Deep Dish Junior Tomo Iwata-Furlonger and Team London brought back Silver, representing London in the Junior Beach Volleyball Inter Regionals Tournament in Cardiff.
This event, held at the Fireball Beach courts in Cardiff, is on a selection-basis representing one of the more elite Junior level competitions in the UK. Tomo was asked to be part of one of the two pairs to represent London, in this two-day tournament, playing against pairs from other regions.
Overall the London pairs performed incredibly, and finished in 2nd place, just narrowly losing the Golden Set in the finals to the South East pairs. Tomo and his partner boast only having lost one game across both days of the tournament, and were very happy with their performance. Have a look at what he had to say post-tournament below.
What was your toughest match?
Our toughest match was definitely against the South East team. After winning the first set, they came back and won the next but luckily we were able to secure the win in the third set 15-10.
What challenges (if any) did you face on and off the court?
Out of everything, I think the most challenging part of this event was having the stamina to play 8 three set (21 - 21 - 15) games in only two days. It was really tough to keep up the same energy towards the end day especially with the general standard of volleyball being played.
What was the highlight of the tournament?
I have to say that my personal highlight was winning a close three set game against yorkshire to take it to a golden set which we then went on to win, securing our spot in the fiinals.
What did you learn from this event, as a team or individual?
One thing I definitely did learn was how important it is to try your hardest in every game no matter who your opponents are. Throughout the weekend we had some matches that were very close despite the fact that they were not as strong of a team.
A piece of advice to anyone looking to compete at this level?
You should always look to get the most out of any training session you have by making sure you’re always fully prepared for the session e.g bringing a full water bottle and thinking about all the advice you’ve been give by coaches and make sure you’re actually concentrating on what they’re telling you to.
Most memorable thing from this tournament?
I think one of the most memorable events in this tournament was just after London beat Yorkshire in the golden set. We all ran onto the court with excitement after the win because it meant that we’d got a spot in the finals.
Any final thoughts on the event and/or whats next on the horizon for you as a player?
Overall, I really enjoyed this event as a whole and I’ll definitely be trying to play in it again next year but for now I’ll be starting indoor training at Deep Dish.
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