Bilal Ahmad was one of only two Dunedin students invited to attend the tournament held in Timaru, qualifying through the Southern Region Playoff which he won in Dunedin.

Bilal put in brave efforts in his singles matches but started with two losses to higher ranked athletes. Bilal lost some games but then bounced back to qualify for a final playoff match, winning to place 5th out of 8 players.

In the doubles, Bilal was paired with Liam Howes from Nelson. They beat their opponents in the semi-final, and then won against two top seeds in a hard fought tight final to win the South Island doubles title for Year 6 and Under Boys.