Rackets

Hatfield and Livesey make Rackets History

To begin, I have to comment firstly about how wonderful it has been this academic year that, at last, we’ve returned to some semblance of normality regarding day to day play, weekly fixtures, and National Schools events – not to mention the fantastic club gatherings at the court during morning break that is so vital to the success of our rackets. Boys once again swarmed into the building looking for extra court time and/ or the comfiest couch!

The seniors had a spectacular season both individually, and in their doubles play, which ultimately culminated in the most outstanding, history making, National Schools 1st Pair Doubles Championship victory by Olly Hatfield & George Livesey… To win this most prestigious of National Schoolboy Rackets events for the first time in St Paul’s relatively short history, and in such great style, dropping just one game through-out the entire event, is not only great testament to the talent and dedication Olly and George have shown during their five years playing Rackets at St Paul’s, but also to the other seniors who have contributed in helping Olly and George reach their potential such as Rana Sarin, James Rossiter, Tom Jensen, Vikram Bhamre, and Arjun Rajkumar. In fact, Rana and Tom had a great run themselves in the 2nd Pairs event as 3rd seeds, comfortably reaching the semis where they unfortunately lost 0-3 to second seeds, Eton.

It must be added that while Olly and George won the 1st Pairs event at Easter, the National Singles event in December was also a huge success for St Paul’s seniors in that four boys – Olly, George, Rana, and James – represented the school in the ‘Foster Cup’, for the country’s top 16 schoolboys. James, as 4th seed, reached the semi-final, where he tore apart his Tonbridgian opponent in the first two games, 15/4, 15/3, and served for the match at 14-13 in the third game. Unfortunately, however, to lose the momentum at that point can have catastrophic results, which was sadly the case here as James lost that game 14/15, and the next two games 8/15, 9/15 and therefore, after a great battle, lost 2-3. ❚ G.A.B. Livesey

U16s Our U16s are a talented group. However, with the conflict of juggling other sports, practices are unfortunately limited for some. For the most part, Nabil Alizadeh and Darshy Pandey played as the (A) pair with reasonable success throughout the season, though when it came to the National Doubles at Easter, Darshy was unavailable and so Lorenzo Massi stepped in with Nabil. They performed well only to be beaten by 4th seeds Wellington in the quarter-final. Other boys in that year group who were instrumental in helping keep standards high were Krish Patel, James Wilson, Neil Prabhu, Eshan Hall, and John Moretti. ❚ N.A. Alizadeh

U15s Having been somewhat thwarted by the restrictions of COVID, the U15 year group found it hard to get going simply because, as U14s the previous year, they had had such little practice that their level was greatly compromised. Fortunately, however, this was mostly the case with all Rackets playing schools and therefore, although the overall level was down, it was in line with the year group on the circuit. ❚

Rory Todd and Alex Hogben were our main pair, though, due to commitments with other sports, Fourth Former Adrian Siniscalco had to step in to play with Rory and what a great job he did.

Adrian is a talented Squash player. Transferring those skills on to a Rackets Court can be quite easy and he did just that: so much so that in his first U15 match with Rory, against National Champions Tonbridge in November, we won 3-1. We also won 2-0 away against Cheltenham. But it was at the National Schools doubles at Queen’s Club where Rory and Alex proved themselves as serious contenders. They had a magnificent run to the semis, defeating 3rd seeds Wellington in the 2nd round, and only losing to 2nd seeds Malvern in the semi-final. ❚ A.J. Hogben

U14s Our U14s are an outstanding group both on and off the court. They are very likely to have been one of the strongest Fourth Form groups in terms of enthusiasm, commitment, dedication, and level that St Paul’s has ever been fortunate to have had. They have potential and show signs of great success in future National Schools events.

Adrian Siniscalco led the way in terms of natural talent where he played many successful fixtures as an U15 and, during the National Schools U-15 Championships, was seeded 4th, where he reached his seeded, semi-final place, only to lose 2-0 to the top seed, Haileyburian. Notably, though, he earned more points than any other competitor against his competitor from Haileybury in the event. Two other U14 boys (S. Poddar & K. Vujnovic) took part in that U15 event but sadly lost in their 1st round matches.

As U14s, we were unbeaten playing fixtures against schools on the circuit. Because of our strengths, these boys often played up a year against weaker U15s and, more often than not, we had great success. At the Nationals Schools U15 Doubles Championships, we entered two strong U-14 pairs (A. Siniscalco/S. Poddar) and (A. Sankaye/G. Ashton) who excelled in every way, reaching the quarter-finals after defeating the likes of Harrow, Malvern, Marlborough, and Radley and only losing to both the 1st & 2nd seeds respectfully. ❚ A. Sankaye

The David Tate Cup (Internal School Singles)

The Senior David Tate Cup was won by Rackets Captain and National Schools Doubles winner, Olly Hatfield, who defeated his partner, Rackets Secretary, and National Schools Double winner George Livesey 2-0.

The Junior (U-16) David Tate Cup was won by Nabil Alizadeh (6th) who defeated Adrian Siniscalco (4th) in the final 2-0. ❚ ST

Goodbye

Unfortunately, it’s that time of year to say goodbye to several top people who have served the Rackets Club spectacularly in every way possible. Oliver Hatfield, George Livesey, Rana Sarin, and Thomas Jensen have not only been hugely successful on the court through-out their five years at SPS, but their contributions and characters off the court were outstanding, with their impeccable manners and good grace setting the standards for all the pupils coming through. It’ll be a great loss to the Rackets club, and the school in general, however, I’m sure they’ll take these skills and attributes wherever they go.

Finally, I’d like to say thank you to Dr Beesley for all his support and guidance in times of great need – hopefully we can have as successful 2022/23. And thank you also to all the parents who are so understanding of their son’s late returns from fixtures as far away as Tonbridge & Cheltenham, not to mention their wonderful support during the National Championships at Queen’s Club. ❚ ST

SPGS Helen Genieser makes rackets history

For the very first time in St Paul’s Rackets playing history, SPGS pupil Helen Genieser (Upper Eighth) took part in the National Schools Rackets Senior Girls Singles, at The Queen’s Club last December. Helen, a very competent Squash player, and younger sister of Old Etonian, and 1st class Rackets player, George Genieser, first started playing casually at Queen’s with George Livesey & James Rossiter, who then brought Helen to SPS for further training just two months before the Singles event at Queen’s Club. Talented and technically perfect, Helen had to be fast-tracked into serving and taking serve, as her experience on the Squash Court enabled her to rally and construct points very well. Unfortunately, however, her Cliftonian opponent knew her way around the court better, thus having the edge. Although Helen won the first game, her opponent was vastly more experienced and knew how to change-up her serve effectively which, in the end, made the difference and sealed her 2-1 victory. ❚ ST