Game, set, and match – College wins SI title
04 Mar 2024
Christ’s College has overpowered highly competitive rivals to claim the South Island Secondary Schools Championships tennis title, 4–0, at Wilding Park.
With Lucas Evans, Franklin Barry, Jack Hansen-Ratter, Nick Rayner, and Louis de Lautour in outstanding form, St Andrew’s College has been unable to match the strength and accuracy of the College serve and volley.
Further reflecting the strength of tennis at College, two school teams have featured on the court, with up-and-coming players Yul Kwon, Tasman Daly, Lester Lai, and Tiger Wang finishing fourth.
Master-in-Charge – Tennis Josh Kim says that he “could not be prouder of the boys”.
“Every player gave their best and they never gave up on a point,” he says. “It was a brilliant team effort against highly competitive opposition, particularly when facing Ashburton College.
“Both Franklin and Lucas demonstrated great leadership and sportsmanship – both on and off the court – throughout the tournament, inspiring the whole squad.”
While comfortably accounting for St Andrew’s College in the final, the games against Ashburton College were the toughest.
“Among the standout performances, Franklin played a marathon match over two hours to beat the Ashburton College player, 6–7(5), 6–4, 10–7 in the super tiebreak. It was a gritty performance. And the games against Ashburton followed a hectic Athletics Day for the College boys, with the tennis players having competed in an array of track and field events before heading to Wilding Park the next morning.”
Equally, the younger players have also stepped up at the South Island event.
“The skills of the younger players bode well for College tennis. And it was great to see Year 9 student Tiger Wang tackle a senior competition.”
Next up, the top team will head to Auckland for the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships in March while Yul, Tasman, and Lester will play in the New Zealand Secondary Schools Cup in Wellington.
