Ten of Macleans College’s best badminton players had great success at the recent New Zealand Secondary Schools (NZSS) badminton championships in Wellington.
The tournament, held at Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua from August 28, hosted 33 schools across the country.
The Macleans College girls’ team of Josephine Zhao (captain), Rosie Yang, Melody Cai and Mia Xu went unbeaten through the tournament to take home the cup in the girl’s first division category.
The recorded dominant victories over Hutt Valley High School, Kristin School, St Oran’s College, Palmerston North Girls, Newlands College and Wellington East Girls College.
This is their second year of winning the competition.
Meanwhile, the boys’ team of Eric Lu (captain), Wesley Lau, Joseph Wu, Kylin Li, Bryan Shi and Billy Li had a few tough games but made it to the playoffs for third place.
They defeated Kings College to claim third place in the boys’ first division bracket.
“This was a great conclusion to the season after taking out the Auckland school’s premier title,” says Macleans College Principal Steven Hargreaves.
The Macleans girl’s table tennis team has also tasted success, winning the title of national champions at the NZSS tournament in Hamilton on August 30.
The team of Angela Zhang, Fiona Ling, and Josephine Chong played very well, having to dig deep for key wins to grab the title. Chong also won the individual silver medal.
“It is fantastic to win national titles but just as pleasing is the level of participation from Macleans’ students across so many codes.
“We had teams at national tournament in Fencing, Rock Climbing, Football, Netball, Hockey, and Golf as well as the Badminton and Table Tennis. We brought medals home in four separate codes.
“It has been great to see extra-curricular participation bounce back after the disruptions of Covid,” says Hargreaves.
