A big congratulations to the U15 and U13 Tennis teams who competed in the National Finals at the weekend. 10 girls representing Talbot Heath headed up to Bolton on Friday to take part in the year 7/8 and year 9/10 finals at Bolton Arena where the top 4 schools in Britain challenged to be National Champions.
Around 2,400 schools started in the competition and Talbot Heath teams qualified for this event after winning the County and Regional rounds. On Saturday both teams faced winners from the North and Midlands and the U13 team won both matches 6-0 and the U15 team won 4-2 and 6-0. On Sunday the U15 team faced tough opposition from the South Division with number one seed Queenswood and despite fighting to the last ball Queenswood ran away with an unassailable 4-0 victory. The TH team of Lola, Nancy, Sophia, Keira and Poppy can be very proud of the amazing tennis they put on display over the weekend. Their team spirit and their resilience to come Runners-Up at Nationals and 2nd in Britain is a fantastic achievement.
The U13 team of Dani, Iraja, Emily, Sophie and Sayuri faced first seed Putney High School who again looked strong and the first 3 singles went to Putney despite some very competitive matches and great tennis from TH. Facing an uphill battle at 3-0 down, team TH needed to step up a gear with Dani showing a very strong performance to claw back a win in her singles to make the score 3-1. Then came the doubles and Sophie and Iraja paired up to produce a dominant performance to keep the match alive 3-2. Dani and Emily went on court knowing only a win would draw the match level and their amazing groundstrokes and net play earned them the win to make the score 3-3. To decide the match a 10 point tiebreak shoot out was needed and Dani and Iraja were chosen to decide our fate. The girls played some outstanding points and were mentally strong coping with the pressure situation. They edged in front and held their nerve to win out the tiebreak 10-6 and take home the win for TH! A fantastic achievement to be crowned National Champions!
Well done to all of the girls who played such a high level of tennis throughout the weekend and were a credit to the school. Also a big thank you to the Tennis Academy coaches from West Hants who have supported the girls in the run up to this event. Thanks also to the staff who accompanied and supported the girls throughout the event: Sarah Camp, Lou Lindon, Liz Fox and coach Adam Glynn.
