26 May 2022
Back in March, Joe in Year 6 won the Under 11 section of the South Regional Selection/Qualifiers at Cippenham beating his opponent with determination, physical fitness and a calm, cheerful demeanour.
Two months on and both Joe and the pupil he beat back in March, found themselves representing the South Region in TTE’s showpiece Inter-Regional Finals at WV Active Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, the same region which is hosting the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Over 100 players were competing in both team and individual events in Under 15, Under 13 and Under 11 categories for both boys and girls, representing North West, North East, Yorkshire, East Midlands, East, London, South, South East and South West.
In the individual Under 11 Boys, Joe competed in Group 4 and lasted the distance to win two five-setters, beating the opposition 8, -8, 8, -7, 5 and 10, 5, 8, -9, 6. He went on to reach the quarter-finals, losing to the eventual finalist. To get so far in such a big event is a tribute to the fine coaching group he attends at Kidlington Forum, supervised by Tony West and Clive Westbury.