Great eight crowned at Butterfly Schools Individual Finals

Eight new champions were crowned at the Butterfly Schools Individual Finals on a pulsating day of more than 750 matches.

WV Active Wolverhampton was abuzz with activity as boys and girls battled it out in four age groups to win the coveted national titles.

Look out for our special Rewind highlights video on our YouTube channel later this week!

Photos by Alan Man

Under-11 Girls

Amber Lemmon lived up to top seeding as she defeated second seed Serene Rahmani-Walentynska 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-6).

Both semi-finals were also done in three as Lemmon, from Cambridgeshire, beat Adhuna Das 4, 3, 8 and Rahmani-Walentynska got past Grace Wan 9, 9, 5.

Earlier, Lemmon did not have things all her own way in the quarters, Evie Turner Samuels taking a game off her before Lemmon won it 3-1 (11-7, 11-4, 11-13, 11-3).

Das had to stave off a comeback by Phoebe O’Brien in the quarter-finals, eventually prevailing 3-2 (11-8, 11-5, 11-13, 9-11, 11-5).

Under-11 Boys

Zaid Aldilimi saved match point before coming back to win the title in a spellbinding five-game final against Li Hao Chen.

It was a match between the top two seeds and the standard was befitting as Aldilimi, from London Central, defeated his Lincolnshire opponent 3-2 (11-9, 9-11, 6-11, 14-12, 11-4), having faced match point at 9-10 in the fourth.

Bronze went to fourth seed Jayden Chen, who was beaten 3-1 (11-3, 10-12, 11-5, 11-5) by top seed Aldilimi, and to Thomas Nguyen, who lost 3-0 (11-7, 11-4, 11-4) to Li Hao Chen.

Nguyen, one of four siblings from Devon competing at the event, had earlier come back superbly from 2-0 down in the round of 16 to defeat Harry Hodgson 3-2 (10-12, 6-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-4).

Under-13 Girls

In a competition of upsets, third seed Violet Lily Marquis kept a calm head to win the title with a 3-0 (11-9, 11-6, 12-10) scoreline against sixth seed Gianna Pang.

Pang, from Hertfordshire, had beaten top seed Alyssa Nguyen 3-0 (6, 8, 5) in the semi-finals, while Bedfordshire’s Marquis needed four against Soraya Rahmani-Walentynska – 3-1 (11-6, 11-13, 11-7, 11-8) the score in that one.

Rahmani-Walentynska had made her way into the semi-finals with a 3-1 (13-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-5) defeat of second seed Hannah Saunders in the quarters.

At the same stage, Pang ended the challenge of fourth seed Eunice Lam with a 3-2 (5-11, 12-10, 11-5, 10-12, 12-10) victory.

Under-13 Boys

Top seed Kai Lun Chow from Cambridgeshire defeated second seed Pablo Ramirez-Rioja of Hertfordshire in the final, recovering from a nasty slip in the first game to prevail 3-1 (11-8, 3-11, 11-8, 11-8).

The podium was completed by Ryan Goodier, who lost 3-0 (11-9, 12-10, 11-8) to Chow in the semi-finals, and Teagan Khazal, who was defeated 3-0 (6, 9, 7) by Ramirez Rioja.

The game of the tournament was arguably in the quarter-finals, where Khazal got past Theo Kniep 3-2 (2-11, 12-10, 7-11, 16-14, 12-10). Khazal also needed five in the round of 16, where he overcame Aarav Parihar 11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6.

There were two other crackers in the last 16 – Jake Davidson defeating Parsia Ahsani 3-2 (7-11, 11-2, 5-11, 15-13, 11-6) and Nishil Shah coming from 2-0 down to beat Harry Tomlinson 3-2 (9-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-4).

Under-16 Girls

Third seed beat first seed in the final as Ella Pashley notches a maiden victory at national level with a 3-0 (5, 5, 8) victory.

Representing Lincolnshire, Pashley reached the final courtesy of a 3-1 (11-5, 3-11, 12-10, 11-4) win against Victoria Pang, the second seed.

Jetha’s semi-final was a 3-0 (9, 3, 6) win over Naomi Coker.

Back in the quarters, Pashley had a strange match against Jonabel Taguibao, which she led 11-1, 11-3 and 7-1, only for Taguibao to somehow take it to a fifth. The decider was poised at 5-5, but Pashley won the next six points to complete a 3-2 (11-1, 11-3, 9-11 8-11, 11-5) victory.

British para rising star Bly Twomey reached the quarter-finals, losing to Coker, having earlier overcome Mia Longman 3-2 (11-5, 11-7, 13-11, 11-6, 11-8).

Under-16 Boys

Isaac Kingham kept up the theme of top seeds defeating second seeds in the boys finals as he won 3-1 (9-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-5) against Max Radiven.

Both semi-finals were done in three as champion Kingham, representing Lincolnshire, beat Zac Greenhough 9, 9, 7 and London North’s Radiven triumphed 3, 4, 7 against Francesco Bonato.

Kingham did not drop a game until the final, but Radiven went the distance against Prayrit Ahluwalia in the last 16, coming through 3-2 (3-11, 11-5, 11-7, 6-11, 11-5).

Under-19 Girls

Hannah Sillcock, representing Lincolnshire, defeated Anna Green in a superb final match of the day, seeing her opponent come back from 2-0 down to level before Silcock made sure of victory.

She won 3-2 (11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 12-10, 114) against her Nottinghamshire opponent as top seed beat second seed.

The two bronze medallists were Mabel Shute – beaten 3-0 (11-5, 11-9, 12-10) by Silcock – and Zarita Lo, who was defeated 3-0 (11-6, 11-3, 11-3) by Green.

Lo had defeated third seed Megan Jones 3-2 (5-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-7) in the quarter-finals, the same stage at which fourth seed Shute had knocked out Bethany Ellis in five (11-7, 9-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-4).

Under-19 Boys

Third seed Alex Liu took the title home to West Yorkshire as he defeated top seed Adam Dennison, representing Lincolnshire 3-1 (11-7, 2-11, 11-6, 11-8) in the final.

But Liu had so nearly gone out in the last 16 at the hands of Shahuraj Nimse, eventually overturning a 2-1 deficit to win 3-2 (14-16, 12-10, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6).

In the semi-finals, Liu defeated Krish Chotai in four (5-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-8), while Dennison also needed four to overcome Nathaniel Saunders (11-7, 5-11, 11-3, 11-8).

Saunders had a battle with Ben Dunkley in the quarter-finals, staving off a comeback to win 3-2 (12-10, 11-4, 4-11, 5-11, 11-9).

Great eight crowned at Butterfly Schools Individual Finals Table Tennis England.