It went down to the very last game at the end of eight fixtures and three tournaments for John Lyon’s team of four U14s to become the Harrow Badminton champions.

The Autumn Term competition season began steadily for Zahid Said, Sameer Vekaria, Nathaniel John and Ishan Sundriyal with victory over Whitmore High and a loss against Park High in the opening fixtures.

However it only took a week for the team to hit their stride as they went into the next fixture against Nower Hill High and Canons High and emerged unbeaten in all 14 games, winning 7-0, 7-0 to take the evening 2-0.

Placed in the top half of all schools in the competition, John Lyon earned their place in the five team tournament finals day on Tuesday 19th November to take on Nower Hill High, Park High, Pinner High and Avanti House.

The first three matches all went John Lyon’s way despite getting progressively tougher, with victories of 7-0, 6-1 and 5-2.

The tie against Avanti House proved the most difficult, and ultimately the deciding fixture.

After six of the seven games, John Lyon were 4-2 down and so knew they had lost the match. But this left the tournament on a knife-edge with both John Lyon and Avanti House on three match victories and one loss each, and both having won an equal number of games within those matches.

So despite having lost the tie, John Lyon could win the overall tournament by going down only 4-3 instead of 5-2. The pressure was really on for Zahid and Ishan in this doubles fixture. Despite an early scare the John Lyon duo displayed some decisive gameplay at crucial times and won the game meaning John Lyon took the Borough crown by the very narrowest of margins.

This victory means John Lyon boys in various years are currently Harrow Badminton champions, Harrow Water Polo Champions and Harrow Basketball Champions.

Mr Adam Ling, who oversees Badminton at John Lyon, said: “To win this championship is hugely impressive for this team, not least because they did it by holding their nerve and temperament right down the very last shot.

“The feat is even more impressive with a mixed age team and it was fantastic to see Nathaniel and Sameer leading from the front as the senior boys, Year 7 Ishan hold his own against older competitors, and Zahid captaining the team from Year 8. We are really excited about the prospect of following this talented group as they move up through the School.”