England won five gold medals and 25 medals in total at the Senior Schools International in Cardiff.

That included gold-silver finishes in both Under-16 team competitions, while the Under-14 Boys also took team gold, and there were individual golds for Rishaan Sawant in the Under-14 Boys’ competition and Naomi Coker in the Under-18 Girls’ category.

As well as the players, the England contingent included Head of Delegation Chris Parker, Non-Playing Captains Kate Hughes, Helen Lower, Cherith Graham, Dave Pilkington, Mick Moir and Matthew Porter.

Josh Reynolds, Richard Crowther and Margaret Welch was the referee team, alongside umpires Margaret Dignum, David Gough, Hongye Gu, Harry Jutle, Paul Nichols, Lynda Reid and Philip Ware.

Team events

Under-18 Boys

Having topped their group thanks to 3-2 wins over Wales B, Jersey A and Ireland, and a 5-0 success against Scotland B, England A (Janak Shah ad Prayrit Ahluwalia were defeated 3-0 by Scotland A in the semi-finals.

Shah lost out 3-0 (11-9, 11-9, 14-12) to Jakub Krzyzostaniak, and Ahluwalia was defeated 3-1 (9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-8) by Ben Hart, before Scotland took the doubles 3-0 (12-10, 13-11, 11-7).

Scotland A went on to lose to Wales A in the final, while England defeated Ireland to win the bronze medal, with Shah winning two singles and England taking the doubles, while Ahluwalia was edged out 14-12 in the fifth by Vincent Ni.

England B (Chun Wai Starry Sheung and Francesco Bonato) finished third in their group, beating Jersey B and Guernsey 5-0 but losing 4-1 to Wales A and 3-2 to Scotland B. They ended up in fifth place.

Bronze: England A

Under-18 Girls

Both England teams were on the podium but had to concede gold to an Ireland team which won all six matches in the round-robin event.

England A (Rachel Li and Naomi Coker) had 5-0 wins against England B, Scotland, Wales, Jersey and Guernsey and effectively played a title decider against Ireland.

Li put England in front with a win in four over Anjali Singh, but Grace Looney levelled for Ireland thanks to a 3-2 (11-6, 11-3, 4-11, 7-11, 11-9) victory over Coker. England won the doubles 3-0 (9, 7, 8) but Singh then overcame Coker, who again went to five before losing out 3-2 (4-11, 9-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-8). Looney’s 3-1 (7-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-8) win over Li sealed victory and the gold medal for Ireland.

England B (Jonabel Taguibao and Sarah Wong) beat Scotland, Wales and Jersey 4-1 and Guernsey 5-0. As well as the defeat to their compatriots, they also lost out 3-2 to Ireland, having twice fought back to level the score.

Singh beat Taguibao in four games, before Wong beat Looney 3-2 (8-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-7, 16-14. Ireland came from 2-0 down to win the doubles 3-2 (9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-5), but Wong then beat Singh 11-5 in the fifth. However, Looney won it for Ireland with a 3-0 (4, 6, 9) victory over Taguibao.

Silver: England A; bronze: England B

Under-16 Boys

The two England teams dominated the competition and took gold and silver. England A (Jake Davidson and Oscar Nikolli ) won their group with 5-0 victories over Jersey A, Guernsey B and Scotland B and a 4-1 margin against Ireland. They then beat Scotland A 3-0 in the semi-finals.

England B (Harrison Hill and Angad Saggu) also had three 5-0 wins in the group – against Wales, Guernsey A and Jersey B – as well as a 3-2 win over Scotland A. It was 3-0 in the semi-final as they overcame Ireland.

The final went the distance and so did four of the individual matches. Davidson defeated Hill 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9) in Match 1, and Saggu then levelled up with a 3-2 (6-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9) comeback victory against Nikolli.

England A won the doubles 3-2 (1-5, 6-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6) but Saggu again made it all square with a 3-1 (11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 12-10) win over Davidson.

It was left to Nikolli to clinch gold in another great match as he staved off Hill’s comeback to win 3-2 (11-6, 11-7, 10-12, 8-11, 11-5).

Gold: England A; silver: England B

Under-16 Girls

It was gold and silver for England to complete an age group clean sweep.

Both teams beat Guernsey, Ireland and Scotland B 5-0 in the round-robin event, while it was 5-0 for England A and 4-1 for England B against Scotland A.

The final round saw the two England teams meet to decide the gold, and it was 32 to England A (Hannah Saunders and Amber Lemmon), with England B (Vardhini Nishanth and Brooke Morris) settling for silver.

Saunders won the first match 3-1 (11-9, 11-5, 8-11, 11-3) against Nishanth but Morris overcame Lemmon 3-2 (11-6, 7-11, 5-11, 13-11, 11-5) to make it 1-1.

The doubles went to five, England A taking it 8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 10-12, 11-4, and Saunders sealed gold with a 3-0 (7, 9, 8) win over Morris. The ‘dead rubber; was played, and Nishanth beat Lemmon 3-0 (9, 8, 9).

Gold: England A; silver: England B

Under-14 Boys

England A (Rishaan Sawant and Li Hao Chen) topped Group 1 with 5-0 wins over Wales B, Jersey B and Guernsey B and 4-1 victories against Scotland A and Ireland.

England B (Mustafa Ibrahim and Christopher Darby) won their group thanks to 5-0 scorelines against Wales A, Guernsey A and Jersey A, plus a 4-1 win over Scotland B.

In the semi-finals, England A came through 3-0 against Wales A, but England B were defeated 3-1 by Scotland A, for whom Dean Robertson won two singles and combined with Kayden Fleury to take the doubles after Ibrahim had put England B in front.

In the final, Sawant beat Fleury in three to put England A ahead, but Robertson sunk Chen in five – 11-7 in the fifth – and the Scots then took the doubles 3-2 (7-11, 11-6, 12-10, 9-11, 11-8).

Sawant’s 3-1 (13-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-7) win over Robertson levelled it up, and Chen clinched gold as he beat Fleury 3-1 (11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5).

England B won the bronze medal match 3-1 against Wales as Ibraham beat Oliver Harvey and Darby defeated Dylan Williams, both in three, before Wales won the doubles in five. Ibrahaim’s 3-2 (1-5, 11-6, 8-11, 7-11, 11-5) win over Williams clinched it for England B.

Gold: England A; bronze: England B

Under-14 Girls

It was silver and bronze for England as Scotland A proved to be the best team.

England A (Charlotte Wong and Assil Sarri) won their group with 5-0 margins over Jersey A, Scotland B and Guernsey and a 4-1 win over Wales A.

England B (Janet Yu and Ruby Gandi Bamidele) finished second in their group as they beat Wales C and Jersey B 5-0 and Wales B 3-2, but lost out 5-0 to Scotland A.

It meant the two England teams met in the semi-finals, and it was 3-0 to the A team as Wong beat Yu and Sarri beat Gandi Bamidele, both in three, and then team up to take the doubles 3-2 (11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 10-12, 12-10).

In the final, Wong put England ahead with a 3-1 (10-12, 11-4, 11-6, 11-9) win over Alexandra Hart, and Sarri made it 2-0 as she overcame Kiishi Adekola 3-2 (11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 3-11, 11-9).

Scotland hit back to take the doubles 3-1 (11-8, 12-14, 11-9, 11-7), and Adekola then beat Wong 3-1 (11-6, 12-10, 9-11, 11-8). Hart completed Scotland’s fine comeback with a 3-0 (9, 7, 7) win over Sarri.

England B came from 1-0 and 2-1 down to beat Scotland B in the bronze medal match, with Yu winning her two singles and Gandi Bamidele one of hers.

Silver: England A; bronze: England B

Individual events

Under-18 Boys

Ben Hart of Scotland took an incredible gold medal as he defeated England’s Chun Wai Starry Sheung 17-15 in the fifth. The full score was 3-2 (11-6, 8-11, 12-10, 3-11, 17-15).

Bronze medals went to England’s Francesco Bonato, who was beaten 3-1 (4-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-8) by Sheung, and Toby Harwood of Wales who lost out 3-1 (11-8, 11-9, 10-12, 12-10) to Hart.

Bonato had beaten Janak Shah 3-1 (9-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-7) in the quarter-finals, while Prayrit Ahluwalia went out at the same stage to Harwood by a 3-1 (11-5, 8-11, 11-1, 11-8) scoreline.

Silver: Chun Wai Starry Sheung; bronze: Francesco Bonato

Under-18 Girls

Naomi Coker took gold for England with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-6) victory in the final against Ireland’s Grace Looney.

Rachel Li was also on the podium for England, having reached the semi-finals, where she lost 3-0 (13-11, 11-6, 11-5) to Looney. Ireland’s Anjali Singh was the other bronze medallist as she lost out 3-1 (12-10, 9-11, 11-7, 12-10) to Coker.

Singh had beaten England’s Jonabel Taguibao 3-2 (11-6, 7-11, 11-5, 7-11, 12-10) in the quarter-finals, while Sarah Wong went into the consolation event, which she went on to win, beating Lily Walters of Wales in four games in the final.

Gold: Naomi Coker; bronze: Rachel Li

Under-16 Boys

England had three on the podium – but not the gold, which went to Scotland’s Joe Mulhern. He beat Jake Davidson 3-1 (11-9, 11-5, 3-11, 11-7) in the semi-finals and went on to defeat Oscar Nikolli 3-0 (11-9, 11-5, 11-7) in the final.

Nikolli had earlier mounted a fine comeback as he defeated compatriot Angad Saggu 3-2 (8-11, 7-11, 11-3, 11-7, 12-10) in the semi-finals.

England’s Harrison Hill had gone out 3-2 (11-7, 11-6, 10-12, 3-11, 11-6) to Mulhern in the quarter-finals.

Silver: Oscar Nikolli; bronze: Angad Saggu, Jake Davidson

Under-16 Girls

Amelie David took gold for Wales thanks to a final victory over Hannah Saunders of England. The scoreline was 3-1 (15-13, 6-11, 11-9, 11-6).

Brooke Morris and Amber Lemmon won bronze medals – Morris was defeated 3-0 (5, 9, 7) by Saunders in the semi-finals and Lemmon lost out 3-1 (11-7, 5-11, 11-8, 13-11) to David.

David had also knocked out England’s Vardhini Nishanth in the quarter-finals, coming back from 2-1 down to win 3-2 (12-10, 6-11, 6-11, 14-12, 11-6).

Silver: Hannah Saunders; bronze: Brooke Morris, Amber Lemmon

Under-14 Boys

Rishaan Sawant was the champion for England as he came from 2-1 down to beat Scotland’s Dean Robertson 3-2 (5-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5, 11-5)

There was also a bronze for Mustafa Ibrahim, who pushed Robertson hard in the semi-finals before losing 3-2 (6-11, 13-11, 9-11, 11-5, 12-10).

The other bronze went to Oliver Harvey of Wales, who lost out 11-4, 11-9, 11-7 to Sawant in the other semi-final.

The other English players both reached the quarter-finals, Li Hao Chen losing 3-0 (6, 6, 8) to Robertson and Christopher Darby going down 3-2 (10-12, 11-6, 11-13, 11-4, 11-6) to Harvey.

Gold: Rishaan Sawant; bronze: Mustafa Ibrahim

Under-14 Girls

Kiishi Adekola took the gold medal home to Scotland as she defeated England’s Assil Sarri 3-1 (11-9, 11-5, 10-12, 11-4) in the final.

Sarri had dug deep in the semi-finals, edging out Adekola’s compatriot Alexandra Hart 3-2 (13-11, 8-11, 11-7, 9-11, 12-10).

The other bronze medallist was England’s Charlotte Wong, who was defeated 3-0 (3, 6, 8) by Adekola.

Yi Ching (Janet) Yu reached the quarter-finals, going out to Adekola in three games, while Ruby Gandi Bamidele reached the last 16, where she was beaten 3-2 (11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 7-11, 11-5) by Keira Eldridge of Guernsey.

Silver: Assil Sarri; bronze: Charlotte Wong