Fusion and Grantham lead way at YBCL as champions falter

October 13, 2025 | Paul Stimpson

The two defending Premier Division champions have some work to do to hang on to their titles after weekend one of the Youth British Clubs League.

Fusion beat Grantham Academy in the boys†top flight, while Grantham College lead the way in the girls†having defeated London Academy.

More than 360 players were in action at Derby Arena and satellite venue Draycott & Long Eaton TTC, with 10 boys†divisions and five girls†leagues.

Team of the Weekend accolades went to BATTS boys and Ormeau girls, while the respective Player of the Weekend awards went to Peadar Sheridan of Fusion and Lianna Shilani Tousi of London Academy.

Visit TT Leagues for all the results, tables and averages.

Boys†divisions

Boys’ Team of the Weekend BATTS with Table Tennis England Chair Clare Briegal

Fusion inflicted a defeat on defending champions Grantham Academy in the final round of the Premier Division, ending their opponents†100% record and leapfrogging them to top the table at the end of the weekend.

Larry Trumpauskas was the architect of the victory, beating Isaac Kingham in three and then prevailing against Abraham Sellado 3-2 (11-7, 11-8, 3-11, 3-11, 11-7). That victory put Fusion 3-1 ahead and they made sure of the match win as Francesco Bonato beat Joseph Dennison in four.

Peadar Sheridan scored the other Fusion point, beating Dennison in a battle of two players playing up.

The south Londoners top the table by just a point, having earlier drawn 3-3 with Woodford Wells, for whom Benjamin Zijadic won twice. The second of those made the match score 2-2. Bonato then beat Sinan Surensoy but Adam Alibhaiâ€s 3-0 win over Sheridan clinched a point for Woodford.

Woodfordâ€s only other dropped points came in defeat to Grantham, so they are handily placed a further point behind in third place, with a four-point gap to the rest.

It is Zijadic who tops the averages, having won 9 out of 10 matches.

Boys’ Player of the Weekend Peadar Sheridan with Table Tennis England Chair Clare Briegal

Kingfisher are the unbeaten leaders of Division One, sitting two points clear of Ellenborough having won four and drawn one.

The draw was against London Academy, for whom Wajid Wafiq won twice and who led 3-2 when Shahuraj Nimse beat Ryan Chung 3-2 (12-10, 11-9, 14-16, 6-11, 11-8). Prayrit Ahluwaliaâ€s win over Yacoub Rahmani-Walentynska, who was playing up, secured the point for Kingfisher.

Ahluwalia tops the averages – of the regular players – with 9/10.

Drumchapel Glasgow won all five matches – and only dropped one individual match as they lead Division Two by three points from eBaTT II.

The dropped match was in the first fixture of the weekend, when eBaTTâ€s Oscar Nikolli beat Rory Thomson 3-0 (11-4, 11-9, 11-6). EBaTT drew their second match, 3-3 with Draycott II, but were 100% after that.

No surprise to see Drumchapel dominate the averages, with Ben Hart and Joe Mulhern all completing perfect weekends with 10/10.

EBaTTâ€s third string are top of Division Three and unbeaten, with three wins and two draws putting the two points clear of Brighton and Crosby High.

The leaders dropped a point to St Marys Stars on Saturday and also to Brighton on Sunday – leading 2-0 but trailing 3-2 in the latter, before Kai Shalson beat Angus Priestley-Tonner 14-12 in the fifth to preserve the unbeaten record.

Of the regular players, Angad Saggu of Greenhouse had the best record, winning nine of his 10 matches.

Ormeau were perfect in Division Four as they won all five matches for the loss of only three individual ties. They already look nailed on for the title as they are five points ahead of three sides who all have records of W2, D1, L2.

The leaders†leader was Christopher Allsop, who won all 10 of his matches, just one more than team-mate Aaditya Singh and Grantham Academy IVâ€s Noah Levens.

There are two unbeaten teams in Division Five,where Cippenham lead Crosby High B by a point, having won four and drawn 1, while Crosby won three and drew two.

The meeting between the two was in round two and Cippenham came from 2-0 and 3-1 down to force a draw, Saisuriya Prasanna Kumar matching Crosbyâ€s Joseph Ilia by picking  up a double.

No one could beat Britanniaâ€s Alexander Graham, who won all 10 matches to top the averages.

Division Six is headed by Archway Peterborough with a 100 per cent record, three points ahead of Draycott III.

Archway won by at least a 5-1 margin in every match, while Draycott also dropped a point in a 3-3 draw with Kidlington Forum.

In the averages, Kai Lun Chow and Zihan Lin were unbeatable for the leaders, both with a perfect 10/10.

Fusion III and Ashford share the lead of the eight-team Division Seven, both having won four and drawn one – they are a point ahead of Brighton II.

The eventual top two met in the first round and it finished 3-3, Ashford leading 2-0 and 3-1 before Fusion fought back.

Heading the divisional averages of Ziad El-Hassan of Brighton, who won all eight.

Division Eight had no drawn matches and the W column reads 5-4-3-2-1-0, with Jersey setting the pace ahead of Bristol Academy II.

Jersey recovered from 2-0 down when they met Bristol, William Cornthwaiteâ€s 3-2 win over William Richards in match five proving crucial.

Both those players won nine of their 1-0 matches, as did Jerseyâ€s Theo De Poerck.

Worthing lead Woodford Wells II by two points having won all five matches in Division Nine.

It was 5-1 when the top two met – Woodfordâ€s Louis Green beat John Le Fondre on his way to a record of 9/10 over the weekend, though Worthing duo Oliver Jordan and Yiwei He both have 100% records from eight and six matches respectively.

Girls†divisions

Girls’ Team of the Weekend Ormeau with Clare Briegal

London Academy face a battle to retain the Premier Divisiontitle they have won in each of the past three season as they trail Grantham College by two points after weekend one.

Grantham are unbeaten, and their only blemish was the 3-3 draw with London in the final round of matches. They trailed 2-1 but led 3-2 thanks to Hannah Silcockâ€s double, but Londonâ€s Soraya Rahmani-Walentynska beat Lowri Hurd in four to rescue a point for her side.

That London are two points behind the leaders is the result of a 5-1 defeat by Cippenham – who ended the weekend alongside the Academy on 7pts – in round two.

Cippenham powered away from 1-1, with Rachael Iles and Alyssa Nguyen both recording doubles. There were no five-setters but some close games, with Cippenham winning six out of eight which went to deuce.

Grantham won their other four matches, led my Hannah Silcockâ€s perfect 10 victories, which puts her two clear of Hurd and Iles in the averages.

Girls PoTW Lianna Shilani Tousi with Clare Briegal

Draycott II are ahead of Ormeau by two points in Division One, with both teams unbeaten.

They drew with each other, Ormeau leading 2-0 and 3-2 in a match which saw five of the six ties go to a decider. That included the final match, in which Millie Noble secured a draw for Draycott with an 11-5, 7-11, 3-11, 13-11, 12-10 win over Niamh Mason.

Ormeau also drew with London Academy II and Northern Girls, while Draycott won their other four matches.

The averages show Northernâ€s Mia Longman on top with eight out of eight, while Noble won 9/10 for Draycott.

Drumchapel Glasgow II carried all before them in Division Two with five victories putting them four points clear of Graham Spicer II and London Academy III.

The dropped only one individual match on Saturday but it was closer on Sunday as they won 4-2 against Spicers and by the same score against Draycott III. It was 2-2 at one point in both matches as Chui-Que Wong won twice for Spicers and Jessica Tansur did the same for Draycott.

Wong won nine out of 10 for Spicers to finish highest in the averages of the regular players, though Siabella Xiao Xu of London Academy is top with 6/6.

Kingfisher lead Division Threeand are unbeaten, though drew twice and are therefore level on points with Ellenborough, who won four but lost one.

Kingfisher beat Ellenborough but drew with both Scarborough and Highfield Titans, though they led the former 3-1 and trailed three times to the latter.

Senuli Ranasinghe of Blitz won all eight of her matches to sit ahead of Kingfisherâ€s Heilam Tse (9/10) in the averages.

Jersey and Ormeau II are top of Division Four having both won four and drawn 1 to remain unbeaten – Jersey are top on sets difference.

Ormeau twice led the meeting between the top two but then trailed 3-2 before Lea Gal beat Ella Devlin to seal a point for the Irish side.

Jerseyâ€s Freya Allaway had a perfect 10/10 weekend to lead the averages ahead of team-mate Ruby Devlin, who lost just once in 10.

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