Bryan, year 6 pupil at Wellington, is a phenomenal tennis player and has recently earned the prestigious number 1 ranking in China for his age group, after winning the National Tournament of Wilson RTP in October, Wilson PTR U12 tournament on 31^st December 2018, followed by his runner-up placing in Wilson’s U14 tournament the very next day. The closing months of 2018 saw multiple victories for Bryan. In October, he played in the National Tournament of Wilson PTR in Beijing in the U12 category, winning the title. All winners from the previous city tournaments gathered there to play the finals on the same courts used by professional tennis players. This served as an excellent opportunity for Bryan to understand what it’s like to play at such a high level, and will no doubt galvanise him to keep honing his abilities. The Wilson PTR U12 tournament on 31st December involved the top 64 U12 players drawn from across China. Despite facing off against some talented opponents, Bryan battled to the finals where he ended up as the victor. The following U14 tournament the next day involved 60 players of the highest calibre and Bryan drew a very tough quarter-final opponent. Fortunately, he managed to come back from two breaks behind to win the match in the tie break. After another victory in the semis, he found himself in the U14 final even though he is only eleven years old. After another fight back from a break behind, he marginally lost momentum in the tie break and came second overall, which is still an incredible achievement for someone competing against opponents several years older than he is. These outstanding performances have won Bryan the singular honour of being ranked number 1 in China for his age group – a remarkable achievement that is testament to his discipline, talent and work ethic. Bryan will represent Wellington College International Shanghai in The Netherlands for another tournament starting at the beginning of February. He is currently training hard, including plenty of one-to-one coaching time with Sean Karam, head tennis couch at Wellington. We all hope that Bryan keeps his game in tip-top shape and will be cheering him on come February!