England scoop impressive medal collection at Senior Schools International

England won seven of the 12 gold medals on offer at the Senior Schools International in the Isle of Man, plus a host of other medals.

That included clean sweeps in both the under-16 boys’ and girls’ singles, plus three gold-silver finishes in the team events.

As well as the players, the England contingent included Head of Delegation Chris Parker, Non-Playing Captains Kate Hughes, Helen Lower, Cherith Graham, Dave Pilkington, Mick Moir and Steve Lyons and umpires Harry Jutle and Tom Purcell.

Team events

Under-14 Girls

Both England teams remained unbeaten throughout the group stage with the A team (Brooke Morris and Gianna Pang) beating Jersey A, Ireland, Guernsey B and Scotland B, all 5-0.

England B (Alyssa Nguyen and Soraya Rahmani-Walentynska) beat Jersey B, Wales and Guernsey A 5-0 and Scotland A 4-1.

In the semi-finals, England A faced Scotland A. Morris beat Nichole Lee 3-0, before Pang extended the lead with a 3-2 win over Kiishi Adekola. The girls dropped their first match of the weekend as the Scots won the doubles, before Morris sealed a place in the final with a 3-0 win against Adekola.

In the other semi-final, England B had a convincing win against Scotland B, Nguyen and Rahmani-Walentynska winning their singles 3-0 and combining to win the doubles 3-0.

England A took the lead in the final as Morris beat Nguyen 3-1, but England B took control of the match as Rahmani-Walentynska defeated Pang 3-0, the doubles was won 3-0 and Rahmani-Walentynska took the title for the B team with a 3-0 win against Morris. 

Gold: England B; Silver: England A

Under-14 Boys

England A (Kai Lun Chow and Pablo Ramirez Rioja) beat Scotland B 5-0 and then got over the line at 3-0 against Ireland, at 10pm on the first day. They followed up with 5-0 wins against Guernsey B, Jersey A and Isle of Man A.

England B (Angad Saggu and Ibrahim Hussain) were defeated 3-2 by Scotland A as Joe Mulhern proved a strong opponent with two singles wins, Scotland also taking the doubles. Three 5-0 wins against Wales, Jersey B and Isle of Man B and a 4-1 win against Guernsey A sealed second place in the group and set up an all-England semi-final.

England A booked their place in the final after three close wins and, in the final, continued their unbeaten record to take the title with a 3-0 win over Ireland.

In the bronze medal match, England B found Scotland A too tricky again as they lost out 3-1.

Gold: England A

Under-16 Girls

England showed their dominance in this age group with both teams achieving perfect records in the groups and semi-finals.

England A (Victoria Pang & Jonabel Taguibao) beat Scotland B, Ireland and Guernsey in the groups, while the B team (Gene Lam and Luna Archard) defeated Jersey and Scotland A in the groups.

In the semi-finals, England A beat Scotland A 3-0 and England B beat Ireland 3-0.

In the final, England B got off to a good start with Archard beating Pang 3-1. Taguibao levelled the match up with a fifth-set win over Lam. England B took the doubles 3-1 to move into the lead. Pang saved championship points in the fourth against Lam, but Lam took the fifth and the title for England B.

Gold: England B; Silver: England A

Under-16 Boys

England A and B took top spots in their respective groups with unbeaten records. England A (Zac Greenhough and Francesco Bonato) beat Jersey, Ireland, Guernsey B and Scotland B, all 5-0.

England B (Rex Wong and Daniel Chang) matched them with 5-0 wins of their own against Jersey B, Wales, Guernsey A and Scotland A.

In the semi-finals, England A dispatched Scotland A 3-0 and England B beat Scotland B 3-0.

The final was a tight affair with England A getting off to a good start with Greenhough defeating Wong in four. Bonato doubled the lead for the A team with a 3-1 win of his own against Chang. The B team dug deep to take the doubles 3-0 before Chang levelled the match up with a 3-0 win over Greenhough. In the final match, Wong led 2-0 before Bonato took the next three sets and the title for England A. 

Gold: England A; Silver: England B

Under-18 Girls

England A (Zarita Lo and Bethany Ellis) won their group with 5-0 wins over Scotland B and Guernsey and a 4-1 win over Ireland. Meanwhile, the B team (Connie Dumelow and Anna Piercey) beat Isle of Man 5-0 and Scotland A 4-1.

In the semi-finals, Ireland got the better of England B 3-0 but all individual matches went to a decider. In the other semi, England A beat Scotland A 3-0.

In the final, England A could not get going as Ireland took the title with a 3-0 win.

The bronze medal match between England B and Scotland was a close affair. The first two games were shared. The doubles was won by the English 3-1 and Dumelow clinched the bronze medal for the team in the fourth match. 

Silver: England A;  bronze: England B

Under-18 Boys

England A (Adam Dennison and Nathaniel Saunders) became group winners with a 4-1 win over Scotland B and 5-0 wins over Ireland and a mixed Isle of Man/Jersey team.

England B (Fred Jones and Will Saint) beat Isle of Man 5-0 and Wales 4-1, but lost 3-2 to Scotland to claim runners-up spot in their group.

In the all-England semi-final, Dennison got the A team off to a good start beating Saint 3-0, and Saunders doubled the lead with a fifth-game win over Jones. The A team sealed their place in the final with a fifth-game win in the doubles.

In the final, the A team faced Scotland A and, despite Dennison winning the first match, were defeated 3-1.

England B faced Ireland for the bronze medal, and Ireland got off to a flying start, taking the opening two singles. England B team rallied and took the doubles 3-0, and two further singles wins for Jones and then Saint completed the comeback.

Silver: England A; bronze: England B

Individual events

Sunday saw the singles competitions, with a total of 19 medals won by England.

Under-14 Boys

Angad Saggu, Pablo Ramirez Rioja and Kai Lun Chow all won their groups, with Ibrahim Hussain finishing third on a points countback.

In the quarter-finals, Ramirez Rioja lost out Joe Mulhern of Scotland 3-1. Mulhern then took out Saggu 3-2 in the semi-finals after Saggu had led 2-0.

In the other half of the draw, Chow came through the semi-final against Toby Caldwell (Ireland) 3-0. In the final, Mulhern defeated Chow 3-1 to take home the gold. Hussain won the consolation event.

Silver: Kai Lun Chow; bronze: Angad Saggu; consolation gold: Ibrahim Hussain

Under-14 Girls

Brooke Morris, Gianna Pang, Alyssa Nguyen and Soraya Rahmani-Walentynska all won their groups.

In the quarter-finals, Morris lost out 3-2 to Nichole Lee (Scotland) and Pang lost 3-1 to Kiishi Adekola, also of Scotland.

In the semi-finals, Rahmani-Walentynska beat Adekola 3-1 and Nguyen beat Lee 3-2 to set up an all-England final, which Rahmani-Walentynska won 3-2.

Gold: Soraya Rahmani-Walentynska; silver: Alyssa Nguyen

Under-16 Boys

Rex Wong, Francesco Bonato, Zac Greenhough and Daniel Chang all won their groups and their quarter-finals to guarantee a clean sweep of the medals.

Chang beat Greenhough 3-0 and Bonato defeated Wong 3-2 and Chang went on to take the title with a 3-1 win over Bonato in the final.

Gold: Daniel Chang; silver: Francesco Bonato; bronze: Zac Greenhough, Rex Wong 

Under-16 Girls

Victoria Pang, Jonabel Taguibao, Gene Lam and Luna Archard all won their groups and matched the boys’ feat by also making it through the quarter-finals to guarantee a clean sweep.

Archard beat Pang 3-0 and Taguibao defeated Lam 3-2 in the semis, and it was Taguibao who took gold with a 3-1 final victory over Archard.

Gold: Jonabel Taguibao; silver: Luna Archard; bronze: Gene Lam, Victoria Pang

Under-18 Boys

Fred Jones, Adam Dennison and Nathaniel Saunders all won their groups with Will Saint finishing in the runners-up spot behind Gavin Yuan (Scotland).

Jones beat Saint 3-0 in the quarter-finals and then moved on the defeat Saunders 3-1 in the semi-finals. In the other semi-final, Dennison lost 3-1 to Yuan, who then went on to take gold for Scotland by defeating Jones 3-0 in the final.

Silver: Fred Jones; bronze: Adam Dennison, Nathaniel Saunders

Under-18 Girls

Bethany Ellis won her group, Zarita Lo and Connie Dumelow finished as runners-up and Anna Piercey was third. In the quarter-finals, Lo beat team-mate Ellis 3-1.

Both semi-finals were England v Ireland, with Lo losing 3-2 to Grace Looney and Dumelow losing in three close sets to Anjali Singh, who went on to win the gold.

Anna reached the consolation final and beat Hannah McDonell (Scotland) 3-0 to take the gold medal. 

Bronze: Connie Dumelow, Zarita Lo; consolation gold: Anna Piercey

England scoop impressive medal collection at Senior Schools International Table Tennis England.