The Varsity Tennis Team Competes at APAC in Beijing!

Photo from grade 11 Laura M.

On October 16, the Varsity Tennis team took off to Beijing for their end-of-season APAC competition! This year was their Super APAC competition where 11 schools competed. Due to the size of the competition, the competition was split into two divisions. There was the APAC Dragon division that consisted of 6 schools: International School of Beijing (ISB), Shanghai American School Pudong (SASPD), Shanghai American School Puxi (SASPX), Seoul Foreign School (SFS), Brent International School Manila, and our own AISG team. The other division was the APAC Pacific division with Western Academy of Beijing (WAB), Concordia International School of Shanghai (CISS), Taejon Christian International School (TCIS), United Nations International School (UNIS), and Hong Kong International School (HKIS).

The tournament was separated into categories: Singles 1, Singles 2, Doubles, and Mixed Doubles. Each category competition was worth one point and one point split between boys and girls for the mteam. On the competition’s first day and a half, the team represented our school in a group competition. For the remainder of the time, the team played individual round-robins. The format was an 8-game Pro set with no deuce.

Our Varsity team did well from winning matches to supporting each other. Grade 11 Ethan described the atmosphere as exciting and “on fire”. He said, “You can hear people shouting and cheering all the time and you can see people sitting around the courts and supporting their teammates and friends.”

Similarly, grade 10 Franziska enjoyed the competitive, yet supportive atmosphere on and off court. She said, “The APAC tennis at ISB had a lively atmosphere, while there were deafening cheers from each team after a point was won during games, it was all about meeting new people as well as becoming friends and acquaintances when we weren’t playing.”

Grade 12 Nangpa also enjoyed the welcoming atmosphere as he said, “The players and coaches from other schools were friendly, creating a positive, competitive spirit. The students at the host school were especially kind and supportive, which made us feel right at home.”

The players enjoyed many moments off the court, taking part in team-bonding activities. Grade 9 student Claire described her experience off the court as enjoyable, as it allowed her to connect with her teammates after a long day of competition. Despite the anticipation and nervousness that the competition brought her, she found it fun to engage with others.

For many players, the highlight of the event was a mix of emotions. In the mixed doubles team, Laura highlighted specific games that were among her most memorable moments. She described her thrilling comeback with her partner, “The most memorable highlight of the event for me was our second game against SFS. Me and my partner just finished another game against Brent a short time ago before we started this one. Since we lost to Brent because we’re both slow starters, we got to show our skills in the second one fully, and finally won by 8-1.”

Her partner, Ethan, reflects on their achievement of being in the semi-finals but just missing out on the final match. “Even though there are ups and downs throughout different games and ending up with 4th place is kind of sad, being one of the teams in the semi-finals feels great.”

On the other side of the court, Franziska mentioned the admiration she had for the finalists in each of their respective categories. Many members of the team described their learning takeaways from this tournament, like Franziska. She recalled watching the finals and feeling “awestruck” by the top players competing at such an impressive level. She expressed how these games were some of the most intense matches she had ever watched.

There were also many memories made off the court. For Claire, one of her highlights was the overall trip. “I loved being able to play against different schools and overall, just enjoyed the experience. I also enjoyed the freedom of devices and curfew which contrasts with the China trip where rules were really strict,” she said.

At the end of the event, Franziska thanked her team for making her season 1 Tennis season an exhilarating experience. She wrote, “I had a lot of takeaways varying from new friendships to more competition experience and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to participate in this tennis season.”

The APAC tournament is the last competition for the tennis team this year. As they reflect on their competition and season this year, they are also looking forward to competing next year. Claire is hopeful of achieving an even better result next year, “Although nobody got in the top three, we were all very close and after experiencing the strength of the other schools, I think AISG has a clear chance of at least getting into the top 3 if we work hard.”

Aside from the players, their coach, Mr. Fuang, commended them for their hard work and the improvements they all made throughout the season. Mr. Fuang is a new coach this year for the tennis team. However, he adapted well to the team as Ethan shared, “I think that the season was overall very fun, especially the energy that Mr. Fuang brings to the team, the jokes, the humor.”

His coach shared his insights on the team’s overall performance, along with comments from coaches from other schools. “Our girl’s double team played tie-break almost every time during the individual round-robin tournament and was so close to 2nd and 3rd place. Our girls’ singles also fought hard and were well-recognized by other coaches. For example, some of the coaches saw us play during Tri-Cities and have said to me that our girls’ team has improved so much.”

He also mentioned the team’s initial self-doubt coming into the competition. He said, “They came into the tournament thinking they were very different in level and would be crushed. However, they fought hard and realized that they were not all that far apart after all.”

For the overall school team competition, the boys’ team came 5th, and the girls’ team came 4th. With the individual round robin, our standout moments were the girl’s double team coming in 4th, the boy’s double team with 5th place, and the mixed double team coming 4th. Finally, the boys’ team also received the sportsmanship award.