Tennis aces reach the final of national schools event

The under 18 mixed doubles team of Rose Thomas and partner Ben Wilkinson, plus Lorna Bowser and partner Bradley Bullas pulled off a fantastic result as they were the runners-up in this national competition.

The four were representing the Lincoln Minster School.

Ben and Lorna are members of Horncastle Tennis Club, while Rose is a member of Woodhall Spa’s Tennis Buddies.

Teammate Bradley plays at Louth Tennis Centre.

The preliminary rounds were held throughout last year, with the team travelling all over the East Midlands.

The fantastic four managed to win all their matches, with notable victories against Leicester Grammar School and Rugby School.

As champions of the East Midlands the team were then invited to the national finals held at the prestigious USN sports arena in Bolton, Lancashire, where the eight regional champions competed over two days to find the best team in the UK.

Day one saw Minster ease past Moulsham High School (Essex), Ben setting the tone by winning the first game by serving four straight aces.

Day two saw much closer matches with Minster easing past Eastbourne College (Sussex) and then onto the deciding match against Peter Symonds College (Hampshire), the number two seeds and last year’s runners-up, to determine which team made it to the final.

After the closest and most intense match of the weekend, with some phenomenal rallies, Minster were able to squeeze through to the final.

In the final they met Millfield School (Somerset ) winners for the past few years.

Millfield proved a bit too strong but Minster battled valiantly and played some excellent tennis.

The quartet were accompanied by teachers Claire Snowden and Rachael Gladwin.