GB Students achieved an historic silver medal after reaching the final against the USA. The medal is the sixth in a row for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the Championships and an eleventh consecutive medal at major international university events including the Summer World University Games.
As part of a highly competitive tournament, GB Students began with a 4-2 win against Germany. Victories included Ewen Lumsden in the Men’s Singles, Millie Rajecki in Women’s Singles followed by Mike Shaw and Finn Bass in the Men’s Doubles and Esther Adeshina and Millie Rajecki in the Women’s Doubles.
The semi-final saw wins for Victoria Allen in the Women’s Singles, Finn Bass in the Men’s Singles and Esther Adeshina and Millie Rajecki in the Women’s Doubles. With the score level at 3-3 going into the final game, Victoria Allen and Mike Shaw secured a thrilling tie-break win in the Mixed Doubles to send GB Students into the final, for a repeat of last year’s final.
GB Students performed excellently as a collective throughout the tournament, and were defeated by a strong USA team in the final to finish as runners up and Master U BNP Paribas World University Tennis Championships silver medalists.
BUCS International Performance Manager, Marc Forrest said: “We are immensely proud of the GB Students team. The Master U BNP Paribas World University Tennis Championships is a high respected and prestigious event. To reach a consecutive final and to perform in the manner they did, is of huge credit to the talent, togetherness and resilience shown by all the players and staff. They have cemented their place within the history and continued success of British university tennis on the international stage."
Great Britain team captain Alistair Higham commented on the team’s success: “We had great team spirit which brought us through some of the closest matches to win silver. Against Australia in the semi, after 11 hours of competing, it came down to two points in the final match tiebreak. We are delighted to win the silver medal."
