N/national Schools’ Championships
St Paul's School, Barnes, 5/6th April 2014
Peter King writes: This year’s tournament was reduced to a weekend event by the temporary closure of the St Paul’s courts and was initially contested only at Open and Colts levels; it is still hoped to find a date for the Under 14 event. Fifteen schools were represented, one other being ruled out by the slight alteration of dates, but the championships were overwhelmingly dominated by the host school. There was a high standard of play, especially in the Colts event which featured a large number of promising Under 15 players, and customary camaraderie and sportsmanship were very much in evidence.
The Open tournament was really the story of the Paulines Ben Beltrami and Oliver Arnold, already a pair known (and avoided) on the BUCS, Under 25 and adult circuit! We are not sure whether their achievement in winning the doubles without the loss of a single point has any precedent, but it certainly underlined the gap between them and the chasing pack. In the singles semi-finals they disposed of last year’s Colts finalists in straight games, and Oliver was pleased to take 8 points in the first game of the final before succumbing to the all-round strength of his partner. Those who have watched the boys in action this year have all been in awe of the power, consistency and maturity of their game. In truth there were few close games in the singles, although the plate final won by Jay Singh of Derby Moor against Marcus Hunter (Rugby) had two well-contested games. In the doubles SPS III (Sid Bhushan and Josh Robson) gave a good account of themselves in two three-game matches, beating Merchant Taylors’ I, the eventual plate winners, and taking a game off semi-finalists Winchester; and SPS IV (Matthew Nunes and Zak Jopling) were pleased to avenge the narrow defeat by Derby Moor in last year’s Colts final and then pip Winchester II for the semi-final spot.
The Colts’ tournament contained more surprises, with West of England runner-up John Halligan defeated by West of England plate winner Nico Hughes (SPS) and former U14 champion Abdul Ahmed (CH) overturned by last year’s U14 runner-up Dom Shaw (SPS). Hughes showed great fitness and retrieving skills as he went on to defeat fellow-Pauline Heidrich (a year his senior) in a three-game semi-final and with Shaw reached the doubles final (overturning Derby Moor in three in the quarter-final), but in both cases ran into the calm consistency of Harveer Mahajan the Pauline top seed, who had met strong resistance in a three-game quarter-final against Kullavanijaya (Winchester) and in the semi against Whitham (SPS) which nearly went to three! As in the senior event the Plate final provided one of the closest encounter as Jussi Grut (Whitgift) edged through 11-9 in the third against Julian Hanton (Alleyn’s).
Many thanks to all involved in organisation and support, especially with the problems caused by rearrangement.
Open Singles
Round 1: R.Christie (Derby Moor) beat M.Baldwin (Rossall) 15-1; S.Bhushan (St Paul’s) beat D.Johnson (Derby Moor) 15-1; T.Robinson (Sedbergh) beat A.Wheal (Merchant Taylors’) 15-4; R.Whitehorn (Derby Moor) beat D.Bateson (Oundle) 15-3; Z.Jopling (St Paul’s) beat H.Andrews (Rossall) 15-1; B.Ashraf (St Paul’s) beat L.Brady (Merchant Taylors’) 15-1; B.Chua (Winchester) beat H.Howard (Rossall) 15-0; T.Watkinson (Winchester) beat A.Shah (Merchant Taylors’) 15-1; M.Nunes (St Paul’s) beat J.Singh (Derby Moor) 15-9; M.Blunden (Derby Moor) beat L.Brandon (Whitgift) 15-9; H.Rahim (St Paul’s) beat M.Hunter (Rugby) 15-9; T.McFarlane (St Paul’s) beat C.Baxter (Derby Moor) 15-2; T.Walters (Whitgift) beat J.Smith (Winchester) 15-9; E.Tebboth (Merchant Taylors’) beat G.Wainwright (Sedbergh) 15-5; O.Arnold (St Paul’s) beat A.Hsu (Rossall) 15-0.
Round 2: B.Beltrami (St Paul’s) beat Christie 15-0; Bhushan beat Robinson 15-8; Whitehorn beat Jopling 15-3; Ashraf beat Chua 15-11; Watkinson beat Nunes 15-5; Rahim beat Blunden 15-11; Walters beat McFarlane 15-13; Arnold beat Tebboth 15-0.
Quarter-finals: Beltrami beat Bhushan 11-2, 11-0; Whitehorn beat Ashraf 11-3, 11-2; Watkinson beat Rahim 11-0, 11-1; Arnold beat Walters 11-1, 11-3
Semi-finals: Beltrami beat Whitehorn 11-4, 11-1; Arnold beat Watkinson 11-2, 11-4
Final: Beltrami beat Arnold 11-8, 11-1
Plate: J.Singh
Open Doubles
Preliminary round: Oundle beat Rossall II 15-1
1st round: St Paul’s I beat Rossall I 11-0, 11-0; Tonbridge beat Derby Moor III 11-6, 12-10; St Paul’s IV beat Derby Moor I 11-2, 11-7; Winchester II beat Sedbergh 11-8, 11-8; St Paul’s II beat Merchant Taylors’ II 11-0, 11-1; Derby Moor II beat Whitgift 11-7, 11-4; St Paul’s III beat Merchant Taylors’ I 11-6, 8-11, 12-11; Winchester I beat Oundle II 11-0, 11-1.
Quarter-finals: St Paul's I beat Tonbridge 11-0, 11-0; St Paul’s IV beat Winchester II 11-1, 11-8; St Paul’s II beat Derby Moor II 11-4, 11-1; Winchester I beat St Paul’s III 11-1, 9-11, 11-2
Semi-finals: St Paul’s I beat St Paul’s IV 11-0, 11-0; St Paul’s II beat Winchester I 11-4, 11-2
Final: St Paul’s I (B.Beltrami/O.Arnold) beat St Paul’s II (B.Ashraf/T.McFarlane) 11-0, 11-0 Plate: Merchant Taylors’ I (Brady/Tebboth)
Colts Singles
Round 1: G.Barnard (Alleyn’s) beat J.Attwood (Bedford Modern) 15-8; G.Bentley (Sedbergh) beat J.Lee (Rossall) 15-7; T.Aziz (Whitgift) beat J.Savage (Merchant Taylors’) 15-10; J.Byford (Tonbridge) beat C. Rogers (Oundle) 15-7; B.Clarke (Blundells) beat A.Armstrong (Whitgift) 15-1; A.Maree (Rossall) beat J.Manger (Oundle) 15-9; D.Burton (Whitgift) beat J.Malton (Tonbridge) 15-6; T.Barlow (Oundle) beat G.Hollings (Sedbergh) 15-7; A.Ahuja (St Paul’s) beat J.Rees-Bidder (Bedford Modern) 15-2.
Round 2: H.Mahajan (St Paul’s) beat Barnard 15-0; A.Tudor (Malvern) beat J.Grut (Whitgift) 16-14; P.Kullavanijaya (Winchester) beat Bentley 15-4; Aziz beat K.Jessel (Alleyn’s) 15-5; A.Ahmed (Christ’s Hospital) beat Byford 15-8; D.Shaw (St Paul’s) beat B.Singh (Derby Moor) 15-3; D.Whitham (St Paul’s) beat R.Kim (Winchester) 15-4; Clarke w/o H.Thompson-Green (Sedbergh) scr; L.Heidrich (ISt Paul’s) beat Maree 15-2; R.Quinault (Winchester) beat J.Hanton (Alleyn’s) 15-3; T.Francis (Blundells) beat J.Kim (St Paul’s) 15-4; G.Romain (Rugby) beat Burton 15-2; C.Mabbutt (Whitgift) beat Barlow 15-10; N.Hughes (St Paul’s) beat T-J.Roberts (Christ’s Hospital) 15-5; I.Jagger (Alleyn’s) beat H.Russell (Whitgift) 15-12; J.Halligan (Derby Moor) beat Ahuja 15-2.
Round 3: Mahajan beat Tudor 15-0; Kullavanijaya beat Aziz 15-1; Shaw beat Ahmed 15-8; Whitham beat Clarke 15-0; Heidrich beat Quinault 15-1; Romain beat Francis 15-8; Hughes beat Mabbutt 15-5; Halligan beat Jagger 15-1.
Quarter-finals: Mahajan beat Kullavanijaya 11-6, 10-12, 11-1; Whitham beat Shaw 11-6, 9-11, 11-3; Heidrich beat Romain 11-0, 11-4; Hughes beat Halligan 11-2, 11-9
Semi-finals: Mahajan beat Whitham 11-6, 12-11; Hughes beat Heidrich 7-11, 11-3, 11-4
Final: Mahajan beat Hughes 11-6, 11-7
Plate: Grut (Whitgift)
Colts Doubles
Preliminary round: Oundle beatWhitgift III 15-3.
1st Round: St Paul’s I beat Oundle 11-8, 11-3; Winchester beat Whitgift I 12-10, 11-6; Christ’s Hospital beat Whitgift II 11-7, 11-8; Blundell’s beat Alleyn’s II 11-3, 11-4; Sedbergh beat Bedford Modern 11-1, 11-4; St Paul’s II beat Alleyn’s I 11-7, 11-8; St Paul’s III beat Rossall 11-4, 11-0; Derby Moor beat Tonbridge 11-1, 11-5.
Quarter-finals: St Paul’s I beat Winchester 11-3, 11-1; Blundell’s beat Christ’s Hospital 11-9, 12-11; St Paul's II beat Sedbergh 11-8, 11-4; St Paul's III beat Derby Moor 8-11, 11-4, 11-4
Semi-finals: St Paul’s I beat Blundell’s 11-3, 11-0. St Paul’s III beat St Paul’s II 11-5, 11-5;
Final: St Paul’s I (H.Mahajan/L.Heidrich) beat St Paul’s III (N.Hughes/D.Shaw) 12-11, 11-5
Plate: Whitgift I (Mabbutt/Grut)