FEATURED IN THIS EDITION: YEAR 7 CRICKET TEAM’S SUPER SEASON VIEW FROM THE COCKPIT – F2 DRIVER ON MOTOR SPORT BEST OF THE BEST – OUR ALL-SPORTS ÉLITE TEAM SPIRIT ON DUTCH RUGBY TOUR
SUMMER TERM, 2022
EDITION 2
QE ATHLETES PICKED TO REPRESENT BOROUGH
QE’s youngest cricketers savour
A VINTAGE SEASON ALL HAIL OUR U12S! Middlesex county champions and a 100% win rate in the league
A thrilling final two overs clinched a famous victory for the U12 XI in the final of the Middlesex County Cricket Cup, capping a super season that saw the side winning all their games in the league, too. The Year 7s travelled to Harrow School for the final against St Benedict’s School, Ealing. Vikyath Sandesh Vatnala’s two wickets in the penultimate over proved the turning point, clearing the way for Captain Aarush Choudhary – fresh from scoring an impressive 42 not out with the bat – to step up courageously and bowl at the death. Their coach, James Clarke, said: “The match went down to the final ball, with St Benedict’s batsmen requiring
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four to win. Thankfully, they only managed a single run, and QE were victorious in an enthralling contest.”
In the semi-final, openers Vikyath and Dhruva Bhardwaj made a strong reply with the bat to a substantial total from Hampton, before another unbeaten captain’s innings from Aarush saw QE safely home. The U12 side have spent the summer at or near the top of the national rankings. Their county cup victory qualifies them for next summer’s National Cricket Cup, where they will face the other county champions in a knock-out tournament. Year 7’s top players are not the only ones celebrating: a 60% win rate at all age levels tells its own story of QE success. No fewer than eight boys have won county honours, while the U15s enjoyed their own strong county cup run before being knocked out by Hampton School in the semi-final.
OUR SUPER SIX 11 wins from 11 games: the U12 First XI in 2022. 1,297: U12 First XI total runs scored. 2 runs: QE’s winning margin in county final. 42 not out: U12 captain’s score in both semi-final and final 100%: U12 B-D teams’ 2022 win rate in 11 games. More than 60 fixtures & 60% win rate: QE teams overall this season.
Turn to p2 for the PE department’s Cricket Team of the Year.
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CRICKET
Team of the Year 2021-22 The PE department picked this season’s best with bat and ball from across the year groups. “It’s great to see so many enthusiastic cricketers at the School; we’re trying to give them as many competitive experiences as possible.” Richard Scally, Master in charge of cricket
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2
3
VIKYATH SANDESH VATNALA YEAR 7
PRAYAG GANDHI YEAR 11
BAVAN GUNASEELAN (CAPTAIN)
4
5
6
KARAN CHAUHAN YEAR 10
AARUSH CHOUDHARY YEAR 7
VED NAIR YEAR 9
7
8
9
ABHAY HALYAL YEAR 10
GIRISH RADHAKRISHNAN YEAR 10
PARTH DHOLARIA (WK) YEAR 7
YEAR 12
10
11
12
AADI SAINI YEAR 8
PARTH PISHARODY YEAR 7
RUSHIL AKULA YEAR 10
MOTOR SPORT
No need for speed, F2 driver takes his time at QE Turkish Formula 2 driver Cem Bölükbaşı described his path from the track to eSports and back again in an enthralling talk to boys of all ages. Still only 24, he is the first driver to go from online sim to F2, the feeder for F1. Cem started motocross when he was five, winning the Turkish Championship for his age group one year later. Aged just 19, he moved into the world of professional virtual motor sport, racing for McLaren in the 2017 Formula One eSports Series before switching to Toro Rosso. During the 2020 lockdowns, Cem won the inaugural championship of the Formula Renault Esport Series. Just a year later he joined Van Amersfoot Racing to compete in a real car in the F3 Euroformula Open Championships where, despite missing the first three
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rounds, he finished fifth in the overall season’s standings. He then progressed to testing and driving Formula 2 cars and currently has a seat with Charouz Racing System. Cem took time out of his busy schedule (sandwiched between racing at Silverstone and his next outing in Austria) to share both his experiences and some technical insights with the boys. Before his talk, he also visited Year 8 pupils, who showed him the F1 design work they had completed for Technology. The boys enjoyed Cem’s description of what it is like to be in the cockpit of a real racing car and engaged in a lively Q&A session after his talk. He talked about one of his heroes – F1 driver Fernando Alonso – and what it felt like to race online as part of his team.
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BEST OF THE BEST
County Honours and National Winners The photo shows pupils who have either represented their county or won national championships in their respective sports. KEY: C = Cricket; F = Eton Fives; R = Rugby Union; S = Swimming; W = Water Polo. Year groups in brackets.
RUGBY
LOOKING LEFT-RIGHT: Back row: Avi Juneja W (10) Adi Rajesh W (10) Abhijay Singh C (12) Keir Parker-Delves R (11) Ashley Nwapa R (11) Ranvir Sinha C (11) Rocco Giustiniani S (10) Anthony Bartlett W (11) Tejas Bansal W (10)
Middle row: Girish Radhakrishnan C (10) Yash Kedia F (9) Zayn Phoplankar F (9)
Making it big Old Elizabethan professional rugby player Biyi Alo is a great example of where sporting success at QE can lead. Biyi (OE 2005–2010) had never even played the game before he arrived at the School, yet swiftly rose through the School, county and Saracens academy ranks. Today he is not only a forward with Premiership club Wasps, but was also called up by England coach Eddie Jones to join last month’s training camp with the England squad.
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Front row: Chanul Athukoralage C (10) Aaron Rodrigo R (10) Abhay Halyal C (10) Victor Angelov R (12) Bavan Gunaseelan C (12) Theo Moses R (10) Aarav Jalhotra C (7) Taro Niimura R (11) Rishab Banerjee C (11)
WATER POLO Singled out! Three water polo players – Adi Rajesh, Anthony Bartlett, Tejas Bansal – headed to Manchester after being selected among just 39 U16 boys nationally to play in this month’s Duke of Cambridge Cup. The English Schools Swimming Association uses this one-day tournament to choose boys and girls for international honours.
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Players bond on expanded Dutch tour
RUGBY Forty-six players headed to Holland as the popular short tour resumed after a two-year break because of the pandemic. Previously for Year 9, the trip was opened up to Year 10, drawing 23 players from each age group. Their visit began with the long haul from Barnet to Amsterdam via Caen. After successful matches at Rugby Club Eemland in the city of Amersfoort, the tourists enjoyed the club’s generous hospitality. The party then made the short trip to the Hilversum Festival – one of Europe’s foremost youth rugby tournaments. There they not only played good rugby, but thoroughly enjoyed the camaraderie that comes from being on tour: they were, staff report, a credit to the School. While the U14s saw much success, the U15s were unlucky not to record any wins in the tournament, run in a round-robin format. The boys also went bowling and found time to visit the stadium of Amsterdam’s famous AFC Ajax, while the final night saw the presentation of tour awards.
TOUR IN BRIEF RC Eemland • U14s and U15s both won Hilversum Tournament • U14s won four, lost one: second in their age group • U15s drew four, lost one Players of the Tour U14: Ubaidah Rahman U15: Theo Moses
ETON FIVES
ETON FIVES
WATER POLO
Trailblazers and champions!
The right spirit
Heads held high
QE won the Lyceum Alpinum Award in the Eton Fives Association’s end-of-season awards. Named after a boarding school in Switzerland, the award recognises the school that has best upheld the ‘Spirit of Fives’. Previous winners have included Aldenham and Berkhamsted schools. Also nominated and shortlisted for an award was Oliver O’Gorman, in the Coach of the Year category – a farewell honour for the PE teacher, who left QE at Easter.
In a water polo season that brought success for all three age groups – U13s, U15s and Seniors – it was the youngest boys who went furthest, securing impressive wins against Emanuel (4-1) and City of London schools (6-2) at their ESSA National Schools Water Polo semi-finals, held in home water at the Martin Pool. Sadly, a trip to the finals was not to be, as they lost their decider against Whitgift School 6-3, their first defeat of the season.
Year 9’s Zayn Phoplankar and Yash Kedia beat a Shrewsbury School pair in the final of the Eton Fives U14 Novices National Schools Championship, a competition for pupils who start playing in this year group. It is believed to be the first time ever that a QE pair has even reached a Fives final.
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NJO U14
8
OSSAIN U16
20
LEE U14
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RUGBY
Team of the Year 2021-22 With 250 QE matches played across 21 teams this season, the PE department had plenty to base their selections on. After much debate and some close votes, staff picked this 23-man squad, which features a number of boys from the younger years. The ‘starting XV’ won tickets to a Premiership rugby match next season from inspiresport, sponsors of this year’s QE Sevens.
FORWARDS
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SIMARDEEP SAHOTA U14
AASHIR IRFAN U13
10
SOHAM BHATNAGAR U12
TARO NIIMURA U16
THOMAS YOUNG U13
5
12
NNANNA OKORE U18
ESA ASLAM U12
4 6
9
3
1
DAVID HIRTOPANU U15
BACKS
11
7
8
EDWARD MUSCAT U14
13
AARON RODRIGO U15
UBAYD UDDIN U15
THEO MOSES U15
ISA SHEIKH U12
16
15
TIMI BANJO U14
16 TIMI BANJO U14
14 17
17
ANDREW MBOGOL U16
KAILUN ZHOU U15
KAILUN ZHOU
UBAIDAH RAHMAN U14
16 TIMI BANJO U14
18
16
16
TIMI BANJO U14
TIMI BANJO U14
1718
18 17
KAILUN ZHOU HOSSAIN U15 KAILUN U15 U16 SABBIR U16 SABBIRZHOU HOSSAIN
1920
19 20
16
16
TIMI BANJO U14
TIMI BANJO U14
18 1718 17
REPLACEMENTS SABBIR HOSSAIN U16 SABBIR HOSSAIN U16 KAILUN ZHOU U15 KAILUN ZHOU U15
1920 1920 ALEXANDRE LEE U18 ALEXANDRE LEELEE U18U14 SHAUN LEE U14 SHAUN
21 22 2122
18 17
18 17
SABBIR HOSSAIN U16 SABBIR HOSSAIN U16 KAILUN ZHOU U15 KAILUN ZHOU U15
20 19
1920
SHAUN LEE U14 SHAUN LEE U14 ALEXANDRE LEE U18ALEXANDRE LEE U18
22 21
2122
CHUM U15 JOHN CHUM U15 VICTORJOHN VARBANOV U13 VICTOR VARBANOV U13
23
19
19
ALEXANDRE LEE U18 ALEXANDRE LE
21
21
VICTOR VARBANOV U13VICTOR VARBANO
23 JAMES CONWAY U15
23
JAMES CONWA
23
Congratulations to all our top sportsmen
SABBIR HOSSAIN U16 ALEXANDRE LEE U18 ALEXANDRE LEEU14 U18 SHAUN LEE U14 SHAUN LEE
20
2122
21 22
SUMMER TERM, 2022 | EDITION 2 SHAUN LEE U14
VICTOR VARBANOV U13 VICTOR VARBANOV U13 JOHN CHUM U15 JOHN CHUM U15
VICTOR VARBANOVVICTOR U13 VARBANOV U13 JOHN CHUM U15 JOHN CHUM U15
23
23
JAMES CONWAY U15 JAMES CONWAY U15
JAMES CONWAY U15 JAMES CONWAY U15
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RUGBY
A WELCOME RETURN OF QE SEVENS Old Elizabethans turned out in force to cheer on QE’s U16 side at the 46th Queen Elizabeth’s School Sevens Tournament. Trinity School, Croydon, narrowly bested Wellington College to emerge as U16 Cup winners in this first running of the event since 2019, while tournament débutants Woodlands School convincingly beat Tonbridge School in the final of the Plate competition. With no U14 event this year, home team duties fell to the U16s alone. The boys fought hard, and although they were beaten in their three matches, Year 11 pupil Taro Niimura’s bravura performances lifted the side. For full results, visit: TOURNAMENT MICROSITE
ATHLETICS
Barnet’s best in track and field Five boys were asked to represent the Borough of Barnet at the Middlesex County Schools Track and Field Championships – one of the highlights of a busy athletics season. Timi Banjo (Year 9, discus), Peter Atanasov (Year 8, 100m), Victor Varbanov (Year 8, javelin), Karan Somani (Year 9, 800m) and David Hirtopanu (Year 10, discus) all made the journey to the StoneX Stadium.
STRIKING GOLD These four athletes won gold medals at the Barnet championships: Peter Atanasov, Year 8 – 100m Karan Somani, Year 9 – 1,500m Victor Varbanov, Year 8 – javelin Harshathan Devanathan, Year 7 – discus
Less than three weeks later, QE’s élite athletes were back at the Saracens ground for the Secondary Barnet Athletics Championships, where they picked up a total of four gold medals – two apiece for track and field disciplines. The term has also seen boys busy participating in both the Barnet League and the English Schools Athletics Association competition, with the QE Juniors (Years 7 & 8) reaching the ESAA regional finals at the Woodside Stadium in Watford, where 24 of the School’s youngest athletes amassed 342 points across 13 different events.
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