Kirkham Grammar School girls crowned LTA National Champions 2021

As the traditional tennis season closed in September, the Kirkham Grammar School girls continued their pursuit to the regional tennis finals held in Sunderland during October half term. Success in Sunderland secured them a place at the LTA National Finals at Bolton Arena this weekend were they competed against the top in the country for a national ranking and title.

It was never going to be easy and Saturday started with Culford School for Girls. The occasion was huge and required nerves of steel as the singles matches opened the tournament. Hannah Culshaw was first up and whilst she played amazingly well, the Culford player had the upper hand throughout defeating Hannah 0:6.

Next up was Mia Tinsley. From the start Mia worked incredibly hard around the court winning various points and taking most matches to deuce. Unfortunately, Mia narrowly lost the set but had certainly got any nerves out of her system.

Freya Peet was next on court demonstrating some top class tennis for all to see. Freya’s performance secured the first victory of the day with a 6:4 win.

Yandy Shek was the final singles game of the morning and it was crucial that she secured a win if KGS were to have any sniff of victory overall. An amazing performance secured a 6:2 which left the score at 2:2 going into the doubles.

Matilda Loggenberg and Mia Tinsley were up first and secured a convincing victory as did second pair Peet and Shek resulting in an overall win for KGS.

The afternoon matches were against Prior Park College. Once again, the singles matches were close and down to the wire in terms of scores overall. Again, the singles finished at 2:2. Matilda Loggenberg and Tinsley were up first. Some amazing tennis and killer shots from both players resulted in a terrific victory leaving the final doubles match of the day to Peet and Shek. Another great match and victory for the pair led to a tie break shoot out as both teams were level on points. Shek paired with Tinsley to ‘shoot out’ in a doubles in what turned out to be a very close game. Unfortunately KGS lost out resulting in a Prior Park victory overall.

At the start of day 2, KGS were top of the leader board on games with all to play for against Repton School.

The day started well with a very positive performance from Culshaw in the singles, racking up three games but unfortunately losing out 3:6 to a top opponent. Tinsley was up next and although she went 1:3, she kept her cool and clawed back the games to take a 6:3 victory. Freya Peet saw off her opponent quickly with a 6:0 win followed by Shek in a highly competitive game winning 6:2.

In the final doubles matches of the day, Loggenberg and Tinsley were magnificent, seeing off their opponents very quickly in a 6:0 win. The final match of the day saw Peet and Shek take on the Repton top two. Although Repton won 3 games the KGS girls came through with a 6:3 win.

An amazing weekend saw Kirkham Grammar School crowned as the 2021 LTA National Champions – a phenomenal achievement and a first for KGS Tennis!

Head of Girls’ Sport at Kirkham Grammar School, Lindsey Osborne, said, "The way the girls played last weekend was simply out of this world. They were committed to every shot played and I can honestly say that them being crowned National Tennis Champions is the highlight of my career to date. A truly amazing achievement for a very talented team! "