Sports Roundup

We’re now halfway through the rugby season, and it’s going brilliantly! SPS celebrated seven wins over the weekend, including unbeaten runs for the U14A, U15A, and U16A teams. Cross country saw strong performances at Harrow, with both Inter and Senior teams securing second place and qualification for the Regional SE finals. The golf and rackets teams also shone with hard-fought victories against Harrow and Wellington respectively. Looking at the weekend ahead, we wish our rowers the best of luck for the Head of the Charles Regatta in the US – the world’s largest three-day rowing regatta.

Cross-Country

ESAA Cross Country Cup – Harrow – 9 October

SPS travelled to Harrow for the first round of the National Schools Cup, with teams competing in both the Inter (Fourth and Fifth Forms) and Senior (Sixth Form, Lower Eighth and Upper Eighth) categories. There were some excellent performances across the board, and strong aggregate scores in both age groups secured second place finishes and automatic qualification for the South East Regional Finals in November.

Inter Race
Charlie Nicolson produced an outstanding run to win the race, covering the 4.2km course in 14:13 – equivalent to a sub-17-minute 5K over challenging, hilly terrain. Shunsei Kwan finished an impressive 4th in 14:52, followed by Cyrus Sheikh in 9th (15:36) and Toby Halsall in 24th (17:14). Making their debut for the school, Alexandre Koebel, Tommy Qiao and Leo Koz Burch also ran strongly and contributed valuable points to the team effort.

Senior Race
In the senior category, Leau Roch led the SPS team home in 5th place with a time of 17:20 for the 5K course. He was closely followed by Owen Xu (6th), Alfred Chen (8th) and Caspar Lakatos (14th), with Alex Khosrowpanah-Falcone (23rd) and Samuel Christie (26th) completing the scoring team.

Golf

Swift Foursomes, SPS  vs Harrow – 9 October

The SPS team of six faced a tough contest against Harrow, where each pairing was down several strokes. After careful consideration, Shiv Ahluwalia and Kevin Lu were selected as the first pair, Nick Behroun and Kaiser Riemann as the second, and Armaan Bhatia and Captain William Xu as the third.

The opening pair produced a strong performance to win 3 up with 2 to play, while the second pair battled hard but eventually fell 3 down with 2 to play. The third pair made an excellent start, going 3 up on the front nine, but their lead slipped away and the match finished all square after 18 holes, forcing a playoff.

The playoff began on the 10th hole, which was halved. The decisive second playoff hole was played back down the 18th. After solid approach shots, SPS faced two putts from 15 feet for the win. Armaan Bhatia left the first putt just short, and Captain William Xu calmly sank the remaining three-footer to clinch the victory.

Congratulations to the team on a hard-fought 2–1 win! SPS remain undefeated in the Swift Foursomes and are in a strong position to qualify for the national league.

Rackets

SPS vs Wellinton – 9 October

SPS recorded another impressive home victory against Wellington, dropping only four games and one tie-break across all matches.

Results:

• U16A: 3–1

• U16B: 2–1

• U16C: 1–2

• U15A: 2–0

• U15B: 2–1

A strong all-round performance – well done to all pairs!

Rugby

SPS vs Gordons School and Fulham Boys’ School – 11 October

As we reach the halway mark of the season, SPS were in strong form again over the weekend, earning three A-team victories and an overall total of seven wins from ten matches.

SPS vs Gordon’s School (H), 11 October

The 1st XV produced an excellent first-half performance but struggled to maintain consistency after the break, allowing a strong Gordon’s side to capitalise. The match ended in a narrow 16–20 defeat.

The 2nd XV responded superbly, putting in an outstanding performance to secure a 33–20 victory.

The U14A team continued their excellent unbeaten run, defeating Gordon’s 29–7. Despite a brave effort, the U14D side were beaten 14–26 by Gordon’s U14B, but considering they faced opposition two levels higher, this was an encouraging result and reflected great depth within the U14 year group.

SPS vs Gordon’s School (A)

Not to be outdone by the younger age group, the U16A also extended their unbeaten run with a hard-fought 19–10 away win in a closely contested and physical encounter.

The U15A maintained their winning streak with a dominant 50–0 victory away at Gordon’s – their fourth successive win, following impressive results against Berkhamsted, RGS Guildford, and an excellent Continental Tyres Plate triumph over Reed’s School at home on Bigside last Thursday.

The U15C side also impressed, overcoming Gordon’s U15B 48–21, another fine result given they too were playing a level up.

SPS vs Fulham Boys School (H)

The U16B and U14B teams hosted the Fulham Boys School’s U16A and U14A sides respectively. The U14B produced a superb display to win 34–5, while the U16B were narrowly beaten 17–21 in a very competitive game – meaning both schools shared the honours overall.