As ever the schools Championships provided an excellent opportunity for those who have never played a table tennis tournament before to give it a go. Congratulations to Sky, Isaac B, Issa, Zachary, William and Joe P who all competed strongly, and I hope will be inspired to continue playing the sport.
U11 Girls – Primary School Age
5 girls played out a 10 match round robin which needed both Maise Young (Halifax Primary) and Brooklyn Taylor (St Pancras) to fight off a determined Sky Brafield (Risby Primary) in close matches. Maise went on to be the eventual winner with victory over Brooklyn in 3 tight games.
Winner: Maisy Young (Halifax Primary)
Runner-up: Brooklyn Taylor (St Pancras Catholic Primary)
U11 Boys – Primary School Age
The 9 boys played out 2 groups which did not go to seeding. Sebastian McLeavy (St Mary’s CofE Primary) proved the surprise of group 1, finishing in 2nd place in a group of 5 behind top seed Sebastian Gilmour (Great Barton Primary). In group 2 it was Ashkan Talebpour (Sebert Wood School) who topped the group after a see-saw 5 set match with Henry Flatman (Bramford CofE Primary). After semi-final wins we had an all Sebastian Final in which Seb Gilmour was a convincing winner.
A consolation event was also played for the U11 boys for those finishing 3-5 in the groups. This was won by Oliver Goldsmith (St Mary’s CofE Primary)
Winner: Sebastian Gilmour (Great Barton Primary)
Runner-up: Sebastian McLeavy (St Mary’s CofE Primary, Woodbridge)
U13 Mixed – School Years 7 & 8
A victory for Ruby Melero (Thurston Community College) over Oskar Zapala (Stoke High School) saw her progress to the semi finals behind top seed Zygis Kaminskas (St Albains Catholic High School). Samantha Rupapa topped group 2 with Liam Zambrano in second (both St Albains Catholic High School). Zygis and Liam played out to be boys champion and Samantha and Ruby for the girls. Wins for Zygis and Samantha set up very competitive final with Zygis coming out the winner, but not by much!
U13 Boys Winner: Zygis Kaminskas (St Albains Catholic High School)
U13 Boys Runner-up: Liam Zambrano (St Albains Catholic High School)
U13 Girls Winner: Samantha Rupapa (St Albains Catholic High School)
U13 Girls Runner-up: Ruby Melero (Thurston Community College)
U16 Boys – School Years 9-11
With the biggest entry the U16 boys needed to be played out over 3 groups. Groups 1 & 2 largely went to seeding. Group 3 was more complicated with 4 players all competitive against each other with Samuel Pilbrough (Northgate High School) eventually winning that battle to finish second behind group winner Henry Shaw (Farlingaye High School).
The semi-finals were the highest quality matches of the day. In the first, Isaac Kingham (Ormiston Endeavour Academy) overcame a strong challenge from Henry. In the second, Alexander Graham (Holbrook Academy) recovered from losing a 19-21 first game to take the next 3 closes games against Joe Fortnum-Adams (Wesbourne Academy).
The final was a dominant 3-0 win for Isaac. The consolation event for boys finishing 3 to 5 in the groups contained some very close matches with the group 3 rivals from earlier getting another chance to fight it out. Mattie Goffin (Kesgrave High School) got the better of Jack Bozkurt (Northgate High School) in an entertaining final.
Winner: Isaac Kingham (Ormiston Endeavour Academy)
Runner-up: Alexander Graham (Holbrook Academy)
U19 Mixed – School Years 12+
Although the 5 players finished in seeding order this 10 match group took an age to complete. Very few matches were straight forward 3-0 wins which made for some excellent competition. Alex Gosling (Thurston Community College) remained unbeaten to win with Davie Goffin (Kesgrave High School) second.
Shannon Heffer (St Albains Catholic High School) playing above her age group took the battle of the girls, coming back from 1-2 down to win in 5 games against Sophie Gathorne-Hardy (Abbeygate Sixth Form College).
Winner: Alexander Gosling (Thurston Community College)
Runner-up: Davie Goffin (Kesgrave High School)
U16 Winner: Shannon Heffer (St Albains Catholic High School)
U19 Winner: Sophie Gathorne-Hardy (Abbeygate Sixth Form College)
Overall the event attracted 41 players and thanks to everyone to took part and helped make it a success.
Thanks also to John, Wing & Robert who helped set up, Tarun, Isaac, Alexander and Joe who kept an eye on the U11 events and to Samuel who took on the role of lead umpire for the finals.
Lastly, thanks to Stowmarket Table Tennis Club for allowing us to use their equipment.
Summary of finals results – Winners and Runners-up
U11 Boys
Winner: Sebastian Gilmour (Great Barton Primary)
Runner-up: Sebastian McLeavy (St Mary’s CofE Primary, Woodbridge)
U11 Girls
Winner: Maisy Young (Halifax Primary)
Runner-up: Brooklyn Taylor (St Pancras Catholic Primary)
U13 Boys
Winner: Zygis Kaminskas (St Albains Catholic High School) Runner-up: Liam Zambrano (St Albains Catholic High School)
U13 Girls
Winner: Samantha Rupapa (St Albains Catholic High School) Runner-up: Ruby Melero (Thurston Community College)
U16 Boys
Winner: Isaac Kingham (Ormiston Endeavour Academy) Runner-up: Alexander Graham (Holbrook Academy)
U16 Girls
Winner: Shannon Heffer (St Albains Catholic High School)
U19 Boys
Winner: Alexander Gosling (Thurston Community College) Runner-up: Davie Goffin (Kesgrave High School)
U19 Girls
Winner: Sophie Gathorne-Hardy (Abbeygate Sixth Form College)