Wandsworth claimed the boys’ table tennis trophy at the Balfour Beatty London Youth Games, and were presented with it by one of their old boys: Darius Knight.
England international Knight was part of the Wandsworth team that won table tennis gold back in 2005 and 2006, and he was on hand to present the gold medals to the next generation of his borough’s talent after their victory in the final over Hillingdon.
After advancing through the qualifiers at Redbridge Sports Centre, the top eight teams moved on to Crystal Palace National Sports Centre for the knockout stages.
Wandsworth began with a dominant 5-0 victory over title-holders Enfield in the quarter-finals to set up a semi-final meeting with Sutton, who had beaten Brent 4-1.
The other two last eight ties saw victories for Hillingdon (3-2 over Hounslow) and Barnet (4-1 over Barking & Dagenham).
Wandsworth were again impressive in the semi-finals, dispatching of Sutton 4-1, while Hillingdon had another close 3-2 win against Barnet.
But those matches had taken a lot out of Hillingdon, and Wandsworth once again showed their abilities in the final with a 3-1 win to seal the gold medals.
Their coach Chris Lewis said: “It feels amazing to win. These boys are training every day and the hard work has really paid off so we’re going to have a barbecue to celebrate.
This has been a long time coming, the last time we won this competition was six years ago back when me and Darius were playing. Now he is here presenting the medals and I am coaching.”