Wilmslow High School's senior girls' tennis team have reached the National Finals of the Team Tennis National Championships (formerly known as the Aberdare Cup) at Queenswood School, Hertfordshire.
The finals will take place from 6th – 10th July and it is the second year running that the girls have reached these prestigious finals. This is particularly remarkable given the age of the team; Ellie Aldrich (year 8), Olivia French (year 9), Jess Purdy (year 10) and Gaby McKeever (year 13). The team will have their work cut out as most of the opposition will be drawn from years 11, 12 and 13 and their first round opponents are the number 2 seeds!
However, the team will be keen to improve on last year's result when they finished 12th in the country from an original draw of about 150 schools – very few of which were from the state sector. The team have taken some notable scalps on the road to the finals, including Newcastle-under-Lyme School and a strong team from Ellesmere College, Shropshire.
The same team, without Gaby and with the addition of Freya Hogg (year 9), have reached the knockout stages of the U15 National School's Competition. They have beaten Marple Hall, Loretto Grammar and gained a walkover from Cheadle Hulme School to win their group and followed this with a convincing win over Altrincham Girls Grammar. They will continue in this competition during the Autumn term.
The U13 boys' team have also proved themselves to be strong candidates for future national competitions. Having beaten Lymm High School and The Grange, Hartford they were eventually defeated in an excellent and lengthy match against Altrincham Boys Grammar School. The team of Finley Michaelis, Max Green, Miles Aitken and Pericles Philipou were a credit to the school and particular mention should go to Finley and Miles (both year 7 students) who did not lose any of their singles matches.
Guest post by Huw Williams.
