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Summer Tournament boys tennis team 2019
 

Boys tennis team beat second seed in summer tournament

Jennifer Purvis —

St Paul’s boys’ tennis team was the fifth seed out of ten teams and were placed in a tough pool with the number two and three seeds. All three team members: Simon Han, Carlin Vollebregt and Stark Sun, had prepared for difficult and close matches.

Unfortunately, in the first day, under the violent sunshine, we lost both our singles and double matches against Napier Boys’ High School, who were number three seed. However, we handled our frustration and nervousness very well and in the second day, against the second seed, Timaru College, both Carlin and Simon had tough three-set games. Carlin striked hard with a lot of confidence and managed to win his single with a close score 10-8 in the super tiebreak. Simon was once down 5-9 in the deciding super tiebreak, but managed to save four consecutive match points and win his single with 12-10. Although Stark and Carlin lost their doubles match, St Paul’s still beat Timaru 2-1.

Then St Paul's confidently took out victory against Lynfield College and Burnside High School, securing the number two place in the pool. In the semi-final we encountered the number one seed, Shirley Boys’ High School and lost after strong battles raged. In the competition for third place, we unluckily met Napier Boys’ High School again. However, this time Carlin won his single confidently, while Simon lost his single in the super tiebreak 5-10. In the deciding double match, Simon and Carlin forced the game into the super tiebreak again, but finally went down with a score 4-10. Overall, the St Paul’s boys ended up with a fourth place at Nationals and every team member really enjoyed the tournament, the valuable experience and the memories made.