Student Life at International School Bangkok

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Student Life at International School Bangkok

PantherNation

Student Life at International School Bangkok

PantherNation

Prepping for Gold – Varsity Girls Tennis Exchange

Prepping+for+Gold+-+Varsity+Girls+Tennis+Exchange

This year, the Girl’s Varsity Tennis team consisted of nine players who traveled to Jakarta: Varisa Limpijankit, Jaja Rattanajan, Yi Fan Loo, Alina Chan, Ginnie Na-eak, Darin Sumetanon, Pancake Hetrakul, Xuan Fan Loo, and Yuki Setoh.  This year’s exchange team is made up of two seniors, one junior, five sophomores, and one freshman.

screen-shot-2016-11-23-at-9-08-12-amOn the first day of exchange, the ISB girls played on the JIS courts against ISKL shortly after landing in Jakarta, at 4:30 PM.  The girls played four singles and two doubles.  Their first game proved to be a success, as they won 2-5.  The exchange was off to a good start.

On the second day, the ISB girls set off to play against SAS on the Jakarta International Tennis courts at 6:45 am.  The sun was out and it was dry all morning, leading to feelings of exhaustion among many of the girls.  The JITA courts also were not covered, and it was much harder to watch the games. The ISB girls lost against SAS, 2-6, but gave every match their best shot.

They chose, however, to take this experience as a learning one.  Marion Den Hartog, the Varsity Girl’s Tennis coach, states, “It was a great learning experience for all to play the strong girls of SAS.”

After the defeat, they traveled back to the JIS courts to play against TAS. Their spirits were quickly lifted when they had a record breaking victory against TAS, winning 6-1.  It is needless to say that they were all extremely excited by this.  

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The last match played was against JIS on the Jakarta Intercultural School courts.  Feeling confident after the wonderful win against TAS, ISB won yet again by 5-3. Winning three out of four of the games played landed ISB second place in this year’s exchange, a feat that every girl on the team is extremely proud of.

Coach Marion proudly states, “They are such a nice group of girls; there is good team spirit and camaraderie.  They jusHt bring out their best tennis, and when some matches were lost, they reflected on why they had lost and made plans to do better in the next match.”

Jaja Rattanajan (12), a four year member of the team and four year IASAS player, she made the most of her last exchange: “This year, the ISB varsity girl’s tennis team has improved tremendously.  Although the majority of the team consists of underclassmen, the girls have worked hard and proved that they are capable of beating the more experienced players during the exchange.  Competing in exchange was the screen-shot-2016-11-23-at-9-08-26-amgirl’s official first match.  Consequently, the team made tiny errors because of the overwhelming anxiety of the atmosphere of the courts.  Nevertheless, we worked hard to place second overall.”

Alina Chan, a sophomore on the team, played the most challenging position throughout the entire exchange: singles 1. She says that the experience was very new for her, as the entire match was very challenging and she had to keep going and motivating herself, even when she was down.  However, the team’s amazing sportsmanship kept her hopes up: “The thing that I love most about our team is our supportiveness.  During each game, there will always be someone sitting on the benches and cheering you on.  Our amazing upperclassmen, Jaja and Varisa, will always bring everyone together and make us feel relaxed before the game.”

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As for what can be expected this IASAS? Both Alina and Jaja are confident in a win this season. “I believe we are able to get a medal this year,” Alina says, “but we have to work hard everyday, be confident, and support each other.” Jaja credits the exchange for helping the team in this year’s upcoming IASAS: “From this experience, the girls will now focus on improving their on court mentalities and putting even more sweat and tears to win a medal in IASAS,” she says, “Being my last year, I cannot be prouder to finish my IASAS tennis career with this team.”

 

Darin Sumetanon

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Prepping for Gold – Varsity Girls Tennis Exchange