End of an Era at Chelsea Academy
West London Ping thrive at Greenhouse
Eamon Brennan – 10th May 2019Last weekend saw the eighth London Ranking Tournament unfold at the Greenhouse Sports Centre and the twenty plus West London Ping contingent gave a good account of themselves with eleven WLP combatants reaching the knockout stages and four of those reaching the quarter finals in what proved to be a very strong field.
In Band 6 Mehdi and Noor al Hakim from the Chelsea Academy both reached the knock-out stage as did Anastasia Phillips from the Richmond Park Academy and Zayden Casimir from Barnes Primary School. Anastasia and Zayden were then draw against each other and on this occasion it was Zayden who triumphed, reaching his first ever quarter final. It took the eventual winner from Eastlea Community School to stop him getting to the semi-finals.
In Band 5 it was the turn of the talented Richmond Park squad to show what they could do and they did not disappoint. Three RPA’s, William Wakefield, Caio Ribeiro and Oliver Longhurst made the knockout stage, with both William and Oliver getting through to the quarters.
Band 4 saw four West London Ping players reaching the knockout stage; Mohammed Larbi and Ed Gooze Zijl, both ex Barnes students and Kian Kazemian and Oliver Longhurst from the Richmond Park Academy. It was Kian who particularly impressed, beating his more experienced opponent to reach the quarter finals.
All in all a successful day for West London Ping given that their stronger players from the Chelsea Academy were all absent due to GCSE preoccupations. Hopefully all players will be back in action for the next Satellite London Ranking tournament to be held at the Richmond Park Academy on Tuesday 18th June. Entry forms will be available next week.
A big thank you to our partners, Top Spin Sports and Greenhouse Sports and to all the players, coaches, parents and volunteers for making the tournament a success. Best Regards to all. Jon Kaufman