins ( St Helen and St Katharine ) and Eleanore Wood ( École de l’Assomption ) were outstanding at first pair and were ably supported by regular 1st VI pair, Kitty and Flora Lloyd ( Cheam ) as well as Clara Wilson ( Cheam ) and Harriet Batstone ( St Hugh’s ).

The 2nd team comprising Lucy Kellock ( Cheam ), Flora King ( Swanbourne House ), Emily Potter ( Queen Anne’s ), Georgia Boardman ( Francis Holland ), Ella Royden ( Maidwell Hall ), Tara Wilson ( Cheam ), Natasha Tisminieszky ( Banda ) and Nicola Roberts ( Winchester House ) also started well with a 9-0 victory over Bloxham but again lost a number of their fixtures by the narrowest of 5-4 margins. The 3rd team enjoyed a perfect term, winning all of their matches, including 9-0 victories over Bloxham and Bradfield and a 7-2 defeat of Stowe. The 4ths also enjoyed good wins against Bloxham and Bradfield 9-0, 7-2 respectively but lost a tight encounter to Stowe 4-5 whilst the 5th VI comfortably won their only fixture against Bloxham 9-0. The U15A girls started strongly, winning against Bloxham but then losing narrowly to Wellington, Stowe and Dean Close before finishing with wins against Bradfield and Tudor Hall. The team included Hattie Harries-Jones ( Dragon ), Kyla Haslett-Hawkins ( Dragon ), Bea Mountain ( Highfield ), Alice Isola ( Sotogrande International ), Rosie Turner ( Cheam ) and Jess MacLeod ( Swanbourne House ). The U15B’s had a very good term, recording wins against Bloxham, Dean Close, Bradfield, St Helen and St Katharine and Tudor Hall. The U15C’s had wins against Dean Close and Bradfield where Selena Thompson ( Sylvia Young ) and Lettie Neame ( Junior King’s )

Georgios Doxiadis