Sport
Badminton
By Ron Mason
Badminton at King's once again had a very successful year. With
a squad of about 20, some players attended competitions around
the county.
Eric Tsai has been a member of the Somerset Under 21 squad, and
has attended county training. Ian Yao in Third Form has attended
county development training, while Timothy Cheung and Kelvin
Sze have played in county tournaments.
As well as the above, there has been a core of players who have
shown a big improvement - Felix Chiu, Sharp Tharerakanavibool,
Elliot Ng and Stanley Poon.
In addition, a highlight has been the creation of events managers
within the squad. They have organised a King's Badminton
Sweatshirt for the players, Christmas fancy dress tournament, end
of season Sixth Form badminton dinner and an Easter tournament.
Thank you to Olivia Grainger, Alice Lumley and Izzy Clarkson.
Overall, the spirit in the group has been excellent, and many of the
players will still be at the school next year, where we hope we can
achieve even more success.
Clay Shooting
By Ben Greedy
This year saw the first competitive event for the King's clay
shooting team. They did extremely well to keep a much more
experienced Millfield team within their sights until the very last
stand. All five of the King's guns held their nerve through the first
few traps, hitting the rabbit, left to right crossers and incomers
with great precision. Scoring as head-to-head pairs, King's went to
the 4th of 5 stands leading 3 pairs to 2.
With the exception of our most experienced shot, Toby Bennett,
who easily hit all 10 targets, others struggled with the fast overhead
clay from the tower. Alex Birch fought back at the 5th and final
stand, hitting 9 of 10 clays to win his pair, and Toby Bennett
shot brilliantly throughout to be the highest scoring gun of the
competition. But with a final flourish from the Millfield team, the
match ended in a narrow 3-2 defeat for King's.
Toby Bennett came first in the Schools Winter Series Challenge
Competition. This was a series of four competitions for those aged
14 and under, held throughout October and November at The
Oxford Gun Company. Toby's winning score was 165 out of 200.
He has also been accepted as a scholar into Phil Coley's Elite Clay
Shooting Academy near Cheltenham. Exciting times lie ahead for
this shooting star in the making!
Golf
By Phil Lewis
An unquestionable highlight of the golf team year was the four
days spent in the wonderful Villaitana Golf resort in Spain during
half-term. The team played superbly on all four days and showed
how far golf has come at King's. Paddy Cartwright shot the
lowest round of the event on the championship course, with an
astonishing four under par, and was well supported in the gross
competition by Taylor Stote.
Overall, the team finished fifth in the gross competition and a
brilliant second to Winchester in the net competition. Adam Al
Shimali shot under his handicap on each competition day, and
helped the team tremendously in the net competition.
The boys were a credit to the school on and off the golf course and
really put King's on the national schools' golfing map.
Outside school, Taylor Stote was formally accepted for the
county U18 Golf Squad, whilst continuing his county U16 squad
training. He won the Junior Club Championships at Enmore Park
in September, and for the second year running won the Junior
Club Championships at Burnham and Berrow in October. During
half term he was also part of the winning Burnham junior team
that won the Somerset Golf Union Jamboree regional final for the
Hawker Perry Shield. He has a current handicap of 3.5 whilst still
only 14 years old!
Alex Birch receives instruction from shooting coach Graham
The golf team: Beth Baker, Taylor Stote, Ben Coomber, Harry Thomas, Ed Himbury
and Adam Al Shimali
Dane Toogood Cup for
Sportsman of the Year
The award was made to someone who had represented
the school at the highest level in Rugby, Hockey, Cricket,
Athletics, Squash and Tennis, as well as fighting back from
a serious injury with great fortitude: Will Potter.
74