It has been a very good year for table tennis at London Academy. The Outreach Championship – one of our biggest successes in recent years – has been an integral part of that success.
Read more: 2023-24 Outreach Championship ReviewOver the last three years, the Outreach Championship has evolved to provide the perfect balance between competition and enjoyment. Our matrix format ensure that nearly all of our players remain in contention for medals up to the very end of the tournament.
Our year long rankings ladder ensures that both participation and excellence are rewarded across the season.
Finally our decision to create two tiers within the competition means that even our beginners can spend the year chasing honours.
The tournaments success is reflected in high rates of participation, involving an average of nearly 50 players per tournament over the course of the year, with new players arriving every month.
Saturday 29th of June saw the season finale with 8 divisions playing in two halls at Spur road.
The standard of play ranged from players who had only picked up a bat a few months ago to some of the best cadets in the country. Despite this massive range of talent and experience, everyone had the opportunity to play and compete to their best level. As always, medals were up grabs right down to the very last matches.
On the day there were some surprises, especially in the top tiers. In Division 1, Conor Godley capped a great year by winning the top division on the day. Serene Rahmani Walentynska had to work her hardest to carve out a win in a really tight second division.
What was not a surprise was that Yacoub Rahmani-Walentynski, who had been the front runner all year, did enough by taking third in Division 1, to become overall champion for the second year running.
In a the A Tier, despite a mistake in the presentation the day, the championship went to the returning Nami Rouhani. It wasn’t nearly enough to overhaul David Luca Dobrita, whose consistent performances throughout the season meant that he walked away with the Tier 1 title.
Overall the years titles went as follows:
Overall Champion
Yacoub Rahmani-Walentynski
S Tier Player of the Tournament
Adam Riadi
S Tier Most Improved Player
Suhayla Ali Farah
A Tier Champion
David Luca Dobrita
A Tier Player of the Tournament
Oliver Stacey
A Tier Most Improved Player
Darcey Parker