A Week of Sporting Success

U16 RGS Guilford Rugby Sevens Tournament

In the bright Sunday sunshine, the U16’s played in their second sevens tournament of the season at RGS Guildford. The team started slowly against a good Dulwich team, but a strong finish saw the boys over the line. Next up was Hampton, in which SPS put in an impressive defensive effort, with only a last-minute try seeing Hampton draw level. Unfortunately, the final group game against Duke of York was to be our weakest performance, and we narrowly lost by 17-14. However, our overall group results were good enough for the team to qualify into the Cup Quarter Finals. In what was the performance of the day, SPS had their foot on the gas from minute one and put six tries past a highly rated Hurst team. A daunting semi-final awaited us next against the team of the day, Wellington College. Unfortunately, the match didn’t go our way but the boys giving a good account of themselves and can be proud of all their efforts. A fantastic day at a very strong tournament and the experience gained will stand us in good stead as we prepare for the Rosslyn Park National Sevens Tournament.

Rugby

Continental Tyres National Vase Semi Final – 2 March

The U15A team had a resounding 22-0 win in their semi-final match against Cardinal Newman Catholic School on Sunday. SPS will meet The Bishop Stortford High School in the competition final on Tuesday 11 March at Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club.

Rackets

After nearly achieving a clean sweep at Eton two weeks ago, we set a new record last Thursday, 27 February, by sending an unprecedented nine pairs to an away fixture at Tonbridge—surpassing the previous record of six. It was a historic outing, with our teams securing five impressive victories!

1^st Pair:  G. Ashton / A. Sankaye  lost  1-3  (15/11, 2/15, 13/18, 15/7)

2^nd Pair:  S. Poddar / K. Vujnovic  WON  3-2  (5/15, 15/8, 7/15, 15/2, 15/12)

3^rd Pair:  S. Marchand / H. Dattani  lost 1-3  (15/3, 17/14, 12/15, 11/15, 6/15)

U-16 Pair:  A. Dhar / E. Traissac  lost  0-3  (3/15, 8/15, 6/15)

U-15A:  A. Fletcher / R. Ahmad  WON  3-2  (18/13, 15/3, 4/15, 8/15, 17/14)

U-15B:  A. Ahmad / V. Sharma  WON  2-0  (15/3, 15/9)

U-15C:  J. Burch / H. Du  WON  2-1  (15/4, 11/15, 18/16)

U-14A:  C. Poulios / A. Goldberg  WON  2-1  (15/9, 12/15, 15/5)

U-14B:  A. Arora / A. Kohli  lost  1-2  (15/9, 11/15, 15/18)

Golf

World Junior Golf Championship 

Many congratulations to Veer Singh (Sixth Form) who participated in Daily Mail World Junior Golf Championship (WJGC) held in Villa Padierna, Spain. It was a three-day event and Veer finished seventh in the U-16s category and 19th overall in the U-18s. The WJGC is one of the largest and most prestigious junior golf tournaments played in Europe, attracting some of the best players from Europe and rest of the world.

Football

SPS V Berkhamsted (H)

The U14’s played their first fixtures at home for SPS and there were some excellent performances. The U14D won 5-1 whilst the U14C team showed similar dominance with a 4-0 win; the U14B team came up against a very tough opposition losing 1-2 but it was the U14A team who shone in the ‘match of the day’, turning upending a losing 1-3 score to a 6-3 win!

The 1st XI and 2nd XI were lacking form with 0-6 and 1-3 defeats respectively, however the 3rd XI were outstanding with a 4-1 win.

SPS v Berkhamsted (A)

The U15A succumbed to an agonising last ditch opposition goal, losing 3-4 whilst the U15B team were held to a 1-1 draw. The U15C team played in a close encounter, just losing out 2-3 but the U15D team got the only win away from home 5 -4.

U16A played some good football but unfortunately came up short, losing 2-3 and the U16B team played in a goal-less affair drawing 0-0. The U16C lost 0-1 and the U16D remain undefeated drawing 2-2.

The final block results were St Paul’s won 5, drew 3 and lost 7.

Fives

SPS vs. Alleyn’s – Tuesday, 25 February

It was a mixed week for the U15s, with the B IV securing a thrillingly close victory, edging out their opponents 81-80, thanks in large part to an outstanding performance from Aarav Bhalodia. Meanwhile, the A IV fought hard but fell short, losing 95-80. They held their own in the doubles but struggled in singles, winning just one of four matches—top seed Ranvir Puri emerging as the sole victor.

Cross Country

ESAA National Schools Cross Country Cup 2024/5  

Many congratulations to the Intermediate Boys team of Charlie Nicolson (Fourth Form), Leau Roch (Fifth Form), Alfred Chen (Fifth Form), Shunsei Kwan (Fourth Form), Joachim Strabo (Fourth Form) and Cyrus Sheikh (Fourth Form) who competed on Saturday, after qualifying by finishing second in the London competition at Harrow in September and then winning the South East Regional competition in Dulwich in November.

This is believed to be the first time that a SPS cross country team has qualified for the prestigious national event, which brings together the 15 best school teams from around the country.

After great runs from all team members, SPS finished in second place –  it is a testament to the team that their immediate reaction was disappointment, since they were only two places and two seconds away from beating Bournemouth School and being the overall winners! Charlie Nicolson came 4^th in 12.58 on an undulating and twisty 4.09km course, Leau Roch was 7th in 13.19, Alfred Chen 33rd in 13.51, Shunsei Kwan 64th in 14.11, Joachim Strabo 77th in 14.22 and Cyrus Sheikh 83rd in 14.28. In a field of 158, this means that SPS runners in and with four out of the six eligible to run again in the same event next year, the future of cross country running here looks very promising!