It has been a busy week on the tennis courts for Howell’s School, with teams from Year 3 and 4, Year 5 and Year 6 representing Cardiff in the South Wales Age-Group Finals.
On Thursday 22nd June, the Year 6 team (Anya DA, Hana E, Michelle M, Ellie C) played in the Mini Green Finals at David Lloyd Leisure Centre. After great wins against Ysgol Gymraeg Ifor Hael (Newport; 5-1) and Ystrad Mynach Primary School (Caerphilly; 6-0), the girls won a thrilling contest against Newton Primary School (Swansea) on points 55-49 after splitting the six tiebreaks 3-3. Team HSL took their unbeaten record into the final match against St. Andrews Major Primary School (Vale of Glamorgan). Despite a great victory for Anya in her opening singles tiebreak, the girls went into the doubles matches 3-1 behind. A spirited fightback ensured Team HSL tied up the match 3-3, but this time the girls were on the other side of a points-determined match, losing out 57-49. As a result, the Y6 team finished 2nd in South Wales and capped off a great summer of tennis!
The Year 5 team (Grace C, Issy C, Emily T, Olivia T) followed the great Year 6 performance up with one of their own on Monday 26th June in the Mini Orange Tournament. It was a convincing display in the group stages, as Team HSL defeated Cleddau Reach Primary School (Pembrokeshire) 6-0, Evenlode Primary School (Vale of Glamorgan) 6-0 and Ysgol Gymraeg Y Fenni (Abergavenny) 5-1. The girls took this momentum into the semi-finals and managed to win all four of their singles tiebreaks against Ystrad Mynach Primary School (Caerphilly) to proceed to the final. As Y Fenni also won their semi-final, the two teams met again in the final, with Team HSL once again winning 5-1 to be crowned South Wales Champions. It was a great tournament for Grace, Issy, Emily and Olivia, who also won the Mini Red South Wales Final last year and will look to complete the hat-trick with a Mini Green triumph next year.
The Mini Red South Wales Final for 2017 took place on Tuesday 27th June at House of Sport in Leckwith. The team (Mati H-D, Lauren H, Rhea M, Celeste R) defeated Rougemont School (Newport) 6-0 in their first contest, but met their match in St. Andrews Major Primary School (VoG) in their second game, losing 4-2. The semi-final was a thriller, with Ysgol Gymraeg Llwynderw (Swansea) winning the first two singles tiebreaks. Team HSL fought back and won the following two singles tiebreaks, before using this momentum to win the two doubles tiebreaks and win the match 4-2. Unsurprisingly, the girls met St. Andrews Major Primary School in the final and lost out 5-1. It was a very impressive day of performances from the girls in Year 3&4, who are looking forward to Wimbledon and a tennis-packed summer!
