Fives, Football and Squash Success

St Paul’s enjoyed a superb week of sport across fives, football and squash.

Fives

Schools West of England Tournament, Sherborne, 17 January

SPS players enjoyed a highly successful weekend, winning three of the four trophies and finishing runners-up in the final of the fourth.

In the U18 Singles, five SPS players reached the quarter-finals: Lower Eighths Nadim Cortas and Zen Okada, alongside Upper Eighths Freddie Hammond Giles, Josh Ferro and Tom Ritchie. Freddie went on to claim the singles title for the third consecutive year, before cruising to victory in the doubles with partner Josh Ferro. This was also their third successive doubles title, making them the first players ever to achieve this feat.

The U16 Singles produced an all-SPS final, with top seed Joey Hammond Giles (Fifth Form) facing Alex Ponte (Sixth Form), who had come through a tense semi-final against an Alleyn’s opponent. Joey’s footwork and power off both hands proved decisive. Joey and Freddie are now the first brothers ever to win the U16 and U18 singles titles at the same fives tournament.

In the doubles, Sixth Formers Aarav Bhalodia and Ishaan Baijal lost to the Winchester first pair in a very high-quality quarter-final, while Alex Ponte and Ranvir Puri were edged out in an even closer semi-final against Alleyn’s. In the final, Joey and Thomas Outred (Fifth Form) pushed Alleyn’s all the way but ultimately fell just short. They will, however, have another opportunity to challenge for the U15s title next year.

Football

SPS v Haileybury, 17 January

The 1st XI secured an impressive 3–1 victory, with a brace from Lower Eighth striker Charlie Pockney and Sam Francombe (Upper Eighth) opening his account for the year. Much of the attacking play flowed through Player of the Match Oscar Suarez (Upper Eighth). The result takes the 1st XI to an outstanding eight wins from eight matches. They travel to Bradfield College on Thursday for the ISFA Cup quarter-final in what promises to be a very tough fixture, so please do wish them well if you see them around school this week.

The 2nd XI were involved in an entertaining contest, earning a 2–2 draw, while the 3rd XI were narrowly edged out 2–1 in a closely fought match. The remaining senior sides delivered dominant performances. The 4th XI recorded a 7–0 win, including a hat-trick from Alexis Pryzrembel (Upper Eighth), the 5th XI won 8–1, and the 6th XI continued the trend with an outstanding 9–0 goalfest.

In the U16 fixtures, the A team were unfortunate to lose a tight match 2–1 at home, with a late goal completing Haileybury’s comeback from 1–0 down. There were strong results elsewhere, however, with the U16B grinding out a hard-fought 1–0 win. The U16C match was cancelled, as Haileybury felt unable to match the level, so SPS U16D instead played U16C and secured a deserved 2–1 victory.

The U15A produced a strong away performance to win 4–2, while the U15B recorded an emphatic 10–0 victory. The U15C continued the momentum with a 6–1 win, and the U15D capped off the day with an outstanding 14–1 result.

Squash

Roehampton Schools Invitation Tournament, 18 January

The SPS team of Anish Dhar, Edouard Traissac, Nik Younis (all Lower Eighth), Sam To (Fourth Form) and Tim Lenhard (Fifth Form) competed in the Division 2 tournament, which featured eight schools. They finished third overall, topping their group with convincing wins against Marlborough, Wellington and UCS.

In the semi-finals, SPS faced Felsted and, after a tough contest, were narrowly beaten 3–2. The third-place play-off saw SPS once again take on UCS, with the team producing another commanding 5–0 victory to secure third place.