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Tuesday 14 November 2017 - Kent Schools Team Table Tennis Tournament held at the Medway Park Sports Centre.
Two years ago, Dane Court returned from this event with one gold medal and two bronzes which was an achievement that would never be easy to exceed but such is the strength of Table Tennis at the school across the age range and with both boys and girls that this year amazingly all 4 teams took home medals to record by far the most success out of any of the 21 competing schools.

Pride of place must again go to the Under 16 Girls with 3 of the team , Catherine Banks, Annabel Cole and Tayla Bayley, becoming County Champions for the fourth year in a row stretching back to when they were Under 13’s. This year the Year 11 girls were joined by Beth Brenchley from Year 9 who was making her debut in inter school Table Tennis and this, if anything strengthened the team. Both group matches resulted in 8-0 wins as did the final against Highworth which meant not one game was lost throughout the whole competition.

The Under 13 Girls team had a harder time of it but the same result was achieved. The first group game against the Weald of Kent was a really strange affair with our opponents only having 2 players but both were England ranked Under 13’s and exceptionally talented. So with a 4-0 start the game ended 4 -4. Dane Court then defeated Highworth 8-0 while with only 2 players Weald of Kent could only draw 4-4 with Highworth meaning Dane Court qualified for the final as group winners. Then in a tense and close battle the team of Izzy Arezina, Amy Wright, Paige Austen and Sofia Williams managed to hold their nerve to defeat the Thomas Aveling School 5-3 and clinch another set of gold medals.
The Under 16 Boys team of Louis Lines, Jayson Morley-Stone, Josh Relph and Nik Krzeslowski were all drawn from Year 9 meaning they were often competing against boys up to two years older but this did not stop them defeating both Orchards Academy [ 8-0] and Leigh Academy [ 6-2] to top their group. Then a tremendous contest ensued in the Semi Final against St. Johns which saw Dane Court suffer a 5-3 defeat and so miss out on a place in the final. However the boys picked themselves up to win the third / fourth play off by 5 games to 3 against the Howard School and so gain bronze medals.

Finally the Under 13 Boys went one better than their older counterparts by reaching the final. This team really does have amazing potential with Jake Stevens, Ben Allinson and Henry Mason all Year 7’s and very accomplished players. They were joined by Year 8 Riley Watkins to top their group with wins against the Judd School [5-3] and St. Johns [8-0] leading to a Semi-Final against a strong Tunbridge Wells Boys Grammar School side who Dane Court managed to defeat 5-3. The final unfortunately proved a bridge too far against a powerful Skinners School team who had knocked out the favourites, and last year’s winners Herne Bay High, [the draw definitely favoured Dane Court] and the Tunbridge Wells boys ran out 8-0 victors. This though was a very unexpected and thoroughly deserved silver medal for the Dane Court team.

Images Kent School Games