London Academy dominated the Jack Petchey London Schools’ Team Finals, winning five of the eight trophies on offer.
The won both boys and girls’ competitions in the under-16 and under-13 ages groups, plus the under-11 girls’ category at the Jean Brown Indoor Arena in Redbridge.
Royal Russell and Wallington County Grammar won the girls’ and boys’ tournaments respectively in the under-19 age group, while Fox Primary prevailed in the under-11 boys’ section.
The winning teams go forward to the semi-finals of the Butterfly National Schools Team Championships in March. The national final is in Wolverhampton in April.
Under-19 Girls
Winning squad: Audrey Kwok, Winnie Wang
Royal Russell overcame University College School 3-2 to take home the gold medals.
Audrey Kwok put them in front by defeating Samira Bhutani in three games, but Abi Shaw made it 1-1 when she beat Winnie Wang, also in three.
The doubles was key to deciding the overall outcome, and it went the wany of Royal Russell by the scoreline of 3-0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-4).
That set up Audrey to seal victory by defeating Abi, although UCS put a gloss on the final margin as Samira won a close four-game match against Winnie.
Under-16 Girls
Winning squad: Sienna Jetha, Mauli Shah, Alisha Dutta
London Academy finished ahead of St George’s, beating their closest rivals 5-2 in the key match.
The Academy actually went behind in the match as Jonabel Taguibao beat Mauli Shah in three – and it was nearly 2-0 as Luna Archard battled back to level against Sienna Jetha, before Sienna finally claimed a 3-2 (11-7, 11-7, 4-11, 10-12, 11-5) victory.
That kicked London Academy on to win the next four matches, including the doubles in a deciding game, before Luna won the final match for St George’s, defeating Alisha Dutta to take the final score 5-2 to London Academy.
The champions had earlier beaten Wallington High 5-1 and Addey & Stanhope 7-0.
St George’s beat Wallington 6-1 and Addey & Stanhope 7-0, while Wallington’s 6-1 win over Addey & Stanhope saw them finished third.
Under-13 Girls
Winning squad: Soraya Rahmani-Walentynska, Assil Sarri, Inayah Zasella,
London Academy were unbeatable as they dropped only one match on their way to the gold medal.
That was against St Marylebone, for whom Nour Alamine defeated Soraya Rahmani-Walentynska 12-10, 12-10, 11-7.
Otherwise, LA were flawless, beating Addey & Stanhope and Wallington High both by 7-0 margins.
St Marylebone won their other two matches 7-0 to take the silver medals, while Addey & Stanhope beat Wallington 7-0 to finish third.
Under-11 Girls
Winning squad: Serene Rahmani Walentynska, Ruby Gandi Baimdele, Naomi Adeji, Shriya Nimse, Alexia Bianca Ciobanica
London Academy did not lose a match on their way to taking the title, with 7-0 wins over St James, St Aubyn’s and Fox Primary.
The champions did not have it all their own way against Fox, with two matches going to four games and two all the way to a deciding fifth. Ruby had to battle to beat Sophie Howe 3-2 (11-7, 5-11, 10-12, 11-1, 11-4), and it was 3-2 (5-11, 11-9, 11-6, 15-17, 11-6) for Alexia against Evie Turner-Samuels.
Fox were second, beating both St James and St Aubyn’s 7-0, while St Aubyn’s claimed the bronze thanks to a 5-2 victory over St James.
Under-19 Boys
Winning squad: Chid Egbeama, Jacob Archer, Akal Dosanjh, Ojasvii Borah, Shing Him Yuen
Wallington County Grammar School overcame University College School 8-0 and Morpeth School 7-1 to take the title.
They dropped only one game all day, Akal Dosanjh going behind against Morpeth’s Ewan Sharp before recovering to win 3-1.
There was drama in the match to decide who would win silver and bronze, as Morpeth and UCS finished level at 4-4.
Morpeth were never behind, leading 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3 but each time being pegged back. The third match – the first UCS point on the board – was won 3-2 (11-4, 6-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-5) by Alex Shuckburgh against Nico O’Rourke.
The final match also went to a decider, with UCS’ Shuckburgh again coming out on top, this time 11-13, 11-5, 11-5, 6-11, 11-7 against Tariq Irfan.
When the games were added up, it was 18-14 in favour of Morpeth, who therefore took the silver.
Under-16 Boys
Winning squad: Fernando Frandes, Parsa Yamin, Shahuraj Nimse, Ilyes Djeraoui, Devan Shah
London Academy again swept all before them, winning all their matches 8-0 and dropping only one set all day.
Second place went to Addey & Stanhope, who crucially beat third-placed University College School 5-3. That match was neatly poised at 3-3 but George Charleston and Franky Hoang won the last two matches.
UCS were also involved in a 4-4 draw with Wallington, a match which both teams led at one point. UCS came from 2-3 down to lead 4-3, but Aaron Morell earned a point for Wallington with a fine comeback to beat Avi Schliesser 3-2 (10-12, 8-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-7).
Wallington finished fourth and Twyford C of E fifth.
Under-13 Boys
Winning squad: Yacoub Rahmani-Walentynska, Adam Riadi, Connor Godley, Stefan Pop, Lewis Macsween
London Academy had to withstand a fightback by St George’s in the key match to decide the destination of the title.
London Academy led 3-1 but St George’s hit back to make it 3-3 as Teagan Khazal beat Yacoub Rahmani-Walentynska 3-2 (12-10, 9-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8) in a high-class match and Luca Archard then defeated Connor Godley.
But victories for Adam Riadi over Danny Abdalla and Stefan Pop over Alex Szymczyk saw London Academy home.
London earlier beat John Lyon, Wallington County Grammar and Oaklands, all 8-0.
St George’s won their other three matches against John Lyon (8-0), Oaklands (7-1) and Wallington (6-2), while Wallington finished third thanks to wins over John Lyon (8-0) and Oaklands (5-3). Oaklands ended in fourth courtesy of a 7-1 win over John Lyon.
Under-11 Boys
Winning squad: Zachary Feinberg, Leo Sahmurov, Yusuf Elnur, Alexander Lundgren, Odysseas Karaasev
Fox Primary and London Academy met in a winner-takes-all match to decide the champions.
Both had earlier defeated Whitgift 8-0. It was the same margin for Fox against St Aubyn’s, while London Academy beat them 6-2.
In the decider, it was 1-1 after two matches, but Fox Primary then took the next three matches to stand one win away from the title. The fifth match was a close one, Zachary beating Zacharia Sarri 11-6 in the decider.
Rafael made Fox wait to clinch the title as he won the sixth match for London Academy, but a superb 3-2 (11-9, 10-12, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6) win for Leo over Dominic Rimmy meant Fox could not be caught. They went on to win 6-2.
Whitgift took the bronze medals thanks to a 5-3 win over St Aubyn’s.
London Academy claim five titles at Jack Petchey team finals Table Tennis England.
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