Sport Highlights – 23 November 2023

Please click here for a roundup of recent sporting activity and achievements across squash, rugby, rackets, swimming, football, badminton and table tennis.

Swimming

During the weekend, Rufus Poole (Sixth Form) secured qualification for the Scottish Nationals in the 1500m freestyle, while Anderson Daffey (Sixth Form) earned a spot in the English Winter Nationals for the 200m breaststroke event. Nationals will take place in December.

Rackets 

Please see below for the latest Rackets results from a recent game at home against Haileybury College.

U16a Doubles

• H. Dattani (Sixth Form) / I. Madhok (Sixth Form) won 3-1 (15/9, 9/15, 15/4, 15/5).

U16/Senior Singles

• K. Vujnovic (Sixth Form) played against the 3rd strongest senior schoolboy in the country, losing 2-0 (15/10, 15/12). This match provided valuable practice for the National Schools U-16 Singles Rackets Championships in 3 weeks.

U15a Doubles

• E. De-Rosa (Fifth Form) / E. Traissac (Fifth Form) won 3-0 (15/4, 15/11, 15/3).

U16/Senior Singles

• A. Sankaye (Sixth Form) played an outstanding game in singles against the same opponent as Konstantin, narrowly losing 14/17, 15/12, 13/15. This match served as practice for Aryan’s challenge as the top seed in the upcoming National Schools U-16 Singles Championships.

Rugby Report 

This weekend marked the first time in a very long while that the SPS Rugby Club have had a block fixture against Whitgift School. The opposition has a rich history of regularly producing international and premiership players, such is the talent that passes through their school year in and year out.

As such, right from the beginning of the season, the SPS teams knew that this would be a big game, and certainly one that everyone was looking forward to playing in. The 1st XV were playing away, and although persistent rain throughout the week had put an end to the U14 games due to be played at Whitgift, their wonderful hybrid pitch meant that no amount of rainfall would prevent this match from taking place.

The 1st XV game itself was an outstanding contest, and if ever there was an advert for school boy rugby, this was it, as both teams gave absolutely everything out on the pitch.

Like so many sports, however, rugby matches can be won or lost by the smallest of margins. Unfortunately for the 1st XV, this was the fourth time this season that the team would endure a loss in a game that went right down to the wire, with Whitgift ultimately coming out on top by 16-14.

Never have I seen a group of boys deserve so much but come away with so little, such has their luck been throughout this season. But as is often the way with sports, particularly when two strong teams battle it out, it’s very fine margins that deter the outcome of the match, and we will all undoubtedly be left looking back at this game and other matches this season and say to ourselves, “If only…!”.

Conversely, the wonderful thing about rugby is how close it brings a group of boys or girls together. Indeed, for some of these boys that bond has lasted 11 years and, along with the boys joining in year 9, they collectively possess the friendship and resilience necessary to pick themselves up off the floor after such an emotional blow and come back stronger for it in their game next week. I would like to finish by saying that Mr Blurton and myself could not have been more proud of the 1st XV team at the final whistle, with the team playing some unbelievable rugby and giving everything they had to try and win the game for their school.

The 2nd XV also played away to Whitgift on the same pitch, having kicked off a couple of hours beforehand. Unfortunately, they went down by 43-12, although in fairness to the 2nd XV, it must be noted that their preparation for the game was hampered ever so slightly due to a couple of players being called up to the 1st XV as a result of illness-induced absences.

The U16 and U15 matches all went ahead at home, but sadly the 3rd XV game had to be cancelled due to three of our pitches being too wet to play on.

The U16 A were sadly without five of their starting lineup due to injury, so it was always going to be a tall order to come out victorious against such strong opposition. However, the SPS boys made a very good go of it and, with thirteen minutes left to play, found themselves ahead and within touching distance of what would have been an outstanding win. However, a game can swing so quickly, and with four quick tries in succession, the boys from Whitgift ran out winners by 31-10. The Under 16 B’s were naturally short in numbers due to the injuries in the A team and were sadly reduced to 14 not long after the start of the game due to yet another injury. Whitgift showed great sportsmanship by also going down to 14 players, but with five subs on a continuous rotation always had the fresh legs to maintain an energetic pace, and ultimately ran out winners by 41-19. Again, this is another example of the spirit of the SPS Rugby teams, with the B’s giving their all to the very end despite the scoreline being firmly in Whitgift’s favour.

The U15 A’s were involved in yet another exciting game, and played so well for 90% of the game, including having a try disallowed which would have taken them 20 -15 up. However, similarly to the fortunes of the U16 A team, Whitgift scored late run-away tries in the last ten minutes to clinch the game by 15-29. The U15 B’s and Cs were both involved in very evenly contested games but sadly lost by 12-22 and 24-29 respectively.

All in all, another really competitive weekend of rugby was played in a fantastic spirit by both SPS and Whitgift School. Thank you to all the staff and boys involved.

Report written by Andy Maguire, Head of Rugby.

National Schools Squash Competition

Congratulations to the U16s squash team, including Tolga Mardin (Sixth Form), Zubin Maudgil (Sixth Form), Anish Dhar (Fifth Form), Ishaan Moorthy (Sixth Form), and Nikash Younis (Fifth Form), for successfully advancing to round two of The National Schools Squash Competition. Their victories over Eton, Trinity, and Simon Langton Grammar secured their spot. The upcoming round 2, scheduled for the New Year, presents an opportunity for them to qualify for a place in the National Finals.

Football

SPS 1st XI v Dunottar School (H)

In a thrilling encounter between SPS 1st XI and Dunottar School (H) on Wednesday, the team delivered an outstanding performance during the second round of the ISFA Bowl knockout tournament. Captain Tredre (Upper Eighth), motivated the players with SPS scoring twice in the first ten minutes settling any nerves and allowing the team to play with fluidity and positivity. A hat-trick from Evans Alcantara (Upper Eighth) and goals from Isaac (Lower Eighth), Alexandridis (Upper Eighth) and Tredre (Upper Eighth) saw the team to an excellent 6-1 win, with high hopes for the next round of the competition.

Multi Sport Fixture

Last Saturday, St Paul’s demonstrated their sporting prowess as approximately 30 boys engaged in a friendly fixture against KCS, showcasing their skills in Squash, Badminton, and Table Tennis.

Squash:

The Squash event saw 11 SPS players in action, culminating in a gripping final clash between Neil Prabhu (Upper Eighth) and Zubin Maudgil (Sixth Form). Neil Prabhu emerged victorious, claiming the prestigious title.

Badminton:

In Badminton, SPS formed A and B teams combining different age groups. The A team, comprising Hansei Tan (Lower Eighth), Saadhyan Ragulan (Lower Eighth), Oscar McKinnon (Sixth Form), and Avinash Ehathasan (Sixth Form), secured a resounding 10-2 victory in their match. Meanwhile, the B team consisting of Duncan Wong (Upper Eighth), Luxsigan Vamadevan (Upper Eighth), Varen Gowda (Upper Eighth), Aditya Swamy (Sixth Form), Dev Patel (Sixth Form), and Vyom Chamaria (Sixth Form), engaged in a fiercely contested match that culminated in a 6-6 draw.

Table Tennis:

Some very closely fought contests but KCS clinched the U18A fixture 5 – 4 and the U16A 7 – 5.  Elliot Ding (Lower Eighth) and Armaan Martins (Fifth Form) were both unbeaten in the competition.