Category: Priority

World-Class Coaching, World-Class Standards

Led by a former World No. 1 and Olympic gold medallist, the Weihai training camp provided a world-class environment where players are held to the highest standards. Chinese coaches demand:

• Elite physical fitness
• Agility and sharp technical skill
• Relentless mental focus
• Total commitment from start to finish

Despite the intensity, our players embraced the challenge head-on.

From Shock to Strength: A Tale of Two Weeks

The first week was a steep learning curve. Our students faced long training days, unfamiliar routines, and world-class opponents. Muscle fatigue and tough matches tested their resilience, with only about 5% of matches won in the opening round of competition.

By the second week, however, our players had settled into the rhythm of camp life—training, eating, resting, and recovering with growing discipline and confidence.

Inside the Training Routine

Each day was built around a structure that prioritised focus and skill development:

• Structured warm-ups and cool-downs
• Targeted technical drills, often repeated to perfection
• Multi-ball exercises to enhance precision and reaction time

The emphasis on repetition and fine detail—hallmarks of the Chinese training system—began to pay off.

Competition Highlights

In the second week, students took part in two competitive events:

• Mixed Team Event
  Teams combined London Academy and Weihai players, building a sense of unity and collaboration. Despite language differences, the students coached and encouraged one another throughout.
• Singles Tournament
  A rematch of the week one singles event, this time the results told a different story. Several students posted even win-loss records, a remarkable improvement given the level of competition.

Reflections & Thanks

The final day was filled with gratitude and celebration. Our students expressed thanks to the Weihai coaches, who praised their effort, resilience, and growth. The transformation in attitude, performance, and understanding of what it takes to succeed at the top level was clear for all to see.

Thank You to Our Hosts

We extend our deepest thanks to the Weihai Table Tennis Centre for their incredible hospitality—from airport pickups to five-star accommodation and elite training facilities. Their warm welcome and generous support made this an unforgettable experience for everyone.

A Final Thank You

Thank you to London Academy for making this experience possible. It was an amazing journey—full of challenge, development, and inspiration—and one our students will remember for years to come.

This city is home to one of the largest and most renowned table tennis centres in the world — and is also the training base of the Chinese national team, known for producing the world’s top players.

Table Tennis is not just a sport in China, it’s an obsession and a huge source of national pride. Few countries have dominated any sport  in the way that China has dominated table tennis. Their absolute commitment to excellence starts in their training camps, where young players train harder, for longer, and with greater intensity than anywhere else in the world.

For London Academy’s players, travelling across the world to the Weihai Olympic Training centre, meant stepping up  to a whole new level.

In their first week they would face lengthy training sessions with a higher level of intensity, and a culture the expects punctuality, excellent behaviour, discipline and 100% respect for coaches and the training environment.

In the United Kingdom, our players are used to dominating competitions wherever they go. China would be a different experience entirely and a real test of character. Here, they would face opponents and training partners of a much higher quality than ever before. Having gotten used to being the best in the UK, now they would be facing some of the most highly trained youngsters in the entire world.

Week One Overview

Our students have made a strong and determined start to what has proven to be a highly intensive and challenging camp. By the end of just the second day, many players were already experiencing muscle soreness and fatigue—testament to the demanding nature of the training.

However, this intensity is exactly what sets Chinese players apart on the global stage. The discipline, structure, and work ethic observed here offer invaluable lessons to our students.

Training Approach

The camp has been a masterclass not only in skill development but in the approach and attitude that defines elite Chinese table tennis:

• Structured Warm-Ups: Each session begins with a meticulously planned series of warm-up exercises, ensuring players are physically and mentally prepared.
• Repetitive Drilling: Morning sessions focus on a core set of drills, repeated daily to refine technique and consistency.
• Multi-Ball Exercises: Afternoon sessions feature intensive multi-ball drills. Players feed balls to each other—a method that ensures every student gets maximal training time and improves their ability to coach and support peers.
• Technical Focus: Many exercises may appear basic, but their effectiveness lies in their precision and repetition. Practice, here, truly makes perfect.

Competition Experience

To cap off the week, students participated in a friendly competition against several high-level local clubs. While our players did not win many matches, several came extremely close boosting their confidence and highlighting their rapid progress. The experience of playing against such strong opponents was invaluable and will serve as a foundation for the week ahead.

Hospitality & Facilities

We extend our heartfelt thanks to the host club in Weihai for their exceptional hospitality:

• From a warm welcome at the airport with private shuttle service, to accommodation at a five-star standard hotel just 50 meters from the training facility.
• The training complex itself is world-class—capable of hosting over 1,000 players at once across four interconnected halls.
• Meals have been varied and inclusive, offering both traditional Chinese dishes and familiar Western options to keep students energised and comfortable.

Looking Ahead

The first week has been intense, inspiring, and full of growth. We look forward to seeing how our students apply what they’ve learned in the coming days. With the right mindset and continued effort, this camp has the potential to be a transformative experience for each one of them.

The AIM Outreach Championships are a series of ranking league tournaments that take place throughout the 2024/25 season.

The Outreach Championship tournaments are designed to allow every player to take part in a meaningful competition at their own level. Last year we awarded gold, silver and bronze medals to players in 66 separate competitions, with competitors ranging from beginners to some of the the best juniors in England.

Every single match win counts towards each player’s points total and we also award points for participation/attendance.

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Online entries must be completed by 6:00pm, Tuesday 8th April.

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Every year we award 2 championship trophies to players in our S-Tier and A-Tier competitions.

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Practice / Registration starts at 9:00am. Competition start time is 10:00am and will finish around 4:00pm.

Players must wear sports clothing (T-shirt & shorts or tracksuit bottoms) on the day. No white or light coloured T-shirts are allowed.

Your child will need a packed lunch/drinks. Parents are welcome to come along to watch/support their child while taking part in the competition.

With four National Titles secured at the Butterfly School Team Championships 2025, London Academy has once again made history!

At the prestigious Butterfly School Team Championships, held on 27th April 2025 in Wolverhampton, our young athletes delivered an extraordinary performance — bringing home an incredible FOUR national team titles and cementing London Academy’s position as the leading force in school table tennis across England.

A Golden Day for London Academy:

• Under-11 Girls – National Champions!
  Our girls retained the Martin Foulser Cup, defeating Bankfields 5-2 in a thrilling final match.
  Winning Squad: Alexia-Bianca Ciobanica, Suhayla Ali Farah, Rea Kola, Iliona Kola, Darcey Parker

• Under-11 Boys – National Champions!
  Regaining the Irene Elliott Cup, our boys showed absolute dominance, beating Fox Primary 7-1.
  Winning Squad: Zacharia Sarri, Dominic Rimmy, Rafael Hanzel-Wacker, Nicholas Andrei

• Under-13 Boys – National Champions!
  A flawless performance saw our boys complete a perfect day — not dropping a single match en route to lifting the T Austin Harrison Cup.
  Winning Squad: Adam Riadi, Yacoub Rahmani-Walentynski, Stefan Pop, Lewis MacSween

• Under-16 Girls – National Champions!
  The Mick Betts Memorial Cup returns to London Academy! Our girls dominated the finals to reclaim their title.
  Winning Squad: Sienna Jetha, Alisha Dutta, Mauli Shah, Naomi Adjei

Other Fantastic Results:

• Under-13 Girls – Silver Medal
  Narrowly missed out on the gold medal after a brilliant performance throughout the event.
• Team: Soraya Rahmani-Walentynska, Assil Sarri, Serene Rahmani-Walentynska, Ruby Gandi Bamidele
• Under-16 Boys – Bronze Medal
  Battled through tough competition to earn a well-deserved third place nationally.
• Team: Shahuraj Nimse, Parsa Yamin, Ilyes Djeraiou, Connor Godley

London Academy: A Symbol of Excellence and Determination

This success is a testament to the tireless effort and dedication shown by our young athletes week in, week out. It is also a reflection of the outstanding support provided by our teachers, coaches, school leadership, parents, and governors — who create the environment in which excellence is not just encouraged but expected.

Thank you to every single member of the London Academy community for your incredible support, encouragement, and belief in our children’s potential. It is because of this strong partnership between school and family that we continue to achieve such remarkable feats. Together, we dream big and deliver even bigger!

We couldn’t be prouder of all our players who represented the school with such talent, resilience, and sportsmanship on the national stage.

Special China Training Camp!

Looking ahead, 16 of our players have been selected to attend a special two-week training camp in China next month — the home of the world’s most elite table tennis players. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience world-class training, sharpen their skills, and continue their development at the highest level.

This just shows how much London Academy supports and values the growth of our students, providing them with every chance to excel and chase their dreams. We are extremely grateful for the Academy’s vision and commitment to nurturing talent — opportunities like this truly change lives.

Melisha won her group despite a tough final match against Ruby Gandi Bamidele. A bye in the Quarter finals meant that she would face another London Academy player, Serene Rahmani-Walentynska, in the semi-finals. This match swung both ways before Melisha squeezed through 11-9 in the fifth set.

In the final, she faced yet another local player, Stanmore’s Maahi Malde, who reached the final by beating Greenhouse’s Niylah Fernandez. After the first 2 sets were shared, Melisha pulled away to win (9-11, 11-9, 11-2, 12-10) and take the gold.

In the Under-15 Boys Greenhouse’s Parsia Ahsani won his second Gold medal in a row when he beat London Academy's Connor Godley in the final. Having lost the first set to the left-hander, Parsia came back to win two in a row before Connor leveled in the fourth. The fifth, however, was settled quickly with Parsia winning 11-2 to take the title.

In the Semi-finals, Parsia had another 5-set win over London Academy’s Yacoub Rahmani-Walentynska, while Connor had a straight sets win over Chi Yin Henry Fung.

The Under 13 Mixed title was won by Christopher Darby who was returning from injury. He beat Darsh Gopal in four sets in the final. In the Semi-finals Christopher beat Joshua Freeman in four sets, while Darsh beat London Academy’s Nicholas Andrei in three sets.

In the Under 11 Mixed competition the title group was decided on a three-way countback between Daniyal Janmohamed, Jacob Vogl, and Odysseas Karassav. Daniyal eventually was declared the winner due to having the best set ratio, with Jacob coming second and Odysseas taking the bronze.

The Under 11 consolation group was decided in a head to head between Daniel Bordalo and Damien Ng when they both ended on three wins. Daniel’s 4 set win over his main rival gave him the gold medal with Damien taking the silver. Akira Bennatraj took the third with a head to head win over Luca Turner.

Our final Senior 2 Star of the season saw local player Gabriel Achampong tear through the entire competition for the loss of only one set.

That single set loss came in his Quarter-final match against eBaTT’s Ben Levi, who had taken a break from dominating the U19 Boys to try his luck in the Senior Mixed. A Semi-final win over another eBaTT player, Janak Shah meant that Achampong would meet newcomer Mahmood Kelani in the final, after his straight sets win over eBaTT's Rajiv Padman.

After a tight first set, the London Academy player found an extra gear to take the final two sets quickly for a 3-0 win.

In the Under 19 Boys, Janak’s brother Nishil faced off against Marcel Ndongola in the final. Despite a competitive match, Marcel's greater power showed in a 3-1 victory. Nishil was taken to five sets in the Semi-final against late entrant Louis Alexander, whereas Marcel only needed four sets to see off Yacoub Rahmanni Walentynske in the other Semi-final.

In the Under 19 Girls, Serene Rahmani-Walentynska took the first of two titles by coming top of a single group of five players.

On Sunday the Under 15 Boys saw Nishil Shah reach another final, this time facing off against Greenhouse’s Parsia Ashani. Ashani won in four sets to take the title.

Both players had to overcome fierce local resistance in the knockout stages. Nishil was taken the distance by Adam Riadi in their Quarter-final, but it was Parsia who had the biggest challenge from Yacoub Rahmani -Walentynske, who went 10-6 up in the fifth set before the Greenhouse player clawed it back. In the Semi-finals Shah dismantled Stefan Pop in three sets, while Ashani beat third seed Adam Watson, also in three.

In the Under 15 Girls Serene won her second title of the weekend when she defeated Alexia Ciobanica in the final. Serene had reached the final by beating another London Academy player, Ruby Gandi Bamidele in four sets. Alexia also need four to beat Greenhouse's Nylah Fernandez in the other semi-final.

The Under 13 Mixed saw an influx of talented players moving up from the U11 division. The best of these on the day was Fox's Lev Samhurov, who matched his schoolmate Nikolas Karavas by reaching the Semi-finals. Both went out at this stage to the eventual finalists, Joshua Freeman and Jayden Xuan Chen. The final was a tight nervy affair. Jayden took a two set lead before Joshua started to fight back to level the match at 2-2. The fifth set was a gripping affair with chances for both to win. In the end Jayden took it 13-11.

In the Under 11 Mixed Jacob Vogl took full advantage of an open field by winning all four of his Division one matches to take the gold. Colin Ho took Silver after a three way countback which saw Odysseas Karassav take the Bronze.

Isabella xiao XU won the consolation division ahead of Sanav Sethi and Luca Turner in third place.

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	Winner	Runner-up	Third place
Senior Mixed	Gabriel ACHAMPONG	Mahmood KELANI	Janak SHAH	Rajiv PADMAN
Under 19 Boys	Marcel NDONGALA	Nishil SHAH	Louis ALEXANDER	Yacoub RAHMANI-W
Under 19 Girls	Serene RAHMANI-W	Alexia-Bianca CIOBANICA	Ruby GANDI BAMIDELE
Under 15 Boys	Parsia AHSANI	Nishil SHAH	Adam WATSON	Stefan POP
Under 15 Girls	Serene RAHMANI-W	Alexia-Bianca CIOBANICA	Ruby GANDI BAMIDELE	Niylah FERNANDEZ
Under 13 Mixed	Jayden Xuan CHEN	Joshua FREEMAN	Lev SAHMUROV	Nikolas KARAVAS
Under 11 Mixed (CH)	Jacob VOGL	Colin HO	Odysseas KARAASEV
Under 11 Mixed	Isabella xiao XU	Sanav SETHI	Luca Turner