SEASAC tennis this year was held in Jakarta for the very first time at BSJ in their new indoor tennis centre. Both boys and girls teams traveled in good spirits after having won the BISAC titles the weekend before. The girls had an additional challenge this year as number 1 player Balloon was competing in the U16 Thailand team play off event so unable to travel.
The group stages went well with the boys defeating BSJ, NIST and TTS to top their pool whilst the girls beat BSJ, Harrow and UWC East to also go through in first place.
In the semi finals both teams would face off with UWC Dover whose boys were defending champions and whose girls we had narrowly beaten in last years final. The boys were first to do battle and although Mark Nielsen had an excellent win at No 2 we lost the other 4 matches against a slightly stronger team to go down 1-4. Undeterred by this the girls went into their match determined to get the upper hand and produced an almost immaculate performance winning all 3 singles and the top doubles to win 4-1 and secure a place in the final.
Finals day saw the boys back in the winning circle comfortably beating BSJ 4-1 to claim 3rd place and a well deserved bronze medal. Special mention once again to Mark Nielsen who remained undefeated all weekend,Jonah Tuggener who was playing his 5th and final SEASAC - these two were nominated as Patana's MVP's and to Penne Charusorn who was making his debut even though he is only in Year 6.
The girls final was against BISAC rivals NIST and a team we knew would relish the chance to play us. The girls although a little nervous were once again up for the challenge and didn't disappoint. Clara Boucher and Prae Thanunmanee who had been dominant all weekend at first pair doubles set the wheels in motion winning the first match 8-4 and although top seed Moniqa Nielsen battled hard she wasn't able to add to the lead so NIST drew level. The remaining three matches although not necessarily close score wise produced many long and fine rallies. Zahra Poonevala was next to win for Patana at No 2 singles having an excellent win against her opposite number but no sooner had she done that our number 2 doubles pair Pammy Leenabanchong and Prim Phanratanamongkol slipped to defeat to leave the match 2-2 with Rhea Poonevala our number 3 singles player still on court. Rhea like her twin sister Zahra have been stalwarts of many Patana teams throughout the years and both were playing in their 5th and final tennis SEASAC. Rhea stuck admirably to her game plan and played some fine tennis to establish a 7-1 advantage which then became 7-2, 7-3 and then 7-4. With a raucous crowd cheering every point Rhea finally got over the line on her 4th match point to win 8-4 and claim the girls 8th title in the last 9th years and further cement their position as Patana's most successful sports team in the 24 years of SEASAC.
As Head Coach i was immensely proud of both teams who had as ever committed throughout the season and during the Christmas holidays to become the best they could be. For the girls it really was an incredible weekend and they stepped up to the challenge of missing Balloon and showed not only themselves but all they played against that they are a complete team.
This was the 12th SEASAC tennis championship we have won in my 12 years at school and it is still a massive thrill when one or both teams are successful and i know how keen the next generation of players are to carry this forward.
Thanks also goes to Coach Gift and Coach Pie who spent many hours with the teams and whose knowledge is vital to the students.
Teams:
Girls: Moniqa Nielsen ( Captain), Zahra Poonevala, Rhea Poonevala, Clara Boucher, Prae Thanunmanee, Adelia Liew, Pammy Leenabanchong and Prim Phanratanamongkol.
Boys: Jonah Tuggener (Captain), Mark Nielsen, Penne Charusorn, Amery Chen, Julien Vandlik, Mark Chan, Toon Vanabriksha and Nisal Liyanage.