Rackets at the Ready!
Tennis Season Update – Friday 27th June 2025
Inter-Year Doubles Champions
Whilst we wait to see who is crowned 2025’s Wimbledon Champions in 2 weeks’ time, we know who our Inter-Year Doubles Champions are! Congratulations to Mya, Lily & Aleyha (played as a rotating trio) in the U4th, and to Arhan & Dhruv in the L4th on their victories. We had two splendid finals with Mia & Violet (U4th) and Ishaan & Jeevan putting up a great fight. A special well done to the Prep 2 pupils – Celine, Irina, Rory, Alex and Lucas – who entered the event and played with great enthusiasm, all day.
Bancroft’s – Greenhouse Partnership Festival
For the 3rd year now, we have run this festival and 4 schools whose tennis programme is provided by the Greenhouse sports charity took part across the whole day in this doubles event. 28 teams from St Paul’s Way Trust, Clapton Girls Academy, St Anne’s, Sarah Bonnell and Bancroft’s were involved and we ended up with an all St Paul’s Way Trust final. The following Bancroftians were selected as Tennis Ambassadors for the day and hosted our guests brilliantly: Elyssa, Hannah, Amelia, Helena, Kyra, Bea (Thirds); Elora, Tayba, Arissa, Aliyah, Liliana, Hsian Wen (Rem); Zara, Bethan, Jasmine (L4); Alex, Jamie, Asvin(U4th) .
U12 Aces!
Congratulations to the U12A Girls Team who have had an UNBEATEN season! They secured wins over New Hall, Queenswood, Chigwell, Colfe’s, St Nicholas, Latymer and Brentwood, and then last Saturday they managed a nail-bitingly close 5-4 win over Highgate to give them a 100% winning record! This is a superb achievement and one ee are very proud of. Congratulations to all the Thirds girls who have done their bit this season to achieve that unbeaten record.
Inter-House Winners
After 8 Inter-House events across all year groups, here are the winning Houses across the 3 sections of the School:
Junior School Boys: WEST
Junior School Girls: SCHOOL
Middle School Mixed: SCHOOL
Senior School Mixed: NORTH
Tennis Season Update – Friday 13th June 2025
Boys FUNbledon Championship
Following on from the girls’ event before half term, the boys FUNbledon Championships took place on June 4th…in somewhat soggier conditions! 28 boys from 3rds/Rems signed up and, just as with the girls, most of them were complete beginners when they started playing at the start of this term or last year and they have come on so much in such a short time.
And now the results…
CHAMPIONS: Jayden & Anvik
FINALISTS: Ted & Lakshman
3rd: Clement & Ruhaan
4th: Arjan & Aydin
Highest points scorers beyond 4th place: Rajan & Aarushan
The following pairs also took part and were a delight to spend the evening with: Shayaan & Abhi & Harry, Connor & Elias, Adam & Oscar & Ruhaan, Will & Sevak & Evan, Zak & Zayd & Ibby, Victor & Isaac, Wahab & Andrew.
Fixtures against Brentwood
The U12 mixed tennis team arrive home with a fabulous 23-21 win against Brentwood.
44 well contested matches were played and the team got delicious waffles for match teas as their reward!
Tennis Season Update – Friday 16th May 2025
Fixtures against Latymer
Week 3 of the tennis season began with an U14 mixed fixture against Latymer. A big well done to the girls, who stood firm against a strong school team made up of club and county players. It was no easy task, but they didn’t give up. Sienna M, Mia B, Bethan P and Cordelia C-W showed great resilience, while Zara K and Jessica T recorded an impressive win and a draw from their three matches.
The boys’ team were involved in a tense, down-to-the-wire tie. Arhan J, Dhruv D, Arthur S, Yuvraj G, Archie C, Sam S, Spencer M-S and Shalen A combined really well and secured enough wins over Latymer’s second and third pairs to take a 5–4 victory.
Promising Wins
Later that afternoon, the U12B/C girls teams had their first fixture against Chigwell. All the extra practice at Thirds Tennis Club paid off with a 12–5 overall win. That gave them great momentum for their next match later in the week against Colfe’s, where they secured another win, 18–8. Congratulations to Sheila K, Jenna R, Khadija A, Sienna S, Bella G, Sophia R, Omotayo O, Maira C, Julia B, Aaria A, Jenny F, Alice M and Aina V on an unbeaten afternoon.
At the same time, the mixed U12A team travelled to Latymer for a competitive battle, narrowly losing 8–12. Well done to Rajan N, Adam N and Aarushan T on making their team debuts.
From the Thirds to the Seniors, who had an away match at Chigwell on Wednesday. Jonathan V-G, Aryaan K, Luca B, James B, Benji S, Joseph W, Shravan S and Yusuf S edged out a 5–4 win. The girls team of Amelia W, Neha S, Hadassah A, Marisa C, Kimaya S and Hannah G picked up three solid wins against Chigwell’s third pair, but couldn’t quite get past their top two pairs.
On Thursday, the mixed U15 team beat St Edmund’s College 13–5. Ivy Z, Violet Z, Shriya D, Maya S and Gia G won all of their matches — a fantastic performance.
Haileybury Tennis Tournament
Week 3 finished with a busy set of block fixtures against Brentwood, along with the U12/13 Haileybury Team Tournament.
At Brentwood, twelve boys pairs from Thirds to Fifths took part. Our top four pairs, led by Shrey J and Martin D (Fifths), won their section 7–5, and Nathan P and Ryan G stood out by winning all three of their matches.
The U12/13B girls team lost 4–8 but looked especially sharp in their matching team scrunchies, hand-sewn by the ever-creative Tayba N.
Congratulations to the combined U12/13A Girls team, who finished second overall at the Haileybury Team Tournament. Competing against Haileybury, St Edmund’s College and Highgate, the ten pairs played some excellent tennis. Well done to Liliana R, Anastasia G, Helena P, Mia S, Ana F, Grace R, Aaditri P, Aliyah A, Molly D, Amelia P, Amelia B, Reshmi S, Amber L and Bella G on some lovely play. Elora K and Elyssa F won their Pair 1 Tournament, with Bea P and Hsian Wen T, and Bea M and Hannah F also among the top-scoring pairs.
Assessment week didn’t include any fixtures, but it was brilliant to see so many Bancroftians still attending after-school club sessions — a great example of balancing studies and sport.
We also had the Thirds Girls Inter-House A Team Tournament, with the B Team event coming next week. North took the win this time, continuing the strong form seen in the senior matches. With East and School currently tied in second place and West still in contention, the B Team tournament could still shake things up.
Many thanks to all the pupils who have represented the school this half term, and to their parents for supporting with the many drop-offs and pick-ups.
Tennis Season Update – Friday 2nd May 2025
Tennis Season Off to a Flying Start
The sun and fun were in no short supply on the courts over these first two weeks of the tennis season. There have been LTA Team Tennis fixtures galore, with the girls and boys U13A and B players putting in some truly “ace” performances against Forest, St Paul’s Way and Roding Valley. The talented Removes – Elora K, Liliana R, Ryan M, Ishaan S, Benji B, Aran N, Jeevan P, Georgi T and Sami S – have been joined by some very skilful Thirds who have added to the strength in depth.
Very well done to Siddharth N, Aaryan R, Kirill G, Elyssa F, Bea M, Hannah F, Helena P, Alice H, Kyra V on making their debuts for the U13 combined team.
Mixed Fixture vs New Hall
Last Saturday saw 65 Bancroftians taking on New Hall in a mixed block fixture. Congratulations to the U14 and U15 girls on their 11-3 win and to the U12 girls on their 8-4 win in their first fixture – Helena P, Amelia P and Molly D made a flying start with 3 out of 3 wins.
The boys teams all showed great heart and battled away but were edged out of overall wins by more experienced New Hall players. Arthur S and Spencer M-S in the L4th were the players of the day though with 2 out of 3 wins.
Recent Wins and House Tournament Highlights
On Monday the U13 mixed team travelled to St Edmund’s College and recorded a fine 14-4 victory and on Wednesday the boys U14 team recorded a 6-0 win over Roding Valley.
The first Inter-House tournament of the term was also played on Wednesday and the Senior title was won by North yet again! A mix of 5ths/L6ths/U6ths took part and it was a lovely afternoon of competitive tennis, played in good spirits.
Well done to Jonathan V-G, Aryaan K, Shrey J, Benji S, Amrita S, Amelia W and Agnes B on bringing the trophy back to Ms Prescott-Morrin!
Play Your Way To Wimbledon Tournaments
On Thursday 1st May, 24 girls and 28 boys from Thirds-L4ths took part in the U14 Play Your Way To Wimbledon tournaments. Round-robin formats then led to quarter-finals and a series of Plate events giving everyone a chance to play several matches against others of a similar experience level.
Congratulations to Elora K (Rem) and Jake S (Rem) on their victories and they both advance to the County Finals where they have a chance to qualify for the National Finals on the grass at Wimbledon!
Elyssa F (Thirds) and Arhan J (L4) competed brilliantly in the finals, and well done to the following for winning their Plate events: Tanure B and Toby P (Thirds), Mia S (Third) and Seo T (Rem), Anastasia G (Rem) and Ted M-W (Third).
A special mention to all the Thirds who made it to the quarter-finals in their debut performances: Helena P, Alice H, Bea M, Elyssa F and Kirill G.
