Culford School near Bury St Edmunds celebrates seeing recently-departed pupils Scott Watson and Megan Knight crowned European champions at under-14s level in Monte Carlo

A leading sport-focused west Suffolk school has been celebrating two homegrown tennis players going on to be crowned European champions for their age groups.

Culford School’s coaching team began working with Megan Knight and Scott Watson from the tender ages of five and six and kept honing their skills until both were cherry picked for the Lawn Tennis Association’s (LTA’s) National Age Group Programme, with Watson having been based at Loughborough University on a scholarship since September.

SuffolkNews and the Bury Free Press picked up coverage of both in the summer when they made their landmark outings at Wimbledon in the Junior events, while also reporting how Bury St Edmunds-based Watson went on to take home a silver medal from the European Championships in September. It came after the 14-year-old playing a key role in the 14U GB Boys’ team that reached the Summer Cup final for only the second time.

And now they can both lay claim to being the best under-14s in Europe after winning a prestigious invitation only (based on rankings) season-ending event at the same time in Monte Carlo, Monaco in the 14U Tennis Europe Junior Masters.

Unseeded Knight became the first British player to ever win the girls’ singles trophy after a highly impressive 6-1, 6-4 win over third seed Katerina Zajickova from Czechia in testing conditions during the final.

Watson, ranked joint second in the Tennis Europe rankings for 14U, then sealed a British title and Old Culfordians double after he overcame Spain’s Toni Escarda Piñeiro in the final 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to go undefeated throughout the week at the Monte-Carlo Country Club. It included winning all three of his group matches without dropping a set, and with his victory seeing him become the first British boys’ singles champion since Joshua Sapwell in 2010.

Matt Lowe, Culford School’s RPDC coach was there to celebrate the double success with his former pupils, who both departed for Loughborough in the summer.

He said: “I am extremely proud to say that Culford School has produced two European champions in both Megan and Scott.

“Watching them succeed at this level, having started their journeys at just five and six years old in our Mini Red programme is a true testament to the strength, depth and dedication of our coaching staff, the S&C (strength and conditioning) team and the entire programme.

“Their achievements highlight the commitment of everyone involved at Culford to developing young people and supporting them on their journeys to excellence.”

*As a reader, we know the value you place on trusted local journalism. At SuffolkNews we are committed to delivering the very best coverage from communities right across the county, and we can only do this with the support of our readers. By becoming a subscriber you not only support us in this mission, you also unlock a whole host of benefits, including unlimited access to our ad-lite SuffolkNews website and digital editions of all our weekly newspapers. You can find out more about subscriptions here.

Use the promo code RussellClaydon to get an annual subscription for less than £25 - we really appreciate your support. Thank you.