West of England Schools' Championships
Sherborne, 4/5th January 2014
There was a very healthy entry of 72 boys from 11 schools for the West of England Schools Championships, which again were held at Sherborne School, writes organiser Lionel Lawson.
All of the main trophies were won by St Paul's School, but there were challenging performances from Derby Moor, Winchester and Blundells in particular.
In the Senior Singles, Ben Beltrami of St Paul's was a clear favourite and he progressed to the final conceding only 7 points in his first four games. Sam Wyatt-Haines from Blundell's, who was the second seed, made equally easy progress to the final and was particularly impressive in his semi-final win over Ollie Arnold of St Paul's with a display of controlled and effective hitting. In the final, however, Beltrami reigned supreme and was a totally convincing winner – he is certainly a player with a very bright future ahead of him.
In the Colts Singles, Harveer Mahajan of St Paul's was also an impressive winner after an equally trouble-free run to the final. Here he came up against the promising John Halligan of Derby Moor and the first game could have gone either way until Mahajan clinched it at 11-8. In the second game, Halligan's resistance fell away and Mahajan took the game away to win the title.
The Senior Doubles was inevitably won by the outstanding Beltrami and Arnold of St Paul's, who had too much fire power and all round skill for the Winchester pair of Chua and Watkinson.
There was a fascinating battle in the Colts Doubles final between St Paul's 1 (Mahajan and Heidrich) and Derby Moor (Halligan and Singh). Derby Moor won the first game comfortably to 5 and this was reversed with St Paul's taking the second game to 3. The third game was a thrilling encounter, which was greatly enjoyed by the packed gallery: St Paul's were on the verge of victory at 10-7, but Derby Moor came back at them to make it 11-all. It could have gone either way, but the final roll of the dice went to the St Paul's pair. The game was a great credit to all four young players involved.
RESULTS
Senior Singles
1st round: Fulford-Smith (Marlborough) bt Searle (Merchant Taylors’) 15-7;
2nd round: Beltrami (St. Paul’s) bt Chilcott (Blundell’s) 15-0; Fulford-Smith bt Blunden (Derby Moor) 15-4; Prabhu (St. Paul’s) bt Johnson D (Derby Moor) 15-2; Scott (Blundell’s) bt Shah (Merchant Taylors’) 15-3; Whitehorn (Derby Moor) bt Coles (Winchester) 15-4; Jopling (St. Paul’s) bt Singh J (Derby Moor) 15-9; Webber (Blundell’s) bt Baxter (Derby Moor) 15-5; Chua (Winchester) bt McFarlane (St. Paul’s) 15-0; Arnold (St. Paul’s) bt Green (Marlborough) 15-0; Tebboth (Merchant Taylors’) bt Christie (Derby Moor) 15-13; Nunes (St. Paul’s) bt Timney (Derby Moor) 15-1; Watkinson (Winchester) bt Corpe (Derby Moor) 15-7; Brady (Merchant Taylors’) bt Taylor (Derby Moor) 15-5; Ashraf (St. Paul’s) bt Grandfield (Blundell’s) 15-3; Bhushan (St. Paul’s) bt Smith (Winchester) 15-3; Wyatt-Haines (Blundell’s) bt Higginson (Christ’s Hospital) 15-0
3rd Round: Beltrami bt Fulford-Smith 15-1; Scott bt Prabhu 15-13; Whitehorn bt Jopling 15-3; Chua bt Webber 15-4; Arnold bt Tebboth 15-4; Watkinson bt Nunes 15-1; Ashraf bt Brady 15-4; Wyatt-Haines bt Bhushan 15-2
Quarter-finals: Beltrami bt Scott 11-1, 11-2; Whitehorn bt Chua 11-7, 11-1; Arnold bt Watkinson 11-2, 11-5; Wyatt-Haines bt Ashraf 11-2, 11-0
Semi-finals: Beltrami bt Whitehorn 11-1, 11-2; Wyatt-Haines bt Arnold 11-1, 11-0
Final: B Beltrami (St. Paul’s) bt S Wyatt-Haines Blundell’s) 11-1, 11-4
Plate: Christie (Derby Moor)
Senior Doubles
Preliminary Round: Derby Moor II bt Blundell’s II 15-9
1st round: St. Paul’s I bt Christ’s Hospital 15-0; Winchester II bt Derby Moor III 15-2; Blundell’s I bt St. Paul’s IV 15-4; Derby Moor I bt Marlborough 15-7; St. Paul’s II bt Derby Moor IV 15-1; Derby Moor II bt Merchant Taylors’ I 15-6; St. Paul’s III bt Merchant Taylors’ II 15-0; Winchester I bt Derby Moor V 15-1
Quarter-finals: St. Paul’s I bt Winchester II 11-0, 11-0; Derby Moor I bt Blundell’s I 12-10, 11-9; St. Paul’s II bt Derby Moor II 11-3, 12-11; Winchester I bt St. Paul’s III 11-5, 11-9
Semi-finals: St.Paul’s I bt Derby Moor I 11-0, 11-3; Winchester I bt St. Paul’s II 11-4, 11-7
Final: St Paul's I (B Beltrami & O Arnold) bt Winchester I (T Watkinson & B Chua) 11-2, 11-1
Plate: St. Paul’s IV (McFarlane & Bhushan)
Colts Singles
1st round: Guy (Malvern) bt Allan (Sherborne) 15-3; Mellor (Christ’s Hospital) bt Starr (Backwell) 15-13; Burgess (Christ’s Hospital) bt McLaurin (Blundell’s) 15-2; Lockwood (Blundell’s) bt King (Backwell) 15-1; Knowles (Blundell’s) bt Werkshagen (Backwell) 15-5; Matley (Backwell) bt Callas (Christ’s Hospital) 16-15; Kidner (Winchester) bt Klinkenberg (Blundell’s) 15-13;
2nd round: Mahajan (St. Paul’s) bt Tudor (Malvern) 15-3; Kim (St. Paul’s) bt Luk (Malvern) 15-3; Jessell (Alleyn’s) bt Guy 15-3; Steel (Winchester) bt Pyman (Sherborne) w/o; Mellor bt Singh B (Derby Moor) 16-14; Evans (St. Paul’s) bt Burgess 15-0; Whitham (St. Paul’s) bt Johnson S (Derby Moor) 15-0; Taylor (St. Paul’s) bt Findlay (Sherborne) 15-1; Halligan (Derby Moor) bt Byers (Winchester) 15-7; Shaw (St. Paul’s) bt Lockwood 15-4; Knowles bt Chapman (Christ’s Hospital) w/o; Hanton (Alleyn’s) bt Matley 15-1; Francis (Blundell’s) bt Kidner 15-9; Kirwan (Alleyn’s) bt Chai (Blundell’s) 15-0; Hughes (St. Paul’s) bt Song (Winchester) w/o; Heidrich (St. Paul’s) bt Williams (Malvern) 15-0
3rd round: Mahajan bt Kim 11-3, 11-3; Steel bt Jessell 15-10; Evans bt Mellor 11-7, 11-3; Whitham bt Taylor 15-9; Halligan bt Shaw 11-2, 11-5; Hanton bt Knowles 15-0; Francis bt Kirwan 15-10; Heidrich bt Hughes 15-3
Quarter-finals: Mahajan bt Steel 11-3, 11-5; Whitham bt Evans 11-9, 11-3; Halligan bt Hanton 11-0, 11-2; Heidrich bt Francis 9-11, 11-8, 11-5
Semi-finals: Mahajan bt Whitham 11-1, 11-1; Halligan bt Heidrich 11-7, 11-0
Final: H Mahajan (St. Paul’s) bt J Halligan (Derby Moor) 11-8, 11--2
Plate: Hughes (St. Paul’s)
Colts Doubles
1st round: Backwell I bt Malvern II 15-2
2nd round: St. Paul’s I bt BackwellI 15-0; Backwell I bt Winchester I w/o; Christ’s Hospital I bt Blundell’s III 15-4; St. Paul’s II bt Sherborne I w/o; St. Paul’s II bt Malvern I 15-6; Alleyn’s bt Backwell II 15-0; St. Paul’s IV bt Blundell’s I 15-2; Derby Moor bt Winchester II 15-3
Quarter-finals: St. Paul’s I bt Backwell I 11-0, 11-2; St. Paul’s III bt Christ’s Hospital I 11-3, 11-1; St. Paul’s II bt Alleyn’s 4-11, 11-5, 11-3; Derby Moor bt St. Paul’s IV 11-3, 11-9
Semi-finals: St. Paul’s I bt St. Paul’s III 11-4, 11-4; Derby Moor bt St. Paul’s II 11-2, 11-9
Final: St. Paul’s I (H Mahajan & L Heidrich) bt Derby Moor (J Halligan & B Singh) 5-11, 11-3, 12-11
Plate: Blundell’s (Francis & Clarke)