London Youth Games: Hounslow’s young athletes excel in June sporting events.
Hounslow’s gold-winning Badminton team includes: Ananya Veeragandham, Ananya Rawat, Abbie Law, Jithya Reddy Pullareddy, Saanvi Sharma, Gunshiba Wadwa, Hansa Venu Puttu, Vansika Shree Mittapally, Ayurdha Mannyamgari, Mohmmed Ayaan Memon, Arya Khamkar, Kai Joshi, Naman Tokas, Rory Williams, Apuravanshu Sharma, William Ferguson-Newlove
Across the month of June, Hounslow’s young athletes were busy competing in a range of London Youth Games’ events including Badminton, Netball, Judo and Volleyball, as well as taking part in the Borough Athletics Finals.
Team Hounslow won gold in Badminton for the first time after winning all their matches in the group stages and beating four-time winners and reigning champions Havering 3-2 in a tense final. To help the team prepare for the competition, Lampton Leisure hosted trials and training sessions at its Osterley Sports and Athletics Centre. These sessions will continue running throughout the year.
Hounslow Badminton coach Premilla George said, “‘We are delighted to bring home the Badminton Gold for Team Hounslow – what an epic win! Congratulations to our fantastic squad who showed incredible team spirit and dedication. I’d like to say a massive thanks to our entire team, including our assistant coaches Millie and Diluka for their amazing commitment, Isleworth and Syon Junior Badminton Club, Osterley Junior Badminton Club, and Jonathan Barbour from Lampton Leisure’s Sports and Community Development Team for his continued support over the years.”
Hounslow’s Tennis finalists left-right: Eknoor Rai, Angelina Trehan, Alex Constable, Isabella Constable, Kai Joshi, Jewell Rochester (Hounslow SCD coaching team) & Ben (Bounce Tennis)
In the Volleyball, Team Hounslow was successful in the group stages of the competition, reaching the semi-finals where they won bronze. In the lead up to the event, the team trained at Osterley Sports and Athletics Centre.
Volleyball Coach Alex Nowicki said, “‘Having Osterley to train in over the exam period made such a massive difference in preparing for the event. It was a really long and tough day for the boys, playing their first game at 9:30 in the morning and finishing their last at 6:45 in the evening. The team were amazing, and we did one better than last year and won bronze.”
Borough Athletics Finals
Earlier in the month, Osterley Sports and Athletics Centre hosted the Borough Athletics Finals for students in years 7 and 8. All secondary schools in Hounslow were well-represented, with over 300 children taking part on the day. Winners were selected to represent the borough at the London Youth Games Athletics Final on July 1st at the London Marathon Community Track at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
In other London Youth Games events, Team Hounslow placed 7th out of 26 boroughs in Netball, 25th in Girls Football, with Hounslow’s Boys Judo team coming 4th and the Girls team 11th.
Councillor Lily Bath, Cabinet Member for Education, Children, Skills and Employment said: “A huge congratulations to young athletes from across the borough for their impeccable performances in The London Youth Games this year. The unwavering support from parents, coaches and volunteers, alongside the engagement and hard work of our athletes, Team Hounslow, were fantastic. We look forward to seeing more young people representing Hounslow and achieving great results in local and nation-wide competitions.”
Hounslow’s bronze-winning Volleyball team includes: Jordan, Bogdan, Harpreet, Dominic,Tariq, Daniel P, Harvey, Daniel C, Ahmed, Marco, Abinson, Cedrick
Jonathan Barbour, Lampton Leisure Sports & Community Development Team, said: “June has been a packed month for our young athletes and we are incredibly proud of all of their performances. We would like to pass on special congratulations to the Badminton team for winning gold, the Volleyball team for winning bronze and wish our Tennis and Athletics teams the best of luck for their upcoming events. Thanks also to all the coaches who have dedicated their time to training with our teams.
“We would like to encourage everyone to come and support Team Hounslow in both the Athletics and Tennis finals this weekend at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.”