The Butterfly Schools Team National Semi-Final (West) took place on Saturday 1 March, with Fortis Academy in Birmingham hosting the Under-16 and Under-19 categories.

Under-16 Girls

London Academy dominated the under-16 girls’ event with two 7-0 wins against Uffculme School, Devon and Prince Henry’s High School, Evesham, and a 6-1 win against Arden Academy, where Hazel and Hailey Lam managed to win the doubles. The London Academy girls all finished with 100% singles records; Sienna Jetha and Alisha Dutta won 6/6 matches, with Mauli Shah 4/4 and Naomi Adjei 2/2.

Arden Academy, Solihull secured second place with a 5-2 win against Prince Henry’s and a 7-0 win against Uffculme School. Sisters Hazel and Hailey Lam fought hard to secure 4/6 singles, and 3/3 doubles. Sheryl Chiu won 2/4 singles.

Prince Henry’s finished in third place with a 6-1 win against Uffculme School. Phoebe Allcock and Millie Boreham won two singles, and Elmarie Lourens one for Prince Henry’s; in addition to Phoebe and Elmarie winning the doubles. Chloe Robinson won the single match for Uffculme.

Under-16 Boys

The London Academy under-16 boys team also won their semi-final matches, with two 8-0 wins against Marling School, Gloucestershire, and Altrincham Boys Grammar School, Manchester; and a 6-2 win against Tudor Grange Academy, Solihull. Shahuraj Nimse and Connor Godley (London Academy) remained unbeaten throughout the day, with Parsa Yamin and Ilyes Djeraoui winning 5/6.

Tudor Grange Academy also qualified for the National Finals in April, with 7-1 wins against Marling School and Altrincham Grammar School. Rex Ho and Jaymas Ng won 5/6 matches; with Haymas Ng winning 2/6 and Nokulus Lam winning 4/6.

The match between Marling School and Altrincham Grammar ended up as a 4-4 draw, with William Richards winning two matches, supported with singles wins from Niall Walker and Benj Day-Lewis. Kofi Malik won two for Altrincham Grammar with singles from Nico Malik and Siri Eldi. The match was level with 14 sets to each time. Third place went to Altrincham Grammar who won 256 points compared to 247 to Marling School.

Under-19 Girls

Unfortunately, there was a last-minute withdrawal in the under-19 girls’ event, which left three teams to play against one another.

Kelly and Macy Ng from Wallington High School beat Rugby High School 5-0. Rugby High School then managed to secure a 3-2 win against Harris City Academy. Caron Charles won the two singles for Harris City, with Anya Sompura and Daya Chima winning one singles each and teaming up to win the doubles for Rugby High School.

Caron Charles also won two singles against Wallington High School, but it was not enough to prevent Wallington High School from finishing in first place with a 3-2 win. Credit to Caron who finished with a 100% singles record.

Under-19 Boys

The under-19 boys displayed some excellent competitive matches throughout the day. Ackworth School, Pontefract beat Blue Coat School (Liverpool) 8-0, Wallington Grammar School 6-2 and Warwick School 5-3. Yan Masa Hiko finished the day on 100%, with Ka Hei Liu (Alex) and Yiwei He (Peter) winning 5/6 matches, and Charlie Wang securing 2/6 matches.

Warwick School finished in second place with a 7-1 win against Blue Coat School, and a 6-2 win against Wallington Grammar School. Rex Wong, Starry Sheung and Daniel Siu all won5/6 matches, and Ambrose Ho contributed with a win against Blue Coat School.

Wallington Grammar School beat Blue Coat School 8-0 to finished in third place.

Good luck to all the teams who have qualified for the Butterfly National Schools Team Finals on Sunday 27 April at WV Active, Wolverhampton.