Girls take the gold at National Table Tennis Championships

Six Wesley students represented Victoria in the 2023 National Table Tennis Championships, held in Sydney during the mid-year school holidays.

The six students – Serena (Year 6), Kavyaa (Year 7), Andy (Year 7), Victoria (Year 9), Inaaya (Year 10) and Gabby (Year 11) – represented not only Wesley in our top table tennis team, the Firsts, this year but also the state at the competition.

The U17 girls team featuring Victoria, Inaaya and Gabby along with teammate Yi-Jen, took home the gold medal with an outstanding performance against some of the best players in Australia. Serena and Kavyaa teamed up with two others to take home a silver medal in the Under 13 teams category, and Andy’s Under 13 boys team won bronze.

Kavyaa also took home a gold medal in the Under 13 doubles, a bronze in the Under 15 singles and was a semi-finalist in the Under 13 singles.

'It was an extremely tough competition that really tested their limits, both mentally and physically. ‘Each day was filled with tough matches, especially during the semis and finals,’ said Victoria. ‘It was my last year of playing U15s and I prepared myself through hours of training.’

Victoria’s determination paid off, winning two additional medals: silver in U15 singles and silver in U15 doubles. She has also qualified for the Oceania U15 championships which will be held in September.

The win at Nationals was made even sweeter by being able to play alongside their school friends and teammates. Victoria, Inaaya and Gabby (Captain of the Wesley Firsts) play together in Wesley’s coeducational Firsts team, which had an incredible year, narrowly missing out on a premiership in the APS competition. This is a remarkable result for one of the few teams in the competition featuring players from Years 6 to 12.

‘Nationals was definitely a very long and hard tournament, but it was also a lot of fun, as many of my friends participated and I competed in the team event with Inaaya, Gabby and Yi-Jen,’ says Victoria.

'I was really happy with my Nationals result, and it was an amazing experience to get to play alongside my friends. It’s a really unique experience getting to play sport at such a competitive level, I find it’s really exhilarating and a lot of fun.' Gabby said. 'I’ve played a few Junior National Championships before, but have never won gold in any of the events, so this was really exciting. I’m keen to get back to training and can’t wait for next year’s Nationals!'

‘Having the opportunity to represent not only our state, but our school, was an honour and allowed us to showcase our purple Wesley pride!’ said Inaaya. ‘Being able to compete with my Wesley teammates, who I also call friends and have known for several years since beginning my journey in the sport, made it even better.’

‘During the singles events, there were moments where I was incredibly anxious, restless and uneasy due to the competitive, high intensity nature of the matches. But with the support of family and friends, I was able to overcome these emotions to win a silver medal in the U19 singles,’ said Inaaya.

Inaaya also took home a bronze medal in the U21 doubles. ‘I would like to thank my coach and my club, ICC Table Tennis academy, for their support preparing me for Nationals and during the competition.’

‘I believe I speak for us all when I say that winning a gold medal in the teams event was the highlight of the competition and one that we will cherish for years to come,’ said Inaaya.