Schools Championships Results

Scottish Primary & Senior Schools Championships – Saturday 4 February 2023

The Scottish Primary and Senior Schools Championships were held at Bell’s Sports Centre in Perth on Saturday 4 February 2023 and attracted a fantastic entry of well over 100 competitors from as far as afield as the Shetlands and Inverness in the north and Dumfries and North Ayrshire in the south with all leagues in between well represented. Play took place on 24 tables and the hall was bustling with youngsters, many of whom would have been competing in their first tournament. With ten titles on offer competition was fierce as players aimed for a top four finish and the chance to qualify for the Scotland team at the British Championships which take place later this season.

It was a clean sweep for Aberdeen in the Primary events with Victor Chen and Kiishi Adekola taking the Boy’s and Girl’s singles titles. Rory Thomson of Edinburgh and Nikki Mo, also Aberdeen, claimed the runners up trophies. Victor teamed up with Mathew Pszonka to win the doubles title for the second season in succession while Kiishi and Nikki also retained their doubles title. Victor, Rory, Mathew, and Bohao Chen along with Kiishi, Nikki, Tamara Martin and Alexandra Hart took the top four spots and will therefore represent Scotland in the British Primary Championships which take place in April 2023.

In the Senior Schools events there were few surprises early on with most of the top players making it through to the final groups. Charlie McGowan upset the seedings as he took the honours in the U18 boys with fellow Edinburgh player Borui Chen runner up. Jamie Johnson and Jamie Toner took third and fourth places respectively with Jamie Toner causing a major upset by defeating Harry Blackhall who was disappointed to just miss out. In the U18 girls, Holly McNamara lived up to her top seeding as she topped the group without losing an end. Shannon Brown was runner up with Jessica Hogg and Maria De Silva third and fourth. Nathan Hogg was dominant in the U16 boys as he took the title without losing an end at the final group stage. Stonehaven youngsters Daniel Tibbetts and Allan He were placed second and third while Tony Chim finished fourth to secure his position in the team. The Drumchapel duo of Amelia Smolarek and Megan Mulhern were winner and runner up in the U16 girls with Elza Lee and Lucy Mitra also finishing in the top four. Joe Mulhern was in great form in the U14 boys singles and took the title with Ben Hart having to settle for second place. William Wang and Jakub Krzyzostaniak were delighted to finish in the top four and also qualify for the team. In the U14 girls Maja Wojcicka took the title with Nichole Lee runner up while Padma Unnam and Candice Tang finished third and fourth in the group. The top four in each category will travel to Ireland in June 2023 to represent Scotland at the British Senior Schools Championships.

It was great to also be able to run consolation events for the youngsters and these were won by Max Well (Primary Schools), Angus Halliday (U14 Boys) and Reuben De Silva (U16 Boys). They were awarded Easter Eggs for their efforts which may have been more appreciated than a trophy!

Thanks go to all players, coaches and their families for making this such an enjoyable event.