The Under-16 Boys and Under-16 Girls celebrated an emphatic win at the annual Butterfly School Team Championship finals as they both came away as National Champions last week.
The boys clinched the Leah-Carrington Cup whilst the girls took home the Mick Betts Memorial Cup.
The teams proved to be a cut above the competition, with the boys winning all three matches 8-0. Ackworth’s Felix believed it was their winning mentality which helped them through:
“We were very confident and came in with a mindset that we were going to win.
“Against London Academy, there were difficult moments, a couple of fifth-setters, but we fought through. I think we’ve learned how to deal with pressure quite well.”
The quality of the girls’ team also shone through, epitomised by an 8-0 victory over third-placed George Spencer Academy. The girls only dropped three individual matches all day. One of the top performers of the day, Sandy echoed the sentiments that a strong team mentality was a large factor:
“We expected to win but we knew it was going to be difficult because it’s national level and we felt a lot of pressure because of that.
“We all stuck together and cheered each other on.”
Ackworth School prides itself on its exceptional Table Tennis Academy with a number of pupils going on to play at an international level.