Excellent Performance by Nico Hughes at Schools Rackets Championships

Nico Hughes made history in the recent National Schools Singles Rackets Championships at The Queen’s Club, West Kensington when, as top seed in the elite top 16 schoolboys event, the Foster Cup, he reached the final with ease.

This achievement is unprecedented in the world of schools rackets, and in St Paul’s 17-year history of playing a sport that is dominated by the big boarding schools in this country.

In an event where competitors rarely get an easy match, Nico’s route to the final was with no exception and although his earlier rounds were quite straight forward, it was only in the semi-final where he had to be more alert. However, the final was a different matter against his third seed Etonian opponent who romped away with the first game 15/4. Nico rallied through the second game and won 15/13, although he hadn’t yet hit his peak, and with that struggled to contain the barrage of bullets his opponent fired, losing the next two games with a score of 8/15 and 12/15.

Great credit must go to Nico as, although he lost the match, he gave an impromptu speech where he not only congratulated his opponent and thanked him for a great match, but also thanked all supporters in the gallery.