Champions were crowned in eight categories at the Butterfly Schools Individual Finals.
Boys and girls battled it out in four age groups – Under-11, Under-13, Under-16 and Under-19 to win the coveted national titles at WV Active in Wolverhampton on a busy day with hundreds of matches played.
Photos by Alan Man – more will appear on our Flickr page in due course.
Under-11 Boys
Stefan Wiersyłłowski of Merseyside beat the top two seeds to add the Under-11 Boys’ title to the Under-10 title he won at the Mark Bates Ltd U10-13 National Championships last weekend.
Seeded fourth, he went through the knockout rounds without dropping a game, including defeating top seed Dominic Rimmy (London North) 3-0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-7) in the semi-finals.
In the final, he faced second seed Hayfield Lam (Cheshire) and it was an almost identical 11-6, 11-9, 11-8 scoreline in favour of Wiersyłłowski.
The other bronze medallist was third seed Jacob Dennison (Lancashire), defeated 3-0 (11-7, 11-8, 11-9) by Lam in the semi-finals.
Under-11 Girls
Top seed Cindy Xiao of Cambridgeshire lived up to her billing as she won the title, not dropping a game and taking gold with a 3-0 (12-10, 11-4, 11-6) victory over third seed Akira Bennatraj (Hertfordshire).
Bronze medals went to fourth seed Swara Mahabhashyam (Berkshire), who was defeated 3-0 (11-4, 11-6, 11-6) by Xiao in the semi-finals, and second seed Darcey Parker (London North), who lost out to Bennatraj 3-1 (11-8, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9) in the other semi.
Parker had earlier come through a tough quarter-final 3-2 (11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 11-13, 12-10) against Olivia Rutkowska of Devon.
Under-13 Boys
Berkshire’s Rishaan Sawant was the champion, the top seed defeating third seed Li Hao Chen of Lincolnshire 3-0 (12-10, 11-8, 11-4) in the final.
The bronze medallists were third seed Mustafa Ibrahim of XX, who was beaten 3-1 (11-2, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9) by Sawant in the semi-finals, and sixth seed Christopher Darby of Hertfordshire, who was defeated by Chen 3-0 (11-9, 11-5, 11-8).
Darby knocked out second seed Saisuriya Prasanna Kumar 3-2 (11-9, 4-11, 11-13, 12-10, 11-9) in a close quarter-final. There was also a cracking match in the last 16, where Lixin Loh (London Central) beat seventh seed Nikolas Karavas (London South) 3-2 (11-9, 12-14, 14-12, 8-11, 11-3).
Under-13 Girls
Top seed Hannah Saunders of Cambrisgeshire did not have things all her own way, but still took the title with victory over Second seed Isabella Xiao Xu of London South in the final.
Xiao Xu won the Under-12 Girls’ Singles title at the Mark Bates Ltd U10-13 National Championships last weekend but Saunders defeated her 3-1 (11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6) to take gold.
In the semi-finals, Saunders also dropped a game in beating fourth seed Ruby Gandi Bamidele (London North) 3-1 (11-7, 7-11, 11-1, 11-8), while Xiao Xu overcame Janet Yu (Cheshire) 3-1 (11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 11-2).
Yu had defeated third seed Phoebe O’Brien of North Yorkshire 3-1 (11-6, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9) in the quarter-finals, having earlier made a fine comeback to beat Durham’s Sophie Dodds 3-2 (6-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9) in the first round.
Under-16 Boys
Another top seed victory, this time for Jake Davidson of Gloucestershire, but it was a tight final against third seed Kai Lun Chow of Cambs.
Davidson was 2-0 down and it look as if the final would be a one-sided affair, but the left-hander turned it around to win 3-2 (3-11, 4-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-8).
Chow had experienced the other side of a five-set outcome in the semi-finals, where he beat second seed Oscar Nikolli of Surrey 3-2 (11-5, 8-11, 11-1, 6-11, 14-12). Nikolli himself came from 2-0 down to beat Ian Lai (Bedfordshire) 3-2 (10-12, 6-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-3) in the first round AND Louis Green (Essex) 3-2 (13-15, 4-11, 11-8, 11-1, 11-5) in the quarters.
The other bronze medal went to fifth seed Harrison Hill of Lincolnshire, who lost 3-0 to Davidson.
Under-16 Girls
Fourth seed met fifth seed in the final, and it was fourth-ranked Giana Pang of Hertfordshire who came through 3-1 (11-6, 11-5, 14-16, 11-3) against Warwickshire’s Charlotte Wong.
In the semi-finals, Wong knocked out top seed Brooke Morris of Greater Manchester 3-2 (12-10, 6-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-4).
Wong had also been extended back in the first round before coming through 3-2 (11-9, 10-12, 11-8, 10-12, 11-8) against Eunice Lam of London South.
Pang took out second seed Catherine Lv of Leicestershire in the quarter-finals, winning 3-1 (11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 11-7).
The other bronze went to Vardhini Nishanth of Cambridgeshire, who lost out 3-0 (11-4, 11-2, 11-3) to Pang in the semis.
Under-19 Boys
Hiko Yan Masa of West Yorkshire delivered from his top seeding, but had to come from 2-0 down in the final to beat third Zac Greenhough of Cleveland 3-2 (5-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-8).
Masa defeated fourth seed Prayrit Ahluwalia (Berkshire) 3-1 (4-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-7) in the semi-finals, while Greenhough overcame Janak Shah, the second seed from London West, 3-0 (11-4, 11-1, 11-6).
Back in the quarters, Masa was tested by Daniel Chang of Norfolk before winning 3-2 (9-11, 11-5, 10-12, 12-10, 11-9), and at the same stage Shah overcame Chun Wai Sheung of Warwickshire 3-1 (12-10, 18-16, 4-11, 14-12) and Ahluwalia beat Francesco Bonato of London South 3-1 (12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 10-12, 11-2).
Under-19 Girls
Naomi Coker of Derbyshire was top seed after the withdrawal of Sienna Jetha, and she won the title the hard way, beating Rachel Li of Cambridgeshire 3-2 (11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 12-14, 11-9) in a great final match.
Coker beat Jonabel Taguibao of Central London in the semi-finals 3-1 (11-9, 14-12, 7-11, 12-10), having earlier come through a quarter-final 3-2 (11-9, 11-9, 11-13, 7-11, 11-5) against Mia Longman of North Yorkshire.
Winning bronze alongside Taguibao was Sarah Wong of Gloucestershire, who was defeated 3-0 (11-3, 11-6, 11-6) by Li in the semi-finals.