Thursday 5 March 2026
Day 1
Inspired by giant-killing wins by Declan Tanhe (Year 10, Major) and Jaedon Gin (Year 13, Greenbank), the leading King’s College tennis players recorded eight victories in their twelve matches on a busy opening day of the Auckland Secondary Schools Champion of Champions Tennis competition held on Wednesday 4 March. The event, which pitches the top tennis players in College Sport Auckland in a knockout tournament, saw some encouraging performances over the course of the day.
In the Senior Boys Singles, Jaedon Gin provided the highlight of the day with two victories. His first was a routine 6-0, 6-0 victory over Rocky Thein in his last sixteen game before he produced a stunning victory over second seed and much higher-ranked opponent Sunny Wang from Pinehurst in his afternoon quarter-final.
Trailing 3-6 in the first set, Jaedon showed great grit and determination to win the second set 6-0 before showing the greater stamina and game sense to win the super tie-breaker 11-9.
In the other Senior Boys Singles game, Harry Driscoll (Year 11, Selwyn), playing up in the Seniors instead of his Intermediate level, was well beaten by Sunny Wang 0-6, 2-6 but played some good tennis against his higher ranked opponent and Harry will be a player to watch in the future.
In the Senior Girls Singles, Chloe Rawlence (Year 12, Marion Bruce) proved too strong for Sophie Crampton in a 6-0, 6-0 whitewash, whilst Zoe Driscoll (Middlemore, 13) turned up only to disappointingly find her opponent had withdrawn to earn her a win by default.
In the Intermediate Boys, Declan Tanhe continued his excellent form this year with a stirring victory over the higher ranked third seed Charles Kindt from Auckland Grammar School. Declan won the first set 6-3, lost a thrilling second set tie-breaker 6-7 before going on to edge a dramatic super tie-breaker 11-9 to claim a notable victory. Jacob Bargh (Year 11, Marsden) lost a competitive last sixteen game against Raymond Huang from Rangitoto 5-7, 1-6.
In the Intermediate Girls Singles, fourth seed Samaara Robin (Year 11, Marion Bruce) proved too strong for Jessica Wang and cruised to a comfortable 6-2, 6-1 victory. Margaux Barham (Year 11, Middlemore) was on the wrong side of the ledger in her see-saw last sixteen match against Rosie Richardson and went down 6-2, 2-6, 5-10 in the super tiebreaker.
In the Junior Boys’ Singles event, it was a tough learning experience for our young players who both went out on the first day against higher ranked opponents. Zach Maloney (Year 10, Averill) lost to the third seed Ryann Wang 0-6, 3-6 but Kingsley Wang (Year 9, Marsden) won his opening game with a comfortable 6-2, 6-1 success over Andrey Yanchyn before succumbing to second seed Kai Serlachius-Williams 0-6, 0-6 in his quarter-final match.
There were mixed results in the only doubles matches for King’s players played on Wednesday. In the Intermediate Boys’ Doubles, the pairing of Declan Tanhe and Jacob Bargh defeated Kayden Chong and Jay Hong 6-3, 6-4 in their opening match before almost upsetting top seeds Charles Kindt and Yida Wu from Auckland Grammar School in their semi-final eventually losing 6-1, 4-6, 5-10 in an exciting super tie-breaker.