It has been a long, long wait, but at last the National Junior League returned to London Academy on Saturday, 16th October.
A reduced field saw teams from four clubs compete over 3 divisions in the academy’s main hall.
The top of Division 1 was a tight affair between London Academy A and Brighton A. The honours were only decided in the last game of the last match. Fernando Frandes clinched top spot for London academy with a tough 5 set victory over Luca Gerrard, who fought back from 2 sets down to force a decider, which Fernando eventually won 11-6.
The standout player in division 1 was Brighton’s Harvey Standwell who scored 9 wins in 9 matches, including a couple of difficult, hard fought victories over Twickenham Brunswick’s Louise McPhee and Bedford Modern School’s Alex Smith.
In Division 2, London Academy B’s strong line up of Nishil Shah, Ishay Haim and Rishi Rasalingam proved to be just too strong for their opposition. They only dropped two games in the entire day. Their outstanding performance means that they will join London Academy A in the top divison for the next round.
Bedford B snatched 2nd place despite a strong challenge from Brighton B, with Bedford’s Andry Savenko winning three out three in their head-to-head match to ensure victory.
London Academy C won the third division to complete a clean sweep for the North London club.
However, they only took the title after the narrowest of victories over Brighton C. The result came down to a single set’s difference after the match ended all square at 3-3. London Acadmy C will now represent their school in Division 2 next round.
London Academy D managed to take third place in Divison 3 with an equally narrow win over Bedford C.
It was great to see the NJL back in Edgware and the tournament organisers would like to thank everyone who took part. We look forward to seeing you at the next round in November.
Results
Division 1
- 1st London Academy A
- 2nd Brighton A
- 3rd Bedford Modern School A
- 4th Twickenham Brunswick A
Division 2
- 1st London Academy B
- 2nd Bedford Modern School B
- 3rd Brighton B
- 4th Twickenham Brunswick B
Division 3
- 1st London Academy C
- 2nd Brighton C
- 3rd London Academy D
- 4th Bedford Modern School C
- 5th London Academy E
- 6th Twickenham Brunswick B