Pearson tennis team defend mixed title
Pearson successfully defended their title in the 18th edition of the mixed doubles tennis tournament hosted by Selborne and Clarendon Girls’ in East London at the weekend.
The Summerstrand school sent out an early message to their rivals when they defeated Grens 36-0 in their opening match.
They followed that with a comfortable 25-14 win against Stirling High and finished off their pool matches in style by outclassing St Andrew’s College-DSG 28-10.
In the semifinals on day two Pearson came up against hosts Selborne and Clarendon and the support of a big East London crowd.
But the Gqeberha team held their composure, resulting in a comprehensive 20-4 win, securing a spot in the final.
Stirling beat Grey-Collegiate in the other semifinal, meaning that the two sides would face off again to decide the tournament winners.
As in many finals, there were nail-biting moments and the scores were level after the singles matches.
But Pearson regrouped and their winning mentality kicked in, resulting in the Summerstrand school winning all the doubles matches to transform the match into a 23-14 win for their second title in a row.
Besides winning the tournament, Pearson also proved to have most of the tournament’s standout players, with the following players winning the best player in their positions:
Boys: Michael Opperman (best number six), Joubert Steyn (best number five), Petri Reynolds (best number four), Keaton Holm (best number three) and Keagan Grobbelaar (best number two).
Girls: Audrey Yossakamlouk (best number three) and Amy Stuart (best number one).
The Pearson girls’ cricket teams have shown their prowess this season with a recent successful tour to Cape Town.
To end the season, Pearson hosted a two-day cricket festival which included Collegiate, Alexander Road and Westering.
The girls performed well with both bat and ball, and a number of players produced standout performances, showing their match temperament.