Barnes Primary Ping: Past, Present, Future

Jon Kaufmann – 6th November 2017

Table tennis players from the Barnes Primary School had a fabulously successful day at the first round of the National Junior League, held last weekend at the London Academy in Edgware. And this success came from many directions.

First up were three former Barnes players, Trishton, Ed and Mohamed, who had regrouped to form the Division 3 West London Ping C Team. These three young up and coming stars knew a thing or two about winning, having just a few months earlier been crowned London Primary School Champions. Now, armed with extra training from the Surrey County coaches, they were in no mood to be simply making up the numbers. All three of the lads performed above expectations, sweeping aside opposition from Brighton, Croydon and the London Academy itself. All opposition were duly vanquished and the title was theirs by a substantial five point margin.

That same day, Barnes Primary were to prove they were not content to rely on former students and past glories. Definitely not. Playing for the first time in the National Junior League, current students Annie, Fraser and Hamish combined successfully to win their respective division at the very first time of asking. With the highly combative Annie Williams at the helm and cheered on by former England Cadet, Charleigh Kirby, the Barnes team proved altogether too strong for their Twickenham and Brighton opponents. Another title for Barnes Primary and another promotion for West London Ping.

Also in that division were three more young Barnes Primary players. And although they found the going tough, these three youngsters, Guy, Alf and Max, all still in Year 4, showed tremendous determination and resilience. Significantly, they mustered ten wins between them and sent a warning shot across the bows that the next generation of Barnes table tennis players are going to be every bit as successful as the previous ones.

In Division 7A, still more Barnes youngsters were in action. Here, Harry, Orlando, Piran and former Barnes student, Marcello fought their hearts out to amass eleven wins against opposition two and three years older.

Finally, it was left to Jacob, Jake and Cora to shine for Barnes and take the silver medals in Division 7B with a hugely impressive twenty wins. So all in all, with Barnes youngsters, past, present and future, it was a wonderful day of table tennis and a spirited performance from every player. The perfect warm up before the all-important South London Schools Championships coming up later this month. The omens look good.