CATHERINE SLUTER, DIRECTOR OF TENNIS

As current U18 National Champions Queenswood was invited by the NCSS (National Council School Sport) to represent England at the ISF Gymnasiade 2024. The event is the equivalent to a Schools’ Olympics, with over 5000 students from across the world competing from 70 countries in 26 different sports.

We travelled to Bahrain in the first week of the October half term. We began our campaign, after the opening ceremony with the King of Bahrain in attendance, by winning our group – beating Turkey, France and Belgium. Emily N also competed in the singles event, winning her opening round.

The team then spent the day on a cultural visit to the fort and the souq, followed by a ‘nations evening’ where all the athletes got together for a festival. We were able to meet each other, and had the opportunity to perform and watch cultural dances from every nation represented at the Finals.

The following morning we began our semi-final against number 1 seeds China. The team put on a gallant show, but China proved too strong. In our bronze medal match we played Turkey and unfortunately lost in a very close match.

Ava K and Bella L also made it to the bronze medal match in the doubles category but lost to Iran in another epic three-set match in front of a rather animated crowd at Bahrain Federation Club. Emily N finished the singles event 10th in the world after some very gutsy performances in the Bahrain heat.

It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience for all the team, and achieving 4th in the world as Team England is an incredible achievement for all the players.