Culford School are National Senior Students tennis champions again for the second successive year. Following the success of the girl’s team in 2010, Culford’s mixed team were crowned AEGON team champions after a nail-biting victory in the finals at Bolton Arena over the weekend of 18–20 March.
The team of Charlotte Harpur, Joe Matta, Constantin Schmid and Jessica Silva had comfortable group stage victories over Runshaw College, Worthing College and Truro School to end with a final against Ellesmere College. In dramatic circumstances Culford overcame a 2-0 deficit after the first round of matches to draw 2-2, with Jessica Silva and Joe Matta performing heroically to claim an unexpected victory against the first pair.
The final was then to be decided on a tie-break shoot-out, with Constantin and Jessica representing Culford and the winners to be the first to reach 10 points. After finding themselves 2-5 and 3-6 down Culford held their nerve to win 10-7 and were crowned champions for 2011.
The Culford boys team of James Elden, Joe Matta, Constantin Schmid and Marco Mitev-Will were also represented in the national finals and finished a highly credible equal 3rd. They were only denied a place in the final after a narrow tie-break shoot-out defeat against Queen Mary’s College.
David Hall, Culford’s Director of Tennis, said: ‘The players coped superbly under pressure, and this was testament to all the work that they have put in to prepare for the finals. One of the keys to our success was the fantastic team spirit, with the players supporting each other throughout the whole event.’
This is Culford’s ninth national title in the last four years across various age groups. Culford pupils benefit from the use of a championship-standard four-court indoor tennis centre, which enables year-round play and the opportunity to combine a high performance tennis coaching programme with full-time academic studies. The school also offers a scholarship programme for talented players.