London Academy’s Eren Gozcu won the the fourth annual Jack Petchey Foundation London Schools’ Table Tennis Singles Finals.

Held at the University of East London’s SportsDock on Saturday, Gozcu came out on top by beating Curtis Welsh from Capital City Academy 3-2 (11-7 7-11 11-7 10-12 11-8). The 16-year-old said: “I really enjoy this competition, you get to play different people and it’s a great standard. It’s well run and fun. I am thrilled I won.”

There were more than 15 London Academy players competing and coach Bhavin Savjani said: “We love sending our players to these events.

“The standard is high and our young people really benefit from the competition. We are looking forward to next year’s events already.”

Jack Petchey, CBE, who attended the event, said “I’ve been a fan of table tennis since my own youth. It’s a fantastic sport and I am delighted to see this partnership is paying off with more young Londoners taking part.”

More than 400 youngster took part through the school competitions and regional finals to reach the prestigious final, with categories from Under-11 to Under-19.