Sunday 30th October 2011

Feredj & Ferreira Find Form

With a huge entry of 117 young competitors across 4 different age groups, the Greenhouse Bevin 2 Star took place at Ernest Bevin College on Sunday the 30th October.   The junior open competition proved a great spectacle for how junior table tennis in London is currently thriving.

25 tables were in full use for over 10 hours in order to complete the event with a highly charged competitive atmosphere lasting the entire duration.  8 events were played across 4 different age groups, these were U11, U13, U15 and U18 boys and girls.

Many up and coming players were evident during the event including Hiba Feredj who won the U13 and U15 girls events, showing great fighting spirit and composure.  Ethan Walsh was also impressive powering his way to victory in the U11 boys, as well as Joseph Langham-Ferriera who came through to win the U18 boys deuce in the 5th game against an “in form” Moshood Awosile.

The next Greenhouse Bevin 2 star will be taking place on Saturday 28th of April 2012.  We expect an another large entry and will therefore have to refuse entries when the event becomes full.

Round Up of Results:

The Boys Under 11s was won by top seed Ethan Walsh (He) from a field of 16. On route to the final, he defeated Kidi Martin Paulo (Mi) in the quarters & Jonathan McMullan (Ha) in the semi. Runner-up was 2nd seed Reiss Vydelingum (K) who accounted for William Barker (K) in the quarters & Ashone Hooper (K) in the semis. The final was won 3-0 by Ethan after a very tight 1st end 16-14, 11-8, 11-4.

The Girls U11s was a 3 way round robin won by Tiana Dennison (E) over 2nd-placed Anna Raymakers (Sy).

The Boys U13s had 36 players & a strong entry. Hitherto top seed Kester Pardoe (Mi), lost in the 1st round to Walsh (who was 2nd seed but lost to Theodore Achampong (Mi) in the group), who in turn lost to scratch entry Omar Khassal (Mi), who in fact was the highest ranked player in the draw. Omar went on to beat Jack Merton (K) in the semi after a 5 set-tussle in which it was clear Omar was unwell. On the other side of the draw 3rd seed Arbi Tola (Mi) made his way to the final with wins over Sulaiman Akbar (Mi), Bejay Arjan (Sy) & unranked Hassan Jiwajee (Mi) in the semi final. The final was not staged due to Khassal being unwell.

The girls U13s was 2 groups of 4. One semi final was top seed Kate Cheer (Sx) Vs Tiana. Kate Came through this encounter. The 2nd semi was Hiba Feredj (Mi) Vs Zahna Hall (Mi). Hiba won to face Kate in the final. After losing the 1st game, 2nd seeded Hiba won the next three: 9-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-3.

The boys U15s had a whopping 57 entries. The seeds did not have a goos time in this event. Top seed Karim Khassal (Mi) fell at the 1st knock out round to Toby Bartram (K). 2nd seed Ross Hagen only went 1 round further & lost to Kareem Bandaogo (Mi), another group runner-up. 3rd seed Blair Phillip (K) lost in the quarters to Franco Abbey (Sy). 4th seed Ezra Myers (Sy) lost in round 2 again to a group runner-up, this time Jack Merton (K). There were 2 strong scratch entries replacing other seeded players. These were London Academy players Gabriel Achampong & Omar Khassal from Middlesex. Unfortunately for them they met in round 1 & it was the higher ranked Achampong who made it to round 2. From there he progressed to the final with wins over Aaron Baksh (K), then Bandaogo in the quarters & Abbey in the semis. With the top 4 seeds knocked out, Ezra Glasstone (Mi) the 5th seed had a route through to the final at the expense of Endrit Ramadani (Mi), James Barker (K), Merton in the quarters & Elias Daaboul (Sy) in the semis. The final was straight forward, with the higher ranked Achampong winning 11-8, 11-5, 11-5.

The Girls U15s had 13 entrants (including the 3 U11s Girls who were put in as a group within the U15s to give them more games). Both of the top 2 seeds came runners-up in their groups. 1st seed Kate Cheer lost to Hiba Feredj again & 2nd seed Laura Burbuleviciute (E) lost to Emma Sheen (Sx). Then at the quarter final stage Cheer & Burbuleviciute were knocked out by Sheen & Feredj respectively. In the semis Feredj was victorious over Zahna Hall & Sheen beat Sarah Austin (E). The final was one-sided with an easy win for 5th seed Feredj 12-10, 11-6, 11-4.

The Boys U18s again had a huge entry with 49 entries. Top seed Joseph Langham Ferreira made his way comfortably to the final with wins over Harry Walton (K) (who had a great tournament beating at least 4 players well above him in the rankings), then Micah Salmon (Mi) & club-mate Lobsang Lama (Sy) in the semis, who was actually the 2nd highest ranked player with the withdrawal of the top seed on the day. Moshood Awosile (Sy) took the place of the top seed as a scratch entry & took full advantage of the draw. He made it to the final defeating Jack Davies (K), Blair Phillip (K) & U15s winner Gabriel Achampong in the semis. Moshood almost tasted defeat in the quarters as he was 2-0 down in games & 7-3 down in the 3rd, but kept fighting to win a competitive 5th set. He also only just beat Achampong in 5 & then took the 1st 2 games vs Joseph in the final only to be pegged back & lose 13-11 in the 5th. The score was 8-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-6, 13-11.

The U18s girls was a round robin of 6 players & 3rd seed Sarah Austin came through with Emma Sheen again in 2nd place & Laura Burbuleviciute in 3rd.

Results:

U11 Boys:      Winner: Ethan Walsh

Runner-up: Reiss Vydelingum


U13 Boys:     Winner: Arbi Tola

Runner-up: Omar Khassal

U15 Boys:     Winner: Gabriel Achampong

Runner-up: Ezra Glasstone


U18 Boys:     Winner: Joseph Langham-Ferriera

Runner-up: Moshood Awosile

U11 Girls:      Winner: Tiana Dennison

Runner-up: Anna Raymakers

U13 Girls:      Winner: Hiba Feredj

Runner-up: Kate Cheer


U15 Girls:      Winner: Hiba Feredj

Runner-up: Emma Sheen


U18 Girls:      Winner: Sarah Austin

Runner-up: Emma Sheen


Report by Mark Smith (Organiser) & Rory Scott (Referee)