Taylorian

Sport

Hockey

M. Gupta, S. Kormushev, A. Hinduja, E. Jamal, O. Karanja, V. Khandelwal, Z. Kunwar, N. Harwood, C. Papastylianou, V. Gandhi, J. Schofield, S. Shah. U12E The 12E season was particularly notable for the boys’ enthusiasm at training each week, and the remarkable improvement in their hockey skills. Unfortunately, we only got to play a couple of matches against Reed’s School in which we showed skill and enthusiasm, but did not come away with the win. School practice matches were keenly contested and showed an increasing awareness of the benefits of spacing out and passing, which will equip the boys for higher levels of hockey next year. Mr T. A. Lyall Squad: D. Assani, E. Chauhan, S. Giri, M. Gupta, E. Jamal, A. Kanda, O. Karanja, A. Khan, T. MacMillan, P. Mangalagiri, S. Minhas, A. Mottaghi, I. Patel, K. Patwalia, A. Ramesh, A. Saeed, R. Sapkota, M. Shareef, A. Yadav. U12F The boys that comprise U12F had something of a baptism of fire. New to the school, many had never lifted a hockey stick before September, yet in

Squad: J. Hirani, M. Hopkins, J. Janahan, S. Kormushev, A. Merali, K. Morbiwalla, K. Parmar, A. Pillai, R. Sabour, S. Sharma. U12C The U12Cs made real progress this term, developing their teamwork and their technical skills. Many were debutants to the sport in September, which is hard to believe in the context of the passing, spatial awareness and ball control they now have. The season had the ups and downs that are to be expected, from the ferocious Reed’s school who gave us a bit of a schooling, to the titanic tussle with Kingston Grammar. The progress was perhaps most obvious in the fixtures against William Borlase: a 4-0 loss at the first time of asking was transformed into an 8-4 win in the second leg. All the boys can be proud of their progress this term; many will be fighting for a place in the U13Bs next year. Mr R. C. Garvey Squad: S. Shankar, J. Schofield, J. Fitch, S. Keane, Y. Pail, N. Sritharan, S. Datta, T. Xu, V. Patel, A. Arun, A. Sivanesan, A. Mehmet. U12D We had a short season of five matches but lots of Saturday training, and it was good to see so many parents on the touchline. We lost both games to Reed’s (2-5 and 0-4). However, the second match was much improved and was followed by two narrow but impressive wins over Sir William Borlase (4-1 and 4-2) which were very pleasing. A definite highlight was that after one match, the opposition coach – who was an England player –¬¬ gave us his best tips about where to move into space and how to pass most effectively between the lines. Over the course of the season goals were shared by the following: Shivesh Joshi (3); Artem Khoroshaev (2); Aditya Hinduja; Arav Ramesh; Vedansh Gandhi; Veer Patel; Rayaan Alibhai; Soumava Giri. At the other end, Nathan Harwood was outstanding in goal. Mr C. R. Evans-Evans Squad: S. Joshi, A. Khoroshaev, E. Chauhan, A. Chandok, H. Faisal, S. Giri,

their first fixture they faced the mighty Reed’s on their home turf. It would have been easy to become disheartened at the opposition’s superior gamesmanship, but what this team lacked in experience, they compensated for in enthusiasm and commitment. Indeed, it has been gratifying to see how much they developed over the term, so that by the time Reed’s came for a visit to Taylors’, our boys put in a very creditable performance. All of those training sessions paid dividends: they are more confident in set pieces and know their way around a short corner. Most of all, they now play like a team, each with due regard to his role, as was evident in their match against Kingston Grammar. In talks during and after the match, U12F are always willing to reflect on strengths and weaknesses, and they have learnt much from their opponents. Keen as mustard, they were an asset to hockey at Taylors’ this winter. Many thanks to the Junior Helpers who gave up their time and guided U12F so skilfully this term. Mr A. J. Richardson Squad: A. Ahmed, K. Bhimjiani, S. Chen, R. Khan, R. Mukhtar, A. Thakur, E. Thompson, S. Minhas, R. Weetch, H. Dave, I. Patel, A. Kanda, A. Khan, D. Ustinov, R. Yaqub, E. Jamal.

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Taylorian 2023