The School entered two teams into the International History Bee and Bowl Asian Championships, which took place between the 10th and the 13th June in Phuket, Thailand. Having progressed from the Hong Kong qualifying rounds in February, this grand finale saw 46 teams entering from 29 different schools from around the region.
The Senior School team of Gary Feng (Y10, Nightingale), Jonathan Lau (Y10, Nightingale), David Wong (Y10, Cale), Werner Groenestijn (Y10, Lloyd), and Edison Tsang (Y10, Waterman), did exceptionally well. In the individual component of the competition, there were notable achievements from Werner who both reached the final against some very impressive opponents. Werner finished in a very respectable sixth place.
It was in the team event that the School performed most strongly. Here they made it all the way to the knockout rounds of the tournament, held over several days. After defeating Shanghai High School in the quarter finals, they were narrowly defeated in the semi finals by Renaissance College from Hong Kong.
The Prep School team of Julien Levieux (Y8, Downes), Jake Brockwell (Y7, Downes), Kevin Zheng (Y8, Downes), Hughson Wong (Y8, Downes), Oscar Kennedy (Y7, Downes), Russell Kwok (Y6, Fox) also shone. In the individual Bee, there were standout performances from Kevin and Russell, who both reached the semi finals. Russell should be especially pleased of his achievement, as the majority of his opponents were three years older than him.
In the team Bowl the students also performed very strongly, qualifying through five preliminary rounds, and making it to the knockout stages. Here they came up against a very talented outfit from Seoun Middle School, Seoul. With the scores tied, they narrowly lost out on a semi final spot as the match came down to a single tiebreaker question.
In other areas of the championships, a special mention should also go to Kevin for reaching the finals of the Geography Bee, and to Werner who claimed a bronze medal in the Sports & Entertainment Bee, after contesting a final that also saw Harrow Hong Kong represented by Gary, David and Edison. All members of the School team should be proud of their achievements and they were great ambassadors for the School throughout the weekend.