Josephian Annual - 2023 | Page 302

CHAPTER 5

TENNIS

2023 was a historic year for the SJI Tennis team . The SJI B-Division tennis team advanced to the semi-finals of the National School Games Tennis Championship , beating St Andrew ’ s Secondary School and Victoria Institution in doing so . It was only through sheer determination and hard work that the team managed to turn the tables on Anglo-Chinese School ( Barker Road ), who had won a decisive victory against the B-Division team in the 3rd and 4th match placing last year . The team powered through the matchup , defeating the ACS Barker team with a 4-1 scoreline to secure SJI ’ s 3rd place finish . This victory is especially meaningful as the last time SJI placed 3rd was as far back as 30 years ago .
The C-Division boys achieved even greater results , defeating ACS Barker , St Patrick ’ s School , and Raffles Institution in the group stage before beating Victoria School in the semifinals to reach the finals , where they played against long time reigning champions ACS ( Independent ). Unfortunately , the team narrowly missed out on the trophy after a series of extremely close matches . For the second year in a row , the C-Division team placed 2nd .
It is with much pride that the team would like to commend Zachary Sng ( LE202 ), who was part of the Under-14 team that represented Singapore in the Asia / Oceania prequalifying tournament for the ITF World Junior Tennis championship , and that won the tournament for the first time in Singapore ’ s history . Zachary also achieved 2nd place in the Doubles event at the Asian Tennis Federation Asian 14 & U Series Grade A 2023 in Selangor , Malaysia .
The tennis team also arranged for an inaugural friendly match with SJI Junior in May . It was a successful event as the Primary 6 boys were able to build close friendships with their tennis seniors here at SJI .
Looking back , this year has finished off exceptionally well . The team looks forward to surpassing the standard they have achieved this year as they seek to make SJI proud in the years to come .
Arjan Singh ( MN301 ) with his ‘ lightning ’ serve
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