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NATIONAL MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIP |
Marlborough College, Wiltshire, 27th April 2013 |
[posted 20 May 2013] |
Venturing into the arcane realms of Geriatric Fives may well be seen by the more level-headed exponents of our sport as something of a triumph of hope over experience, writes Bernard Atkinson. However, the manifold enticements, ranging from self-immolation to utter loss of self respect, were so well packaged by the immaculate organizer of the event, David Bawtree – he who will not see 75 again – that no less than five pairs rose to the challenge. For the Masters, this represents a seriously large entry and for this reason alone every entrant’s name is recorded here; perhaps also lest some may not pass this way again!
The hopefuls, ranked in order of success from fifth to first as in all great TV ‘Celeb’ events, were Mcintyre & Maltby, Akerman & Gardner, Atkinson & Bawtree, Rice & Boag and the winners were… East & Wilkinson. Credit goes, of course, to the winners but what tales of derring-do were repeated and yet re-repeated that evening in nursing homes from Canterbury to Halifax and from Tiverton to Portsmouth.
If, by now, Dear Reader, you have convinced yourself that the Masters is a freak show put on to massage the egos of men too old for other fame, think again; such a misconception does not chime with the quality of the Fives on display nor with the effort and intensity with which the ten men endowed their efforts. There is a very serious message here, too; competitive sport at high level is not something to be abandoned at the first opportunity – in the case of Fives, the game and all that surrounds it is too precious for that and the elderly ‘hopefuls’ must continue to demonstrate that there is life after 65. In any case, when we are too old for real sport, there is always golf!
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National Masters Championship results
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WINCHESTER FIVES MIXED DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP |
Bradfield College, 12th May 2013 |
[posted 12 May 2013] |
STOP PRESS
The Winchester Fives Mixed Doubles Championship was contested for the first time since 2010 and it was the organiser, Alex Steel, who emerged as the champion, partnering fellow Executioner Andy Pringle to the title with a win over Eastbourne's Tony Hamilton and Kathleen Briedenhann. It was a fine result, as Andy and Alex had actually lost heavily to the other pair in the round-robin section of the tournament, but a change in tactics helped them to a win over their tiring opponents. However, the Eastbourne College minibus didn't go home without some 'silverware' as Tessa Mills and Spencer Beal combined to win the Plate, beating Dick Warner and Sarah Greasley (playing in her first non-Eton Fives event) in an epic three-game match.
(Full report to follow)
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Winchester Fives Mixed Doubles Championship results
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RFA RANKINGS |
London, 8th May 2013 |
[posted 12 May 2013] |
The RFA is delighted announce that the latest official – end-of-season – singles and doubles rankings have now been published; and, in line with our new practice, they have been published on the Fives Federation website. They take into account the recent Scottish Open, and see James Toop and Will Ellison finish on top of the singles and doubles rankings, respectively. A full report on the season's changes in the lists will appear in the Annual Review, which should be published in August.
Going forward, the rankings will be updated only on the Federation website, and all RFA members are urged to register for that site, as it is the RFA's intention to use Fivesonline as its sole presence online from the beginning of next season. For full details of the new rankings, please click on the links below..
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Click here to see the latest rankings
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SCOTTISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Loretto School, Musselburgh, 4/5th May 2013 |
[posted 06 May 2013] |
STOP PRESS
It was a good weekend for the England-based players who made the journey north for the Scottish Open Championships. Thanks to Will Ellison, Dan Trisato, Ed Hatton and Gareth Price, they filled all four slots in the singles semi-finals, and made up three of the four finalists in the doubles. Eventually, the singles title went to Tristao after another cracking three-gamer against Ellison, but Will gained some satisfaction by retaining the doubles title he won with John Hawke last year. However, this year he teamed up with Michael Kemp, to ensure that at least one title remained in Scottish hands.
(Full report to come)
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Scottish Open Championships results
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SOUTH EAST REGIONAL SCHOOLS' TOURNAMENT |
Christ's Hospital, 9th February 2013 |
[posted 02 May 2013] |
On Saturday 9th February 2013, five schools – Christ’s Hospital, Eastbourne, St Dunstan’s, Tonbridge and Whitgift – gathered at Christ’s Hospital for the second South East Regional Schools Fives Tournament. St Dunstan’s were a welcome new participant and we hope to include Sutton Valence in future years, as well as eagerly awaiting the prospect of a London Regional tournament.
In the U16 Singles the standard of play was particularly high in terms of both retrieval and tactical awareness. In the singles two of the favourites Hutt (Tonbridge) and Ahmed (CH) managed to top their groups, although not without difficulty. Muscat (Tonbridge) also did well to top his group but perhaps the surprise was Owen (St Dunstan’s) placing first in his group in a typically close win against Horner (Whitgift).
Hutt looked calm and assured in a comfortable semi-final victory against teammate Muscat. The other semi-final was anything but comfortable, as Owen took on Ahmed (at that time the National U14 Singles Champion). A close win in the first game for Owen was followed by a quick and brutal fightback in the second by Ahmed. As the match ebbed and flowed, Owen’s superior stamina and confidence eventually told as he won an epic three-gamer lasting around an hour.
The final between Owen and Hutt was of similar quality, but despite or perhaps because of Owen giving everything to the point of physical exhaustion, a fightback by Hutt to win the second game was not quite enough to gain a firm foothold, and Owen came through comfortably in the third as a worthy champion. The plate was won by Horner.
In the U16 Doubles there was again some excellent play, but Whitgift were dominant, topping both groups, although their second pair only by the narrowest of margins against Tonbridge’s first pair. The final between the Whitgift pairs saw a close first game but the first pair of Horner & Raison ran out comfortable winners in the second. The Tonbridge pair of Hutt & Segun gained some compensation with a decisive victory in the plate.
The U18s was the Eastbourne show. The singles was more fast-paced, as perhaps to be expected, and although at times lacking the subtlety of the colts was excellent from a spectator’s perspective. The top seeds and last year’s finalists Gemade (CH) and Kent (Eastbourne) came through their groups as expected without difficulty. The other groups were much tighter and Tickle (Eastbourne), a last minute entry, did particularly well to squeeze his way out of a very tough group. Similarly Teterin (Eastbourne) accomplished the same feat, creating three Eastbourne semi-finalists.
The top seeds again came through this stage without too much difficulty, and a replay of the 2012 final began. The pattern of the games was the same, with a narrow win for Kent in the first followed by a clearer win for Gemade in the second. However Gemade failed to impose himself on the decider, and Kent’s very physical pace and style eventually told for him to emerge as champion 12-11. Strutt-Clare (St Dunstan’s) won several tough games to take the plate.
In the U18 Doubles Kent & Barnes (Eastbourne) made magisterial progress through their group, dropping only one point. They were joined by Jones & Martyn (Tonbridge), who won much tighter games against Christ’s Hospital & the Eastbourne 2nd pair. Given these respective scorelines, the final was a very close affair, Kent & Barnes coming out as champions 11-7, 12-11. Gemade & Eastwood had compensation by winning the plate against Whitgift.
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South East Schools' Regional Tournament results
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NATIONAL SCHOOL GIRLS' CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Marlborough College, Wiltshire, 21st April 2013 |
[posted 02 May 2013] |
This year’s tournament was a fantastic mix of the familiar and the new, writes organiser Alex Smith. The familiar and impressive skills of the girls from Eastbourne College, Rugby School, Christ’s Hospital and Marlborough College were joined by two new schools, Rossall and Aldenham. These new arrivals among the junior competitions certainly helped to make the tournament as fiercely contested as previous years. As ever, no school managed victory across all four age-groups, but the girls of Christ’s Hospital again showed their dominance at the lower ages, claiming the “clean sweep” of junior singles titles, winning gold at U16, U14 and U13.
At senior level it was Eastbourne College who were dominant in singles and doubles, whereas Christ’s Hospital and Rugby School shared the spoils at U16, with Christ’s Hospital dominating the junior age groups at U14 and U13, fighting off strong challenges from Aldenham. The girls from Rossall and Aldenham did not go home empty-handed, winning a clutch of silver and bronze medals. These new participants were hugely committed and played hard in U13, U14 and U16 categories, and it was the three Aldenham girls who caused the most problems for the seeding committee with players reaching finals and pushing the winners close in two tournaments before claiming silver in the U13 and U16 age-groups.
In the senior (U18) singles, Tessa Mills of Eastbourne College proved why she has held the senior singles for the past three years, progressing from her group without losing a point. Her team-mate Izzy Why came ahead in the other group after a tough final game with Milly Browne from Rugby School. Tessa went on to come through her semi-final comfortably, whereas in the other semi an injured Izzy didn’t have quite enough left to overcome the other strong Rugby player, Eliza Talbot-Williams. Tessa and Eliza then met in the final, with Tessa’s power and accuracy being the decisive factor, meaning that Tessa finished as senior singles champion for the fourth year running.
In the U18 doubles, Tessa completed her dominance by pairing up with Izzy Why to take the senior title, against the strong Rugby pair of Eliza and Milly, with Marlborough College girls Emma Colebatch & Melinda Hudson finishing with bronze medals.
At the U16 singles it was Christ’s Hospital, Rugby and Rossall who looked set to dominate, with their experienced top players all reaching the knock-out stages. However, Amy Flood from Aldenham, playing in her first Rugby Fives tournament, had other ideas. Amy won her singles group and, having fought off Kate Shelina from Rossall in the semi-final, took on Louise Matthias, previous U14 and U13 Singles champion, and last year’s U16 semi-finalist. Newcomer Amy started in impressive fashion, and reached championship point first, her powerful serves and volleying discomforting Louise. But Louise, aided by her tournament experience, fought back hard and with some very accurate hitting to Amy’s left hand managed to take the title 12-11.
At U14 Christ’s Hospital dominated singles and doubles. The four CH girls reaching the semi-finals, but this did not make the games any less competitive, as Beatrix Crinnion had a very narrow win in her semi against Phoebe Thornhill. Molly Todd finished with the gold against Beatrix, whilst Phoebe Thornhill took the bronze against Tamsin Denny after both girls had seen off opposition from the two novice Rugby girls. The Christ’s Hospital pairs also took gold and silver in the doubles, with Rugby taking bronze.
In the U13 tournament, however, Christ’s Hospital found the going harder against girls from Aldenham and Rossall. Abigail James and Emma Conway of Aldenham, playing their first Rugby fives, learnt quickly. Abigail reached the singles semi-final, where she reached game point against Stella Saunt-Hills of CH, but Abbie could not hold on. Stella went on to win gold against her team-mate Ines, whilst Abbie took bronze. The Rossall girls, also new to the game, fought hard in both tournaments, and took the bronze doubles. The girls from Aldenham finished with doubles silver, whilst Christ’s Hospital claimed a third set of gold doubles medals, their coach Mr Hatton pleased to have won the Oxford Cup as well as the Cambridge.
The championship was kindly hosted by Marlborough College, and all participants are looking forward to next year.
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National School Girls' Championships results
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NATIONAL VETERANS' CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Marlborough College, Wiltshire, 27/28th April 2013 |
[posted 29 April 2013] |
The 2013 Veterans' Tournament moved from the now-usual venue of Christ’s Hospital to the superb courts at Marlborough College, writes organiser John Hawke. This relocation was firmly supported by the very strong Marlborough Town Fives Club, and also attracted players from the South West, who had not previously travelled the additional miles to Christ’s. These new entrants, augmented by the crop of players who first qualified as Veterans this year, allowed us to achieve a record entry, with 24 singles players and 18 doubles pairs taking part in a gruelling weekend of Fives.
Unfortunately the change of location did catch out one player, who turned up at Christs’s on Sunday morning, only to be mystified by the peace and quiet surrounding the Fives Courts. Luckily for his partner, who was waiting patiently in Wiltshire, Grem McIntyre (who had participated in the Masters event on the Saturday) stepped in as a last-minute replacement. We all look forward to seeing Angus at the correct venue next year!
The organiser works on the basis that every player, of whatever ability, should end each day regretting that they had played too much. This was accomplished by running three competitions on singles day, and four for the doubles on Sunday.
Star of the new qualifiers, if not of the whole show, was Andy Pringle. While not winning a trophy, he pushed the eventual Singles Cup winner Hamish Buchanan hard in his semi-final, squandering more than one match point in the second game, eventually to lose the closest of matches. He followed this up in the doubles, along with partner Sam Roberts, by reaching the final and eventually losing a very competitive match in two games.
As has become the norm in recent years, Hamish took home both Singles and Doubles cups, ably assisted in the doubles by the ever-young Bruce Hanton.
In addition to entering a string of players, the Marlborough club members organised a Saturday evening meal at the Wellington Arms, and even provided beds for some of the out-of-town participants. The meal, and the in-tournament catering (sourced and cooked by Stuart Kirby), aided in making it a memorable weekend. However, the size of the entry really brought the weekend alive. Every game was watched by a good number of people; the place was buzzing all weekend.
We are all very grateful to Marlborough College for the loan of their fantastic Fives centre for the weekend, to the Marlborough club, especially Tom Hillman, for organising the Saturday evening festivities, and to all the other competitors. The organiser, for one, cannot wait for next year, and an even bigger entry.
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National Veterans' Championships results
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NATIONAL CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP |
St Paul's School, 13 & 17th April 2013 |
[posted 18 April 2013] |
The Old Paulines have successfully defended their National Club Championship again, scoring an ultimately comfortable win over the Executioners in the final and notching up their third win in succession.
As in the last couple of years, their strength in depth proved crucial, and even with a second team in the competition, the OPs’ first team could call on a squad including an unrivalled combination of champions.
The four in the final were Charlie Brooks (National Doubles champion), Dan Tristao (U25 singles champion), Tom Dean (North of England doubles champion) and Matt Shaw (Schools’ singles champion), while Ed Kay (U25 doubles champion) played in earlier rounds.
They scored a relatively easy win over the West of England in the quarter-finals, but faced a much stiffer challenge in the semi-finals, against an Alleyn Old Boys’ side boosted by the addition of newly crowned national doubles champion Will Ellison. It was a match that went down to the wire, but in the end the Paulines’ greater strength in depth saw them win through to the final by a margin of just over 20 points.
In the bottom half of draw, meanwhile, a withdrawal meant the Executioners had a bye into the semis, where they faced the Old Paulines’ second team, who had breezed past Christ’s Hospital in the quarter-finals.
From the off, the Executioners were in command, winning three of the four singles; and, although the Paulines started off well in the doubles, the greater experience of the Executioners (Tom Maconie, Marcus Bate, Chris Burrows and Andy Pringle) told, and they won through to clinch a place in the final for only the second time in the club’s history.
It was such unexpected success that almost led a non-final, as the Executioners captain had not booked his team’s services for the Sunday, when the final was planned – and three of the four weren’t able to make it at short notice. However, in a sign of true sportsmanship, the Paulines agreed to play the final on the following Wednesday evening.
With players struggling to get to the courts after work, it was agreed that two singles matches would be played, followed by the doubles, and that the final singles would then be played only if necessary.
When the doubles started, it was the Executioners who had a slight lead, but after the first round of doubles, the OPs had taken the lead comfortably. Although each match (Burrows/Maconie v Brooks/Dean and Pringle/Dyke v Tristao/Shaw) was very keenly contested and featured some excellent play, the Paulines won every game.
It was the same story in the second round of doubles: close games that all went to the Paulines. That gave them a lead large enough to ensure the final singles were not necessary and secured them a third successive title in this competition. On top of their five successive wins in the Owers Trophy, it confirms their position as the strongest Rugby Fives-playing club in the country.
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Club Championship results
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SCOTTISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Loretto School, Musselburgh, 4/5th May 2013 |
[posted 14 April 2013] |
Organiser Neil Roberts is now accepting entries for the country's most northerly Open Fives championship, the Scottish Open. The event takes place over the first weekend of May at Loretto School, near Edinburgh, with the singles played on the Saturday and the doubles (played in a President's Cup-style format) taking place on the Sunday. Entries must be received by May 1st, and for further details, players should download the official entry form from the link below. .
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Scottish Open Championships entry form [Word file, 26KB]
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RFA RANKINGS |
London, 12th April 2013 |
[posted 14 April 2013] |
The RFA is delighted announce that the latest official singles and doubles rankings have now been published; however, in a break from the previous practice, they have been published on the Fives Federation website. They take into account the recent National Doubles Championship, and see champion Will Ellison consolidate his position at the top of the rankings, while his title-winning partner Charlie Brooks jumps up three places to second.
Going forward, the rankings will be updated only on the Federation website, and all RFA members are urged to register for that site, as it is the RFA's intention to use Fivesonline as its sole presence online from the beginning of next season. For full details of the new rankings and the Federation website, please click on the links below.
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Click here to visit the Fives Federation website
And here to see the latest rankings
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NATIONAL DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP |
Alleyn's School, Dulwich, 6/7th April 2013 |
[posted 08 April 2013] |
Not since 1950 have there been four new names in consecutive years engraved on the Cyriax Cup, such has been the dominance of defending or past champions, writes Hamish Buchanan. This year, three times runner-up Will Ellison teamed up with last year's runner-up Charlie Brooks to defeat the defending champions Dan Grant and Dan Tristao in a highly entertaining and close final.
The tournament began on a sunny but cold Saturday morning at Alleyn's School. Eleven pairs entered, with an average age of around 25, significantly lower than the 35 of 2003. The three preliminary matches were generally close-fought affairs with the all-Old Pauline tie between Aquilina/Tilston and Parker/Thomas the pick of the bunch, and the former, slightly more experienced pair went through in three.
The quarter-finals proved to be comfortable matches for the top four seeds, and all were victorious in straight games. By contrast, the semis were poles apart. In the bottom half of the draw, Ellison – with his new partner Brooks – finally overcame former champions Buchanan and Perry at his sixth attempt in two short games. The other semi was a much closer and unpredictable battle, in which defending champions Grant and Tristao took the first game from another new pairing – last year's runner up Dean and new younger partner Kay – in almost empyrean fashion, albeit aided by the opposition's consternation in the level of grip afforded by the floor. Taking to a new court, a new velitation ensued, Dean and Kay found their rhythm and took the second game with pace and accuracy. This they continued in the early part of the deciding game, building a slight lead, but a certain lassitude overtook them and the strength and experience of the defending champions was decisive.
Sunday morning and the final. To those not in the know, this final is generally witnessed by the organiser, one or two committee members and a girlfriend or two (of different players, that is). This year was not much of an exception to the rule apart from the inclusion of a dog, so to be precise there were four men, two women and a dog. All witnessed (although I'm not sure the dog was paying that much attention, or indeed could see over the back wall!) an excellent first game from the service rally to the last.
Closely fought early rallies led to a 2-1 lead for the challengers after close to 10 minutes' play, but the champions then faltered, making a string of errors to extend that to 7-1, but with a brace of winners the tide turned and now it was the challengers' turn to lose concentration and the champs pulled back to 7-8. Now there were winners and errors (forced and unforced) from both pairs, but steadily the defending champs edged ahead to take it to 14-11 and what seemed an inevitable first-game win, but the challengers were not inclined to cede so easily, and after fighting off three game points, took the opening game 16-14. This proved to be the decisive point of the match, Brooks and Ellison again took an early lead in the second game and, after a short fightback, Grant and Tristao rapidly capitulated 15-4.
For those people craving a few more stats, the scorer of the final undertook a winners/errors count for all four players. The possibly somewhat harsh criterion for an error was that any ball struck before dying should be returned. As doubles pairs live and die as a team, the scores are presented for each pair: First game: Grant/Tristao 18 winners, 20 errors; Brooks/Ellison 15 winners, 16 errors. Second game: G/T 4 winners, 15 errors; B/E 4 winners, 5 errors. (Individual scores may be revealed at a later date unless certain payments are received). Although on the surface the bias leans towards more errors than winners struck, in fact most of these were 'forced' errors and in general there was a great deal of attacking and counter-attacking play.
The plate was contested by six pairs who lost in the first and second rounds. It was won by the scratch pair of Gareth Price and James Marshall (their original partners both sustained injuries) who beat Theo Parker and Francis Thomas in an engrossing three-game final, winning 12-10 in the third having saved a match point.
My thanks to Alleyn's School and all the players for making a thoroughly enjoyable weekend.
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National Doubles Championship results
Click here to see a film of the first game of the final
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NATIONAL SCHOOLS' CHAMPIONSHIPS |
St Paul's School, Barnes, 2nd/5th April 2013 |
[posted 08 April 2013] |
This year’s tournament enjoyed another excellent entry, writes organiser Peter King, only a couple fewer than in 2012, and with 22 schools represented in at least one of the three age groups; and it was especially good to welcome a small contingent of senior boys from Edinburgh Academy. Eleven of these schools had representation in one or other of the singles or doubles finals, and the standard of play was excellent.
In the Open tournament, Matt Shaw (St Paul’s) was seen as the player to beat, and as in the West of England, his game, mature and free from unforced errors, prevailed. There were few upsets in the earlier rounds, but Ben Beltrami (St Paul’s) produced a ruthless semi-final performance to defeat Sam Wyatt-Haines (Blundells), 2012 Colts champion and runner-up in Sherborne. And in the all-Pauline doubles final, the West of England result was also reversed, as the younger pair of Beltrami and Oliver Arnold came through in two games. Winchester had been strongly represented with three singles quarter-finalists, and their first pair (Wylde and Ganendra) almost upset the champions in the semi-final, winning the first game 11-1.
The Colts’ tournament contained a small number of extremely strong players, and a large “chasing pack”. Rob Whitehorn of Derby Moor confirmed his steady advance with a powerful all-round game and after a semi-final victory against the steady Simon Whait (Loretto) in the final just edged out Tom Watkinson (Winchester) in two close-fought games. Hardest worker of the week award probably went to Sid Bhushan (St Paul’s), who followed a tough 3-game match against Hutt (Tonbridge) with a third-game 12-11 win in his quarter-final against Matt Blunden, former U14 champion.
The Colts’ doubles final was a repeat of the West of England, with Derby Moor (Whitehorn/Blunden) just ahead of St Paul’s I (Nunes/Jopling). Two-game matches don’t come closer (12-11, 12-11) and the spectators were enthralled by this game.
The Under 14 competition had a slightly reduced entry (by coincidence 44 in the singles, the same as both the other events), but the standard of play was extremely high. The final was an epic, won in three games – and 80 minutes - by Kosi Nwuba (St Olave’s) against Dominic Shaw (St Paul’s), who in his first year of playing the game narrowly failed to emulate his brother’s victory, which would have been a first! Both players looked exhausted, and in the end Nwuba’s power just had the edge.
A strong contingent of (mainly U13) Eton fives players from St Olave’s made a big impact especially on the plate competitions. Tiredness from the singles final may have contributed to the semi-final doubles defeat of St Olave’s, or it may have been the greater experience of Alleyn’s pair Hanton and Kirwan (last year’s U13 champions), and in the final against St Paul’s the first game seemed to reflect that in a narrow 11-9 win, but the Paulines (Shaw and his partner Monty Evans) learned and improved as the match wore on, eventually hitting some very successful winners and completing a victory in three games.
Many thanks to all involved in organisation and support, especially to a large number of parents who clearly enjoyed the experience and learnt a bit about the game as well! As is now customary, the Jesters' Club (the club for all court games players) sponsored a very welcome Reception on the first day for all the participants, players, parents, teachers and coaching – attended by the new High Master of St Paul's, Prof Mark Bailey – and appreciated by all.
The whole championship was played in an excellent spirit, with the highest standards of sportsmanship and manners on court and camaraderie off it. (Connoisseurs of these reports will recognise the final sentiments, as true as ever in this year’s event!)
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National Schools' Championships results
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NATIONAL VINTAGE CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Oundle, 24th March 2013 |
[posted 26 March 2013] |
The Vintage, over 55's Rugby Fives tournament was held on Sunday 24th March at a very snowy Oundle School. The format for the day was singles in the morning with seven players entering, followed by doubles in the afternoon with six pairs entering.
The singles kicked off with two pools of players fighting for the chance to play in the three set final. The winner of each pool playing in the final and second and third going through to two semi finals and then a final for the plate. Wayne Enstone forged ahead in pool one winning both his matches.
The second pool had four players of very similar standard and we were entertained to some fine fives with Brian Nithsdale eventually winning through to take on Wayne in the final. Wayne, consistent as ever, conducted a masterclass in singles fives with superbly controlled touch shots against the front wall and deep diagonal shots into the opposite angles allowing him to win through in two games. The plate was eventually won by new boy Stuart Kirby over tournament regular Phil Atkinson.
The doubles kicked off with two pools of three teams. The doubles tournament semi finals consisted of winners from pool 1 playing second in pool 2 and vice versa for the privilege of playing in the final. Eventual finalists Hamilton and Beal had an epic battle with Sandie and Sutcliffe with serve changing hands over and over again.
Sandie's steadfastness and Sutcliffe's incredibly powerful hitting resulted in a first game win. Hamilton and Beal however, changed gear in the second game and through managing to return Sutcliffes hard shots combined with far more accurate ball placement into the back corner angles and side wall nicks allowed them to win the second game. The atmosphere was tense as the third game commenced since the finely balanced match could have gone either way. Eventually Sandie and Sutcliffe gained a lead, consolidated their position and the tiring Hamilton and Beal capitulated to tumultuous applause. The match, lasting for over one hour, was a classic.
Phil Atkinson and Mark Kitely won a two game match against the tiring Nithsdale and the evergreen stalwart Bernard Atkinson for the plate
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National Vintage Championships results
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WINCHESTER FIVES MIXED DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP |
Bradfield College, 12th May 2013 |
[posted 24 March 2013] |
Alex Steel is now accepting entries for the Winchester Fives Mixed Doubles tournament, which will be held at Bradfield College on May 12th. The format of the competition will depend on the number of entrants, but all standards (including novices) are welcome and plenty of Fives is guaranteed for everyone. Entries must be received by April 25th, but for further details, simply click on the link below to download the entry form. .
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Winchester Fives Mixed Doubles Championship entry form [Word file, 28KB]
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SOUTH WEST OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Blundell's School, Tiverton, 6/7th July 2013 |
[posted 24 March 2013] |
Wayne Enstone is now accepting entries for the South West Open Championships, which will be held at Blundell's School in Tiverton over the first weekend in July. Both singles and doubles events will start on the Saturday, with the finals on the Sunday morning, along with an 'American Doubles' tournament for all those not involved in the finals. For full details, click on the link below to download the official entry form.
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South West Open Championships entry form [Word file, 30KB]
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OFFICIAL RFA RANKINGS |
London, 20th March 2013 |
[posted 24 March 2013] |
The RFA has today published its latest official rankings, prepared on its behalf by Dave Hebden. They take into account the championships up to and including the North of England Championships, held in Durham at the beginning of this month.
However, they show little change over the previous rankings, with James Toop remaining on top of the singles rankings and Will Ellison still on top of the doubles list. The most notable moves in the singles rankings are from Peter Hanton and Sam Rolls, who make good progress to positions 20 and 23 respectively after reaching the Quarter-finals at Durham. Meanwhile, Manchester's Mark Roberts enters the rankings for the first time after his first-round in the North of England Championship.
In the doubles rankings, Will's win in Durham consolidates his position at the top of the rankings, while his title-winning partner, Tom Dean, overtakes Dan Tristao to move into third spot. Among the biggest risers are Inigo Ackland and Sam Rolls, who make good progress into the top 30 after reaching the semi-finals. To see the full rankings, click on the link below.
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RFA singles and doubles rankings
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WINCHESTER FIVES NATIONAL DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP |
Malvern College, 17th March 2013 |
[posted 18 March 2013] |
The courts at Malvern are unusual, writes David Barnes. One of them has no door – you have to climb in (and out!) over the 5ft high back wall; one of them is marked 'Rugby' – it was apparently once a plain-wall court; and they all have an oversized buttress, which forces the player on the right to stand further up the court and volley more than usual, making the game at times quite spectacular.
There were no three-game matches this year, also an unusual feature. The biggest surprise was the quarter-final defeat of second seeds Buchanan and Roberts by Kiggell and Thomas, the latter now master-in-charge at Malvern and clearly enjoying the courts.
Two other quarter-finals produced well-fought matches: past champions Akerman and M Mohammed just got the better of Hughes and Rew, while Cavanagh and Fox eventually managed to tame the ferocious hitting of Bristol University pair Ackland and Rolls.
The semi-finals saw top seeds Ellison and H Mohammed defeat Akerman and M (Dad) Mohammed comfortably, while Cavanagh and Fox took a while to work out how to beat the canny Kiggell and Thomas, which they did after a close first game. The final was rather one-sided, Ellison volleying devastatingly from the right and Mohammed showing no signs of lack of practice when the ball eluded his agile partner. For all their experience, Fox and Cavanagh had no real answer to the barrage of winners to which they were subjected, and the holders duly took both games with ease, making it their fifth consecutive win in this event.
Two pairs from Sedbergh School acquitted themselves well in the plate, one of them only narrowly losing in the final to Frost and Goodwin from Derby, who hit the ball just that bit harder, making up for their lack of experience in the buttress game.
Many thanks to Malvern College for its hospitality, and good wishes to Chris Thomas in his task of building teams to represent the school at every level.
Next year – back to Bradfield!
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Winchester Fives National Doubles Championship results
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NATIONAL UNDER 13s CHAMPIONSHIPS |
St Paul's School, Barnes, 17th March 2013 |
[posted 18 March 2013] |
There was a very healthy entry of 46 players for the singles and 23 doubles pairs for the Under 13 Championships, which were held at St Paul's School on Sunday March 17th. It was good to see entries for the first time from Oundle School, St Andrew's Eastbourne, Shrewsbury House and St Olaves. Altogether eight schools were represented.
The singles players were divided into six pools and the six pool winners and next two highest points scorers proceeded to a knock-out formula from the quarter-final stage. It soon became clear that the players from St Olaves were very strong and adapting well to Rugby Fives despite Eton Fives being their usual game. In particular their ability to volley the ball strongly and effectively gave them an advantage over their opponents. Thus it was that by the end of the pool rounds St Olaves provided five pool winners and one qualifier under the points scored rule. The other two qualifiers were from Pilgrims School, Winchester.
St Olaves provided three of the singles semi-finalists along with Sebastian Byers from Pilgrims. In the first semi-final, Byers fought hard against Sohayl Ujoodia from St Olaves who eventually prevailed to move into the final. In the second semi-final, Kameron Swanson proved too strong on the day for his team mate James Tate. Swanson continued his good form into the final and proved too steady for Ujoodia who gave all he could to provide a very creditable final.
St Olaves continued to take their good form into the Doubles competition and all of their three pairs reached the semis where they were joined by Blundells I. The final between the top two St Olaves pairs was a credit to all four players and eventually after numerous thrilling rallies James Tate and Kieran Walton overcame the two singles finalists, Kameron Swanson and Sohayl Ujoodia.
The day was a rewarding experience for all the players involved and also for the gallery packed with family and friends. All the games were played in a good and sporting spirit and it is hoped that the players obvious enthusiasm for the game will be nurtured and developed in the years ahead.
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Under 13s Championships results
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MIDLANDS SCHOOLS' REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Bedford, 17th March 2013 |
[posted 18 March 2013] |
Thick snow in the south and driving sleet from the north didn’t augur well for the Inaugural Midlands Schools Fives Championships, writes Bob Dolby, but in fact everyone arrived on time and the courts at the two Bedford schools held out well despite near-continuous rain, much of it very heavy.
Five centres were represented: Derby Moor, Bedford School, Bedford Modern School, Rugby School and Oundle School. The decision to split the age groups into U18 and U15 worked well: more or less equal numbers in each category.
We played the Doubles first, on a knock-out basis, managing to finish the whole of the U15 matches before lunch and leaving only the U18 final for after. In neither age-group were there any great surprises: Derby Moor and Rugby dominated the younger category, Derby Moor and Bedford the older one. In the U15s the well balanced pairing of George Romain and Freddie Evans from Rugby were too consistent for the hard-hitting but slightly erratic John Halligan and Bally Singh from Derby Moor; in the U18s Robert Whitehorn and Rob Christie from Derby Moor had too much firepower for both the Bedford 1st and 2nd pair.
Singles were played initially in pools. From these 8 players emerged in each age-group to contest the final stages. Here too Bedford and Derby Moor fought out much of the senior group, with Robert Whitehorn, actually an U16 Colt, winning the U18 title with room to spare. In the U15s George Romain was again too nimble and steady for John Halligan in a hard-fought final.
The biggest grins of the day were to be seen on the faces of the Plate winners in the doubles: Gupta & Wright from Bedford in the seniors, Derby Moor’s Keates & Johnson in the U15s. In the singles the losing semi-finalists played for the Plate: a kind of bronze medal match. Chris Davey and Freddie Evans were worthy winners.
It was good to see players from Bedford Modern competing. Jake Rees-Bidder made his mark in singles and doubles, reaching the semi-final in both. Oundle had a full complement of 12 competitors, building for the future. Only inexperience prevented their senior pair from reaching the doubles final.
Many thanks to Michael Croker and Phil Smith for laying on courts, transport, lunch and tea, and to Stuart Kirby for rejigging and running the U18 draw. And to Gareth Quarry, Jerry Cooper, Stuart Kirby, Matt Cavanagh and a modestly anonymous Old Oundelian for joining me in donating the trophies.
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Midlands School's Regional Championships results
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2013 UK WALLBALL OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood, 23rd February 2013 |
[posted 17 March 2013] |
With apologies to UK Wallball supremo Dan Grant for its belated appearance on this website, we have great pleasure in publishing Dan's report from the recent UK Wallball Championships.
The largest and most successful UK Open to date took place on the 23rd of February at Merchant Taylors’ School. Some of the best players from around the world competed at the highest level and inspired many novices and youngsters to raise their standards and embrace wallball. In total 41 players took part and played a whopping 102 matches over the 9 hours.
Let’s start with the Challenger grade, this year a packed entry featuring several regular social players and, pleasingly, many novices. The opening test was a round-robin for all and old stalwarts like Richard Dyke and Damien O’Dowd progressed as expected. They were joined by our international guests from Canada, Ireland and France, who we were delighted to host . At this early stage it was also clear who was taking to the game naturally and individuals like Michael Baxter from Derby and Theo Parker from Durham, who had never played wallball before amazingly topped their groups.
The top two from each round-robin progressed to a knock-out and sadly that meant it was either the plate or the end of the day for players like Alexandra Steel (holding the fort for British women’s wallball this year, and showing real potential), Alex Whiteman & Christopher Wheeler (playing their first ever competitive games) and veterans Bob Sandie & John Hawke from Yorkshire. Players like these really encapsulated the inclusive spirit of wallball and it was fantastic to see them visibly improve over the course of the day, relishing the experience. We’re so pleased they’ve taken to wallball and I’m sure it won’t be the last we hear of them.
In the knock-out last 16, Parker continued his form dispatching the highly competitive (and natural blocker) GB Olympic Rower, Cameron Nichol. Brian O’Sullivan from Ireland and Rudy Couteau from France progressed over our Westway regulars Rowe and O’Dowd. Sadly our third international – the ever buoyant Samantha England from Canada fell to Will Ellison, the runner-up from the 2009 UK Open who was on fierce form.
In the quarters, Parker really pushed Ellison in a tremendous match that went right down to the wire before Ellison came through on top and in a pool of sweat. He then moved past O’Sullivan with relative ease to reach his second Challenger final. In the other half of the draw Couteau maintained his strong form to reach the semis where he played Richard Dyke who had fought his way past novice Goodwin of Derby. This semi was one of the matches of the tournament and Dyke, who had performed so admirably in Dublin last year, used every bit of skill and cunning he could muster to fight it out with the powerful and reliable Frenchman. Richard and Rudy battled for well over half an hour but it was Dyke who maintained a slight edge all the way to the end, overcoming all the pressure to win 21-18.
The final was over faster than Richard would have hoped. Visibly exhausted from a long day’s play he was no match for the machine of fitness and lethal quality that is Will Ellison. The 26 year old powered the ball from side to side and masterfully dominated the court to win 15-1, 15-7. The score should take nothing away from Dyke, who played out of his skin this weekend. Ellison has really taken to the sport and we look forward to seeing him in the Open category next year.
In the plate competition eight Challengers, including Alex Smith, Wheeler, Sandie and RFA President, Dick Warner competed in the enclosed surrounding of English squash-court 4-wall. Dick and Bob came out on top here and their final on the 1-wall show court pleased all who happened to watch it. Dick, our superb over 50’s warrior from the World Championships last year was never going to yield. He won like a true Emerald Master.
The Under-21 event this year was a doubles event and four pairs waged war in a decisive round-robin. Andrew Rennie and James Burchill, our youngest competitors from Aldenham school, really took to the game and began to play like real pros. They fought valiantly but alas were no match for the power pairs of Goodwin & Baxter from Derby and Golding & Parker. In the end it was the latter pairing that came through on top. Parker’s excellent retrieval combined with Golding’s deft kills proved too strong for the Midlands pairing.
The Open grade this year was the strongest we’ve ever had. The top players from the UK were joined by the best from France, Belgium, Ireland and the USA. The top 2 players from each group were joined by the two highest losers. The top 6 seeds progressed as expected and were joined by Daniel Tristao and Gerome Gamez who had both fought off tough opposition from Team GB regulars Stradwick, Price, Pringle and Irishman Paul Fitzpatrick. The latter group progressed to a plate which was eventually tiringly won by Stradwick.
In the knock-out competition we were treated to some real quality. Vlad Klym of the USA started the proceedings by taking out French no.1 Gerard Picard, who had performed so well at the Belgian Open just a few months ago. Grant then took out Tristao comfortably in the second quarter. Potiez of Belgium, who had recently topped that country’s internal rankings, easily dispatched Gamez of France. Potiez was on real form this weekend and had beaten Grant in the round-robin with his mighty left hand.
The quarter to savour, however, was fought between Guillaume Dumoulin of Belgium and the UK’s star in the making, second best U23 player in the world, Luke Thomson. Luke had had a tough group earlier in the day where he finished second to Klym. Playing out of his skin he began to trouble the powerful Belgian with precise fly kills and lightning fast footwork. The Belgian was initially riled but then took a medical time-out after Thomson accidentally thumped a ball into the Belgian’s eye. Gathering his composure, Dumoulin came back strongly and then began to lead. At one stage it could have gone either way but then a few errors began to slip into the young Brit’s game. He ended up losing by the narrowest of margins, 21-18. We are sure Thomson will go far and if he gets an industry job in New York next year he’ll be unstoppable.
The semi-finals were best of three sets. In the first the two Belgians relived the internal final they’d played just a few weeks prior. This time however the result was different. Dumoulin began to find inspirational form. He conquered his best friend 21-2, 21-11 in relative ease. In the second semi-final GB Captain, Daniel Grant took on top 8 player in the world, Klym. The first set was close up to the half-way mark until Klym changed his serving tactics and the errors crept into Grant’s game. Klym then closed out the second set with superb kill shots and smart blocking.
The final between Dumoulin and Klym was a real treat. On paper Dumoulin had no chance but pumped full of Adrenalin and hungry for a first singles title has a way of making paper turn to mush. The Belgian raced out the blocks and what he lacked in finesse, he made up with brute power and bodily sacrifice – diving around the court to make simply phenomenal retrievals. The situation shook Klym and he went way behind in the first set before falling badly and twisting his knee. The first set slipped away 21-5 to the Belgian.
In the second set Klym adjusted his game and although he couldn’t do his trademark serve he cleverly began to move the Belgian around, wrong-footing him and forcing the errors. He won 21-13.
And so it went to a decider. Klym on the ascendancy seemed to be en route for a victory, but no-one had read that script to Dumoulin. Where most wallballers begin to flag over the course of a day, Guillaume upped his game and then upped it some more. Quite phenomenal to see, there was almost nothing the American could do. Dumoulin thrashed his way to a 10-0 lead – match point!! But then the American began to respond and Vlad began to claw it back. He got it 10-5 before Dumoulin broke serve again and had another shot at glory. But it was not to be! An uncharacteristic error meant a ball shot wide. Could the pressure be getting to the strong-headed European? Apparently not. He broke straight back and this time, on his third opportunity, he closed out the match with a fine drive down the right. Visibly ecstatic, Dumoulin ran around the court and slapped the wall in a mix of relief and joy; he had won his first singles title.
Play therefore finished at 7:30 – remarkably for a wallball tournament, bang on time. The players then enjoyed a very tasty dinner and a pleasant awards ceremony.
On Sunday several wallballers, Vlad, Samantha and the French contingent took part in the first of many Fives Federation cross-over initiatives to try their hand at Rugby Fives. The players were naturals and under the guidance of top players Ellison and Tristao quickly became good. Scarily good! Importantly we’ve enthused several players to take up the sport alongside wallball as well as send stories of fives back to the Europe and America. This bodes exceptionally well for Gareth Price’s Wallball/Fives/Raquetball/Squash club, which is opening in the coming month.
All-in-all the weekend was a tremendous success and we were absolutely delighted to have so many players from all back grounds, countries and skill levels taking part. We hope that our novices will be inspired and that our Pros will be motivated to work towards the Irish Open and the World 3-Wall in Vegas. Most importantly, however, role on the bigger and better 2014 Open!
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RFA v BUCS REPRESENTATIVE MATCH |
St Paul's School, Barnes, 10th March 2013 |
[posted
11 March 2013] |
At the time of selection, the BUCS team looked extremely strong and likely to give the RFA a close match, writes team manager David Gardner. However, by the time the day arrived, we had lost three of our top four players (Luke Thomson, temporarily retired from playing competitive events; Ed Kay involved in a clash with Real Tennis; and Dan Grant, our champion and No 1 player, injured playing in Durham the week before).
Thus, all the reserves were called upon, and although everyone gave very good account of themselves, especially in the singles matches, they were unable to compete with the skills and experience of the very strong RFA team in the doubles, and conceded 90 per cent of their points in this section of the event.
We did well to be only nine points adrift in the singles, winning two out of six matches. However, we ran up a deficit of 86 points in the doubles, before losing the match by 252 points to 181. In the circumstances a very good effort.
The event was unique in that players from six different Universities (in a six-man team) represented BUCS, which we believe has never occurred before. Even with the original selection, this would have been the same!
The RFA put out a very strong team, with two of the top players in the country, Will Ellison & Dan Tristao (both former BUCS representatives) as the mainstays, with multiple National champion Hamish Buchanan at Number three!!!
Thus the BUCS team were not disgraced, but were left to dream of what might have been !!
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RFA v BUCS results
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NATIONAL MASTERS DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP |
Marlborough College, Wiltshire, 27th April 2013 |
[posted
11 March 2013] |
David Bawtree is now accepting entries for the National Masters (over 65s) Doubles Championships, which will be held at Marlborough School on Saturday 27th April. Entries close on April 17th, and the organiser will attempt to find a partner for anyone without a playing partner. For full details, click on the link below to download the official entry form.
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National Masters Championships entry form [Word file, 31KB]
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NATIONAL DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP |
Alleyn's School, Dulwich, 6/7th April 2013 |
[posted 08 March 2013] |
Hamish Buchanan is now accepting entries for the National Doubles Championship (for the Cyriax Cup), which will be held at Alleyn's School in Dulwich, London, over the weekend of April 6/7. All games will be to 15 points, and the the closing date for entries (which cost £20 per pair) is March 31st. For full details, click on the link below to download the official entry form.
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National Doubles Championship entry form [Word file, 29KB]
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NATIONAL VETERANS' CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Marlborough College, Wiltshire, 27/28th April 2013 |
[posted 08 March 2013
] |
John Hawke is now accepting entries for the National Veterans' Championships, which will be held in Marlborough over the weekend of April 27/28. The
qualifying age is 45 years on or before 27th April 2013, and entries must be received by Sunday April 21st. For full details, click on the link below to download the official entry form.
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National Veterans' Championships entry form [Word file, 27KB]
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LADIES WINCHESTER FIVES CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Malvern, 3rd March 2008 |
[posted 08 March 2013] |
STOP PRESS
Eton Fives players showed how well they could adapt to the demands of Winchester Fives in the Ladies Championships. Karen Hird beat Alex Steel to take the singles title before teaming up with Fiona Barnes to beat Alex and Tessa Mills in the doubles final.
(Full report to follow).
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Ladies' Winchester Fives Championships results
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NORTH OF ENGLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Durham, 2nd/3rd March 2013 |
[posted 03 March 2013] |
STOP PRESS
It was a case of history repeating itself in the North of England Open, as Will Ellison won the singles title before teaming up with Tom Dean to take the doubles title as well. In both cases, this meant the 2012 winner had reclaimed their title.
(Full report to come)
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North of England Championships results
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COLQUHOUN TROPHY |
Sherborne, Dorset, 3rd March 2013 |
[posted 03 March 2013] |
For the second year, it was boys from Blundell's School who dominated the events at the Colquhoun Trophy. Tom McPherson beat fellow Blundellian Sam Combe to win the Open singles title, while in the best match of the tournament Bludellian Tobias Francis came back from a game down to beat Sherborne's Henry Newman in the Colts.
In all, five schools (Blundell's, Sherborne, Malvern, Kelly and King's Bruton) sent boys to play at Sherborne, and their sportmanship and play would have delighted Charle Colquhoun, after whom the tournament is named. As in previous years, Open and Colts sections were played, with round-robin pools deciding who would progress to the main and Plate competitions in each category.
In the Open, Blundellians Tom McPherson and Sam Combe came through their pool to reach the semis alongside Bruton's Alex Grabilov and Sherborne's Ollie Boon; and, it was the Bllundellians who both won through to the final, where McPherson's power and aggressive use of the angles proved too much for his opponent. Tom won comfortably in two games and, with Sugru Saito coming through to win the plate, it was a Blundellian clean sweep for the prizes in the Open category.
In the Colts section, too, there were two Blundellians in the semi-finals – Tobias Francis and Ben Clarke – but they were drawn to play each, preventing an all-Blundellian final. Their match was a very close one, but Tobias just won through to face Sherborne's Henry Newman, who had beaten Malvern's Ed Best in the second semi.
The resulting final was reckoned by one seasoned observer to have been one of the best Colts finals he had ever seen, and that was no exaggeration. It went to the full three games, with the left-handed Newman edging the first game, as his power told. Come the second game, though, Francis started to change his tactics, attacking his opponent's right hand and varying his length. It was a display of intelligence and tactical nous rare in any Fives player, let alone one at Colts level. Throughout the match, there was never more than a few points between the two players, but in the end Francis had just enough to claim the title. Still, Sherborne didn't end the day empty-handed: Gregor Tims took the Colts plate, with a close win over Teddy Knollys, who – given that he was playing two years ahead of his age – looks an excellent prospect for the future.
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Colquhoun Trophy results
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OFFICIAL RFA RANKINGS |
London, 20th February 2013 |
[posted 26 February 2013] |
The RFA has today published the latest official Singles and Doubles rankings, prepared on its behalf by Dave Hebden. They reflect results in the North West Open and Under 25s Championships, and are released ahead of the North of England Championships in Durham.
In the Singles rankings, there is only minimal change in the Top 10, with the top 5 holding station and just a little shuffling of the order below them. Lower down, though, there are some major moves, with Sam Wyatt-Haines jumping 10 places and Gareth Price climbing 15 places. The sole new entrant into the list is Cambridge student Jacob Brubert, who is 25th after reaching the semis at the Under 25s Championships.
In the doubles list, too, there is minimal change in the Top 10, and the big climbers are further down. For example, James Tilston and Anthony Goodwin jump 17 and 12 places respectively to sit just outside the top 30 after good results at the Under 25s Championships. To see the full rankings, simply click on the link below.
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Official RFA rankings
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OXFORD v CAMBRIDGE VARSITY MATCH |
St Paul's School, Barnes, 23rd February 2013 |
[posted 25 February 2013] |
Sadly, long-standing and highly respected umpire, David Barnes, was indisposed, so his role was taken by the President of the ‘home side’, Cambridge. In a match conducted by all concerned with the customary good spirit there was little more for him to do than take down scores delivered with alacrity and hand out the jelly babies and trophies at the end.
Oxford, attired in their Neptune-sponsored ‘stash’, took the award for sartorial elegance; Cambridge took the Jock Burnet trophy and the ‘Fist of Iron’. It was Cambridge’s first hat-trick in the Varsity Match for 20 years. For the Sparrows it was the first time they had retained the ‘Fist of Iron’ since its inception a decade ago.
In the main match, Cambridge had too much fire-power at the top, with Ed Kay and Jacob Brubert winning every one of their games with room to spare, while in the bottom half Chase, Sloper, Judge and Ader had more than enough experience to overwhelm their opponents.
In a topsy-turvy contest between the Sparrows and the Beavers, Mathias and Chipping were also rather too match-hardened for their opponents, but Oxford’s left-handed Eton Fives player Birkett caught the eye.
Both captains are to be congratulated on raising 12 players each to make the day’s contest an engaging spectacle for the large number of parents and supporters. Our thanks go to the latter for creating a lively atmosphere in the gallery. The players’ thanks go to Pol Roger for sponsoring the event with a dozen bottles of champagne, which Ed Kay had much pleasure in distributing – for the most part – to his victorious team. Cambridge now counts 53 wins against 30 by Oxford.
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2013 Varsity Match results
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VARSITY FIVES |
Oundle, 16th February 2013 |
[posted 20 February 2103] |
Saturday February 16th saw the final Cambridge 'Past versus Present' to be played at Oundle School. It was 18 years since the last match took place in Cambridge, on the old courts at the University Rackets and Fives Club on Portugal Place, knocked down in 1995 to make way for a commercial and residential development.
This year's match ended in a resounding victory for Ed Kay's Present by 275-185, only the third time since its inauguration in 2005 that the Present have won the Trapnell Tankard. Next year the 65th Past versus Present will be played on the new courts in the University Sports Centre in West Cambridge
While Cambridge were playing their 64th Past versus Present, Old Oxford were taking on OURFC at St. Paul's for the 24th time under the watchful eye of RFA President Dick Warner. In that match Dan Tristao led Old Oxford to victory and claimed the Mackenzie Bowl once more.
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NATIONAL UNDER 25s CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Oundle School, 9/10th March 2013 |
[posted 00 Month 2006] |
In advance of organiser Chris Burrows' full report, we present a very brief update on events at the Under 25s Championships:
We're told it was an exciting and unbelievably fast weekend's competition, with Dan Tristao winning the Singles, fairly comfortably on the score, from Ed Kay; then, Dan & Ed beating Julian Aquilina & James Tilston with some ease in the Doubles, after a superb three-set semi between Hanton & George and Aquilina & Tilston. The Singles Plate went to Adam George, the Doubles Plate to Waller & Rolls, both of which were engraved "Donated by David Barnes" since he had been too modest to put his name on them..
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U25s Championships results
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WINCHESTER FIVES NATIONAL DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP |
Malvern College, 17th March 2013 |
[posted 15 February 2013] |
David Barnes is now accepting entries for the Winchester Fives National Doubles Championship, which will be held at Malvern College on Sunday March 17th. Entries may be sent by email or through the post, and must be received by Sunday 10th March. For full details, click on the link below to see the official entry form. .
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Winchester Fives National Doubles entry form [PDF, 732KB]
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NATIONAL VINTAGE CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Oundle School, Oundle, 24th March 2013 |
[posted 05 Feb 2013] |
Players are now invited to enter the National Vintage Championships, which are being run by Brian Kirk at Oundle School on Sunday March 24th. Both singles and doubles competitions will be played on the same day, with Plate competitions in both.
Qualifying age is 55 years on or before 24th March 2013
and entries must be received by Thursday 21st March. For full details, click on the link below for the official entry form.
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National Vintage Championships entry form [Word file, 121KB]
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LADIES WINCHESTER FIVES CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Malvern College, Worcs., 3rd March 2013 |
[posted 31 January 2013] |
Denise Hall-Wilton is now accepting entries for the Ladies National Winchester Fives Championships, which will be held at Malvern College on Sunday March 3rd. NB This is an earlier date than printed in the RFA Pocket Book. Both singles and doubles tournaments will be played on the same day, with the exact format depending on the number of entries and novices very much encouraged to enter. For full details, click on the link below to download the official entry form.
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Ladies Winchester Fives Championships entry form [PDF, 1.2MB]
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NATIONAL UNDER 25s CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Oundle School, Oundle, 9/10th February 2013 |
[posted 24 January 2013] |
Chris Burrows is now accepting entries for the Under 25s Championships. However, rather than producing an entry form for players to download and send in, he has followed Tom Maconie's example and set up a dedicated website, where players can enter the competition, and where the draws will be published.
The competitions will be played over the weekend of February 9/10th at Oundle, using the G6 ball. The singles championship will be played on the Saturday, with the singles final and doubles championship to be played on the Sunday. Plate competition will be run for those knocked out in the early rounds, and entry costs £5 per person in each tournament, but is free for school pupils.
This year, the Jesters/RFA are offering to subsidise accommodation and transport costs and details of this can be found online.
For full details of the tournament, click on the link below to see the championships' website.
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U25s Championships website
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NORTH OF ENGLAND OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Durham, 2nd/3rd March 2013 |
[posted 24 January 2013] |
Organiser John Minta is now accepting entries for the North of England Championships, which will be held in Durham over the first weekend of March. Anyone wishing to play must return the entry form, plus the appropriate fee, by Saturday February 23rd, and the details of the tournament will be sent in the week beginning February 25th. For further details, click on the link below to download the official entry form.
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North of England Championships entry form [Word file, 33KB]
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NORTH WEST OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Y Club, Manchester, 19/20th January 2013 |
[posted 24 January 2013] |
The forecast was for harsh weather, writes organiser John Beswick, and there was a whisper going round talking about postponement! But as we all know, Fives players are made of stern stuff and to a man they turned up on a cold snow covered morning to do battle at the Y.
The singles started with a bang. Dave Fox had a great win over the young up-and-coming star of the South West, Sam Wyatt-Haines. It is easy to forget that the young man is only 17! He makes the court look very small. Also, Gareth Price deserves a mention after putting in a great performance against John Minta.
In the first semi-final, Dan Grant and John Minta went head to head; Grant, playing out of his skin with great attacking play, won in two. In the other semi, Charlie Brooks gave defending champion Dan Tristao a three game thriller - so close, Charlie!
The final brought the two Dans together. Grant won the first, hitting winner after winner - fab Fives. In the second game, the champ dug in deep: Tristao simply would not roll over, retrieving everything Grant threw at him. Tristao won in three to retain his title. An excellent match by two fine players,
Sadly Stuart Watson had to pull out of the singles, with rumoured stomach pains after his brown tank top had been finally binned after a half a century! Tim Lewis stepped in for him: the two points he scored were fabulous. If the Fives world had a Hall of Fame, Tim would be in it - Mr Entertainment.
The singles plate was won by Sam Wyatt-Haines, with a big win against Alex Rew. The young man is one to watch for the future.
On the Sunday the doubles started bright and early, though after a bad curry some players where looking a little green! Rew and Wyatt-Haines gave Skogh and Grant two very hard games but the four seeds moved through to the semis.
Play was stopped for a moment while Pete Woods did a special presentation to Shirley Beswick, wife of the late great Fred, for all the help and support she had given to the Fives club over many years. Shirley then presented the Club with a new trophy for the doubles plate tournament, in memory of her husband.
In the final of the doubles Will Ellison was on fire! With the master of volley and angles backed up by the power of Minta, it was over in two. Brooks and Dean will be back, though. The doubles plate was won by Frost and Goodwin from Derby Moor, again another young pair improving every year.
I would like to thank all players and supporters for their continuing support of this tournament, especial Sedbergh school and the Exeter club! See you next year!
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North West Open Championships results
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WEST OF ENGLAND SCHOOLS' CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Sherborne School, Dorset, 5/6th January 2013 |
[posted 10 January 2013] |
Organiser Lionel Lawson has sent us this report from the West of England Schools' Championships, where there were 64 boys involved from 10 schools.
The Senior Singles was won emphatically by Matt Shaw of St Paul's who beat Sam Wyatt-Haines of Blundells 11-3 11-4 in the final with a display of controlled hitting and great composure. Meanwhile, the Colts Singles was won by Tom Watkinson of Winchester College who fought back to win in three games against Simon Whait of Loretto School 5-11, 11-7, 11-2 in a keenly contested encounter.
The senior Doubles was an all St Paul's affair with their No 1 pair (Matt Shaw and Tim Edmonds) coming from behind to beat their No 2 pair ( Ben Beltrami and Ollie Arnold) 9-11 11-1 11-3.
The Colts Doubles was won by Derby Moor 1 (Matt Blunden and Robert Whitehorn) who beat St Pauls 1 (Zac Jopling and Matthew Nunes) 11-4 12-11. This was a fitting reward for Derby Moor who had entered 10 players for the Colts competition.
The Senior Singles plate was won by Ben Ashraf of St Pauls, The Colts Singles Plate by Sid Bhushan of St Pauls, The Senior Doubles Plate by Alexander Frosell and Bertie Heath of Marlborough College and the Colts Doubles Plate by Balraj Singh and John Halligan of Derby Moor.
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West of England Schools' Championships results
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CHRISTOPHER MARTIN-JENKINS |
London, 1st January 2013 |
[posted 02 January 2013] |
The RFA is sad to note the death of Christopher Martin-Jenkins. The writer and broadcaster is – quite rightly – known for his love of cricket, but he was also a great lover of our game, President of the RFA from 1993-95, and regularly kept in touch with the association. He played Fives at Marlborough College, before going to read History at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, where he won Half Blues in 1966 and 1967, playing alongside current RFA Deputy President Bob Dolby on both occasions. He was going to be captain of Fives, but left when offered a job to edit The Cricketer.
Our very best wishes go to his family.
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