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In Fives News…
West of England Fives Championships Success
Freddie (Sixth Form) won the Under 18 singles at the West of England Fives Championships, without losing a game, whilst still an Under 16, with an immaculate display of relentless retrieving and controlled power. He and Josh (Sixth Form) then won the U18 doubles, defeating the top pairs from Christ’s Hospital, Alleyn’s and Winchester along the way. For an Under 16 pair to win the U18 doubles is an amazing achievement – and possibly a first in the history of the game!In the U16 tournament, Tom R (Sixth Form) made it to the semi-finals of the singles, and he and Elyas (Sixth Form) lost in the final of the doubles. Our U15 pair of Nadim (Fifth Form) and Nicholas (Fifth Form) won the U16 doubles plate, defeating players a year older.
In Rackets News…
National Schools Rackets Singles Championships
After an epic week of play during the National Schools Rackets Singles Championships at The Queens Club, St Paul’s finished with the winner of the U16 event, the ‘Incledon-Webber’, a semi-finalist in that same event, and a semi-finalist in the elite event, the ‘Foster Cup’, and many other quarter finalists through-out the four event Championships.
Aryan (Sixth Form) played an almost flawless U16 tournament where he dropped only one game the entire event, including an emphatic final win against his Radley opponent 3-0.
Nabil (Upper Eighth) also had an outstanding event as he beat the 4th seed Tonbridgian in the quarter final of the U18 elite top 16 schoolboys, the ‘Foster Cup’, 3-2 to reach the semi-final against the 1st seed Wykehamist. However, although Nabil unfortunately lost this semi, he did win the first game, and probably should have won the second, but didn’t, and therefore lost 1-3.
Konstantin (Sixth Form) also had a good run to the semis of the U16, defeating along the way fellow Pauline’s, Sachin, and Gabriel, however, unfortunately, Konstantin ran out of juice and flagged in the 5th and final game to lose 2-3.
National Rackets Doubles Championship
St Paul’s had outstanding success during the National Rackets Doubles Championships at Queens Club. First pair, Darshy (Upper Eighth) and Nabil (Upper Eighth) made it to the semi-finals in fantastic fashion, however, unfortunately the boys lost 0-4 to the top seeds, Winchester College.
U16A Aryan (Sixth Form) and Gabriel (Sixth Form), as top seeds, cruised past fourth seeds Radley College 3-0 in the top half semi, and U16B pair, Shlok (Sixth Form) and Konstantin (Sixth Form), as second seeds, also came through comfortably against third seeds, Harrow, 3-1. This therefore resulted in an ‘all Pauline’ final, which Aryan and Gabriel won.
In Rowing News…
Quintin Head
At the season-opening Quintin Head, SPS celebrated several wins after boating nine VIIIs – the club’s largest ever entry into a head race. The 1st VIII was the fastest junior crew in the regatta, finishing second overall by 0.3 seconds to the Thames RC senior 1st VIIII. The J15A and B crews took first and second places in the J15 category. The J16A crew finished second by 0.1 seconds in the J16 category. The 2nd VIII finished 7th in the J18 category, ranking them as the second-fastest second VIII on the day. The 3rd VIII was the fastest 3rd VIII in the event, and, like the 2nd VIII, beat several first VIIIs from other schools on the day. SPS was awarded the Victor Ludorum trophy for the fastest aggregate J18, J16 and J15 times.
Another World Record
Alp broke the U16 World Record for 5,000 m on the indoor rowing machine in January. His time of 15:52.5 broke the old record by 0.8 s. Alp adds this record to his collection having taken the U16 World Record for 30 minutes a few weeks ago and the U14 record for 2000 m in February 2022.
Head of the Nene
Seven SPS crews travelled to Peterborough in February to race the Head of the Nene – 5,000 m into a headwind, ensuring the race would take longer than even the Schools’ Head of the River. The 1st VIII won the event outright, beating all crews, senior and junior, by nearly 30 seconds. The 2nd VIII finished fifth overall, closely followed by the J16A boat in sixth place, which also won the J16 category. The 3rd VIII was 11th overall and third in the J18 category. Three J15 eights finished third, sixth and eighth in the J16 category while racing up an age group.
Schools’ Head of the River
At the Schools’ Head of the River, St Paul’s crews won one silver and three gold medals, setting three new course records in the process. The J16A crew, 3rd VIII and 1st VIII each won by 8, 32 and 11 seconds respectively. The aggregate time for the 1st VIII, 2nd VIII and J16As was good enough to win the Thames Trophy for fastest school by 46 seconds from KCS Wimbledon.
In Fencing News…
In January, following intense matches fighting through pools and a direct elimination tournament, Sasha (Lower Eighth) took the title of school Foil champion this year, facing Harry (Fifth Form) in the final.
Épée Championship 2024
Also in January, following intense matches fighting through pools and a direct elimination tournament, Altan (Upper Eighth) took the title of school épée champion this year, facing Luke (Upper Eighth) in the final.
School Sabre Championship
In February, following intense matches fighting through pools and a direct elimination tournament, Altan (Upper Eighth) took the title of school sabre champion this year, facing Wei-Shun (Upper Eighth) in the final.
Public Schools Fencing Championships
Matt (Fourth Form) competed in the Public Schools Fencing Championships at Lee Valley Athletic Centre in the Mount-Haes Epee event and came second. He battled his way through a tough field of 102 entries to come away with silver.
In Swimming News…
Surrey Championships
Over the last weekend of the Surrey Championships, Rufus (Sixth Form) won a bronze medal in 800m front crawl and made the final in the 400m individual medley, placing sixth in his age group. Daffey (Sixth Form) also qualified for the Surrey Championships in 200m individual medley.
In Cross Country News…
Middlesex Schools Cross Country Championships
SPS cross country runners had a fantastic afternoon at the Middlesex Schools XC Championships. On a blustery day, all the athletes were vying not only for the pride of winning a county title but also at stake were qualification places for the national championships for the top eight finishers in each age category.
Leau (Fourth Form) was the first to run in the junior boys race (4.5km). He started well and was even leading the field with only half a kilometre to go, but a cruelly timed stomach cramp thwarted his ambitions to win his first county title, eventually finishing in a still respectable 7th position. Despite the disappointment of having victory so agonisingly taken away, he did secure one of the coveted qualifying places for the English Schools Championships.
In the senior race (7km) Benjy (Lower Eighth) put together his best race of the season so far, tracking a talented Harrow runner with proven credentials on the national stage for much of the race, he flew past him with 800m to go and continued to go away to take a commanding win and book his ticket to Leeds. Close behind him in fifth, Max (Upper Eighth) was also having a strong race, beating the Richmond runner who got the better of him a week earlier and making it three St Paul’s runners on the Middlesex Team for the national championships. And Thomas (Upper Eighth) achieved his goal of finishing in the top half of the field with a strong run, finishing 19th out of 42 runners.
Two SPJ athletes were also in action, Max (Lower Third) finished 18th out of 66 runners in the minor boys (U13) category and Joaquim (Upper Third) finished 16th out of 58 runners in the junior boys (U15) race.
English Schools XC Championships
Benjy (Lower Eighth) and Leau (Fourth Form) finished 24th and 34th, respectively, among fields of more than 300 runners at the English Schools XC Championships on Saturday. These are the best performances SPS has had in at least a decade.
In Rugby News…
Haberdashers U14 Seven’s Tournament
The under 14 Rugby VII’s Squad carried on from their successful 15-a-side season last term by winning the Haberdashers U14 Seven’s Tournament in February. The team won all of their games in the group stages (SPS v Wellington College 31-12, SPS v Hurst School 27-12, SPS v Campion School 24-7, SPS v Brighton College/semi-final 35 -0) to meet Haberdashers School in the final. It was a strongly contested match between two good sevens teams but SPS were outstanding in every aspect of the game and won convincingly by 22-5.
U18 Surrey Sevens Tournament Plate Winners
The U18 Sevens squad travelled a short journey to the Richmond Athletic Grounds to compete in U18 Surrey Sevens Tournament, one of the strongest and most competitive Sevens Tournaments on the circuit, with a total of 52 schools competing from all over the country.
The SPS team were runners up in their group, having won two matches and lost one, which put them through to the Plate Competition Quarter Final against a strong Trinity side. This ended up being a very competitive match but the 1st VII dug deep and eventually ran out winners by 21-17, progressing through to the final to play Reed’s School, having beaten the City of London Freeman’s School in the semi-final 26-21. It was a strongly contested match, as Reed’s gave absolutely everything, having already been beaten by SPS in the group stages, but we proved to be too strong in every aspect of the game and won convincingly by 33-12.
Rosslyn Park National Sevens Vase Competition
On the morning of day one of the Rosslyn Park National Sevens Vase competition, the St Paul’s Under 18s were one of 228 teams vying for the prestigious trophy. By the afternoon of day two, St Paul’s were one of only four teams left in the competition as they strode out onto the pitch for the semi-final. Sadly, after winning their previous eight games, their ninth game in two days would prove too much. Despite never ceasing to fight given multiple injuries throughout the team, St Paul’s were eventually beaten by a strong Lancaster Grammar side by 29-14.
The U14 Sevens squad went to the tournament with big aspirations and they delivered. Making their way to the semi finals, Paul’s came out firing scoring straight from the off and never looked back. The final was against formidable foe, Millfield. The boys had the belief that this was their day, however, it wasn’t to be. At three tries a piece it came down to conversions scored. It was a very proud day for the St Paul’s rugby club.
In Squash News…
Squash Schools National Finals
The U16 squash team went to the Squash Schools National Finals in March to compete against the best schools and finished fifth in the country. After narrowly losing their first match 4-1 to a very strong team from Gosforth Academy in a hard-fought clash where every game was very close and competitive, the team then went on to beat Manchester Grammar School 5-0 and Portsmouth Grammar School 3-2 with some intense games to finish Fifth overall. A huge achievement.
