SEASAC TENNIS 2023

After being a week away from hosting the 2020 edition and then being lined up to provisionally host 2021 and 2022, SEASAC tennis finally returned to the courts at Patana four years on from the girls championship win in Jakarta 2019.
With division 1 and division 2 both being hosted, we welcomed 14 boys and 12 girls teams to Bangkok and with 325 matches scheduled, we were also using 4 additional courts locally to help us get through the program.
Both boys and girls teams took part in division 1 and for the first time since 2009 both the boys and girls JV teams participated in division 2.

All events bar the boys division 1 were played in groups of 6 with the group standings deciding final positions whilst in the boys division 1 eight teams took part and were split into 2 groups of 4 with the top 2 teams advancing to the last 4.

Day 1 saw the Varsity girls start well comfortably beating British School Jakarta and Harrow whilst the other three teams all won one and lost one with both JV teams defeating AIS before losing to SAIS whilst the boy’s Varsity team beat Tanglin in their opener but then found UWCD too strong.

Day 2 was no different for the Varsity girls with UWCE and NIST defeated and although matches were certainly tougher the girls fight and determination was clear for all to see. The boys Varsity team easily won against NIST to claim a semi-final berth where they were just beaten 3-2 by UWCE leaving a final day 3rd/4th play place off. The JV teams also continued to impress against their Varsity opponents with the boys downing RIS and ISY whilst the girls had two close encounters edging passed GIS 3-2 in their first one but then losing to KLASS in the second.

Day 3 saw all 4 teams in with medal chances in their respective divisions with the girls Varsity taking centre stage in a winner takes all battle with UWCD who also went into the final day with a 4 from 4 records. The match didn’t disappoint with BPS taking a narrow 2-1 lead after the singles with Mila and Rinka winning meaning one of the two doubles matches needed to be won to take the title. Both pairs understandably were nervous but Pin and Pam overcame a slightly slow start to take control and once ahead never looked back and finished the match off in style with some excellent serving and volleying to claim the title and the SEASAC championship.

With the girls Varsity team having won 8 SEASAC championships between 2011 and 2019 before the enforced Covid lay off this win featured an entirely new team of girls who gelled so well together and with the oldest still only in year 11 the team is set for a bright future.

The other three teams also battled well on the final day and although the boy’s Varsity lost out in their bronze medal match to UWCD, the JV teams finished in style with the girls beating RIS and the boys seeing off KLASS to see them both ending the weekend in medal positions with the boys 2nd and girls 3rd.

With matches starting at 8am and finishing at 8pm on days 1 and 2 followed by a nervy day 3 when overseas teams fly home so play has to finish at 1pm the courts were constantly full which was so nice to see after so long away from these events and miraculously all 325 matches were played.

Finally, these events don’t run without a massive behind-the-scenes effort from so many people who go above and beyond to ensure the event ran smoothly. Big thanks to Alice and the sports and activities team who were invaluable throughout and also to my coaching team Gift, Ball, Pie, and Rung who not only helped in many ways off the court but also dedicate themselves to making sure the students have a great time.

Dan Ahl.