21 April, 2024
Reading School and Wilson’s School soared to gold in the boys’ competition at the National Schools Championships.
Reading triumphed in the Key Stage 4 age group as Wilson’s took the spoils in Key Stage 3 to tie up a brilliant weekend at the National Badminton Centre, including a signed shirt session from Badminton England’s Annie Lado.
In the Key Stage 4 round robin, Reading eased past Loughborough Grammar School 5-0 before an edgy contest with Wilson’s School saw them narrowly win 3-2.
The quartet of James Song, Sahil Cherukuru, Neerav Soni and Nived Neelakandan then stormed to a 4-1 victory over King Edward VI Five Ways School in their final group match to put them top of the Group A standings.
Heckmondwike Grammar School topped Key Stage 4 Group B with three wins from three.
In the semi-final match-up against Bedford School, the eventual bronze medallists, Reading once again took the spoils with a 5-0 win to set up their final bout and a rematch against Wilson’s for the title.
National Schools Badminton Championships
Wilson’s had similarly cruised through their semi-final, beating Heckmondwike 5-0.
The final saw Reading come away with a 4-1 win, their only loss coming to Aarush Chennadi and Nishil Modem in a tight 21-19 defeat.
Wilson’s Key Stage 3 saw a similar tale play out, with a dominating performance in the group stages securing back-to-back 5-0 victories over Altrincham Grammar School for Boys, King Ecgbert and Pate’s Grammar School.
With a squad of five players, Wilson’s were spoilt for choice in their team selection, with every athlete called into action.
An emphatic win in the semi-final against eventual bronze medallists Reading School saw just Kai Tian Yiu fall to defeat in a 21-11 singles loss to Akhil Gibi.
But wins for Abhay Gollapalle, Vincent Yuan, Aayush Reddy sealed the deal and sent the team through to the final.
There they faced undefeated Group B winners King Edward’s School Birmingham but soared to a decisive 4-1 victory to take the title.