Michelle Ahn
October 25, 2019
From September 19th to 22nd, the HKIS Tennis teams flew to the International School of Beijing (ISB) to compete in China Cup. Although the competition was fierce, the HKIS Dragons dominated the tournament. The Boys Varsity, Boys Junior Varsity (JV), and Girls JV brought home titles as champions, and the Girls Varsity team shortly followed for second.
As last year’s China Cup Tennis was canceled for our teams due to Typhoon Mangkhut, many players were especially nervous. “Most of us were going in blindsided… only a few of us had attended China Cup before,” said Abby Davis (10), from the Girls JV team. “I just knew HKIS had brought home back to back championships before, which was even more pressure.”
Heading into the tournament, the teams also felt that they lacked the skill set they acquired last year, as many star senior players had graduated. In the Boys Varsity team, 3 of 6 new players had to fill the shoes of the past seniors. “I was scared we lost our dynamic,” Subin Shetty (10) said, from the Boys Varsity team. “Our tennis teams always did so well. It’s so much pressure to win, especially with the seniors gone.”
As the results reveal, however, the teams’ nerves were exceedingly compensated for by their remarkable performance. The players agreed that a crucial reason for their success was confidence and composure. “Confidence is key,” said Andrew Liu (12), from Boys Varsity. “Tennis is 90% a mental game, so if we believe that we have worked harder than our opponents, we can accomplish anything.”
Once the teams found their key to success, China Cup became “banter and more about having fun,” said Josh Kim (9). The teams unanimously agreed that their new philosophy was what led them to have such a high-spirited and energetic tournament. “Tennis is a very individual sport,” Andrew said, “but once we built confidence in each other, we were unstoppable—I’ve never had a team with so much passion before.” Andrew, along with his teammates, believed that their confidence, energy, and passion, is what led to the success in China Cup 2019.
In the midst of challenge during sports, athletes often forget what drives success. To the HKIS Tennis team, success is driven by confidence, passion, and high spirits. Over the next few weeks in both APAC/JPAC and ISSFHK, the HKIS Tennis team will continue to rise above adversity utilizing this new philosophy.
