This weekend some of London's best cadet table tennis players will face each other as they battle for honours in the first round of this season's National Cadet League being held in the £3 million Sport England funded west London Table Tennis Centre in Southall.Home of seven times British Champions, London Progress. Southall has become one of the most important table tennis centres in the Capital, its importance being underlined by the news that it will again host the Greater London Championships later this season.

Initially billed as the West London section of the Cadet League, the tournament has rapidly taken on the feel of a London-wide event with teams from North, South, East and West. South London will be represented by the very successful Crusaders Club who have a long history of producing junior players particularly encouraging youngsters from some of the less affluent South London areas. Under the expert instruction of Level Four coach, Mike Pantin, the Crusaders Club have a good record in this tournament and were last season's victors, keeping a strong Progress challenge at bay. They will definitely be a club to watch out for. Joining them for the first time in Southall will be Mike Kershaw's Rosehill Club and Mark Smith's ADT College. Not much is known about these youngsters so they will be entering the tournament as something of a wild-card.

Representing North London will be the long established Barnet Club, the very same club that pushed the London Progress senior champions so close in the Premier Division over the past two seasons. Their junior coaching programme has recently been taken over by the very talented, Eli Baraty, and he will be keen to show the rest of London what he has achieved over the past twelve months. The top juniors from Barnet and London Progress recently clashed in the British Junior League with Progress getting the best of that encounter. I'm sure Barnet will be out to revenge that defeat.

Moving from North London to inner North West, Southall will see the arrival of Wembley High School under the international guidance of former England superstar, Gareth Herbert. The school is part of the rapidly-expanding TTK network, a charity based on getting kids off the streets and focused on playing table tennis. In this they have made great strides and their efforts are now coming to fruition across the Capital. Gareth is held in high regard by TTK and the fruits of his labours will be on show for the first time in this national ranking event.

Another TTK school is the well-established West London Academy, also under international leadership, in this case, the Irish #1, Jason Sugrue. Jason wears a number of hats, all very successfully. As well as being the Irish #1, he is also the club captain at London Progress, where he has steered the club to its record-breaking seven consecutive British League titles. But it will be as TTK coach at the West London Academy that Jason will be judged this weekend, and his well-established squad are thought to be serious contenders for medals this year.

Also from West London is the Hillingdon Club under the tireless leadership of Mr Allen Roper. Allen has worked wonders in creating a flourishing club in the London Borough of Hillingdon, and it will be painful for them to see their once-leading cadet fronting up in a Progress T-shirt. Such is the world of sport where promising youngsters naturally gravitate to the 'big clubs'. The relationship between the two clubs is strong and there has been no ill feeling over the transfer but it will certainly give the Hillingdon/Progress fixture an added bite.

From East London comes the Oaklands School under the famed coaching direction of Giddion Ashison. One of the most successful coaches in the country, Gideon has been responsible for training a long line of England juniors. Although his Oaklands project is relatively new, another of the TTK schools, it would be unwise to underestimate what Gideon may have achieved already given his amazingly successful track record.

Finally, from Progress itself comes a massive contingent of seven teams led by Fegredo, Manning and Alharazi.With Marom and Kinloke inelligible due to their top thirty national ranking, it will be a difficult task for Progress to stay ahead of the pack.Club coaches, Charlie Alvarez and Daniel Cannon will attempt to bring the best out of the Progress kids, many of whom are from the local Southall area and will be competing for the first time.

The stage is set for a titanic battle and spectators are welcome to both enjoy and lend a hand.Who knows, we may well be wittnessing one of Englands future Olympic competitors.


Jon Kaufman