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PRESIDENT'S CUP |
Merchant Taylors School, Northwood, 10th December 2006 |
[posted 10 December 2006] |
"One of the best," was the verdict of no less an authority than David Barnes on the final of the 2006 President's Cup. And, after three enthralling games, it was Hamish Buchanan and Matt Hanney who claimed the day's big prize with a fine win over Ed Hawke and Clive Butler.
For a delighted Hamish, it was his fourth win in the tournament; but for Matt, it was a landmark occasion, not just his first President's Cup, but his first ever win in a fives tournament.
It was a match that engrossed the capacity crowd, with Clive and Ed trying to pressure Matt into submission, only for him to answer with booming right-hand drives, as Hamish desperately searched for winners against resolute opponents. Ed literally threw himself around the court and Clive played improbable vollies from around his ankles, all in the name of defence.
The key to the match, however, was the second game. Ed and Clive had won the first and, with 13 points on the board and a healthy lead in the second, they looked to be on course for victory. But, then, Matt and Hamish hit back, clawing their way back into the game with a good run that took them to 14-13 up before holding their nerve and taking the game. With that, the momentum swung their way, and they always had the upper hand in the third and deciding game.
Such a final perfectly encapsulated a tournament where close games were very much the order of the day. Half of the first-round matches, and three of the quarter-finals all went to three games, as did two of the three plate finals. In the Love Mug final, the wily skills of Dave Hebden and the determination of Ian Roberts took them to a win over Chris Thomas and Phil Reynolds, while Brian Nithsdale made sure his journey from Manchester was worthwhile, teaming up with Ian Mogford to win the T-pot against last year's overall winner Gareth Price and Brian Kirk.
Thanks to superb organisation from Richard Price, the day ran extremely smoothly, and the last match on court was a fitting end to a great day's competition. Jeremy Schroeter and Mark Kiteley took the first game by the narrowest of margins, before the left/right combination of Alex Smith and Justin Cawthorne got into its stride, taking the next two games and, with them, the Mate's Plate, the last piece of fives silverware for 2006.
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President's Cup results |
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NATIONAL OPEN SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIP |
St Paul's School, Barnes, 2nd/3rd December 2006 |
[posted 03 December 2006] |
As if to celebrate his recent rise to the top of the singles rankings for the first time, Matt Cavanagh today secured his second National Open Singles title with a win over Hamish Buchanan. In doing so, he became the first top seed to win the title for many years.
In fact, a Cavanagh win was only what he deserved, as he had been the class of the field all weekend, never conceding more than five points in any one game on his way to the final. His speed around the court meant that not only could he retrieve shots which would have been winners against amost any other player, he also had more time to pick his shot when he reached the ball. Hamish played superbly, hitting the ball powerfully and retrieving manfully himself, but, faced with such athleticism and the relentless pressure from Matt's well placed shots, he simply had to admit defeat.
Mind you, a win for the top seed was perhaps quite easy to predict, given that almost the entire tournament went according to the seedings. The final was between the top two seeds, the third seed (and defending champion), Phil Bishop, went out in the semi-finals, and in every first-round match, the higher-seeded player won through.
There was one exception, though - and what an exception it was, as fifth seed James Toop overcame fourth seed Ed Fuller in a titanic three-game quarter-final that showed off fives of the very highest quality. With tremendous athleticism, amazing shot-making and total sportsmanship from both players, it was worthy of a final, and surely the match all the spectators will remember from what was a superb tournament.
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National Singles Championship results |
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NORTH WEST OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Y Club, Manchester, 28/29th January 2007 |
[posted 03 December 2006] |
Organiser John Beswick is now accepting entries for the 2007 North West Open Championships. To be held at the YMCA in Manchester on January 28th and 29th, the championships will include both singles and doubles tournaments. Entries must reach John by January 13th, and for more information, simply click on the link below to download the official entry form.
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North West Open Championships entry form [Word document, 28KB] |
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NATIONAL OPEN SINGLES & LADIES CHAMPIONSHIPS |
St Paul's School, Barnes, 2nd/3rd December 2006 |
[posted 28 November 2006] |
Today saw the publication of the draw for the last 16 of the National Open Singles Championship. The games will be played over the weekend of December 2nd/3rd, with the seedings predicting a final between Matt Cavanagh - already the winner of two singles titles this season - and Hamish Buchanan, twice a winner of this title. Third seed is defending champion Phil Bishop, while Ed Fuller (winner of the 2006 London Open singles title) completes the top four seeds.
The matches start at 10am on Saturday 2nd, and the pick of the first-round matches looks set to be the clash between Scottish Open champion John Minta and an in-form Sam Roberts, who beat Paddy d'Ancona on his way to the last 16 and will be playing on his home courts. For the full details of the tournament, click on the link below to download the draw.
Sadly, the Ladies Singles and Doubles Championships, which were due to be held on the same weekend, have had to be cancelled after some last-minute injuries depleted an already small field.
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National Open Singles draw [Word document, 40KB] |
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NATIONAL STUDENT & BUSA CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Oundle School, 24/26th November 2006 |
[posted 27 November 2006] |
The BUSA Championships showed incredible strength in depth in university fives, but it was players from Cambridge who came away from Oundle with the major titles. Alan Beverly added the BUSA singles title to the Under 25 title he already holds, before teaming up with Charlie Brooks to regain the doubles title they won last year.
For Charlie, it was his fourth BUSA doubles title in succession, a truly impressive feat. And, true to form, he and Alan were the class of the field throughout the tournament, never conceding more than 8 points in any one game on their way to an eventual win over the Durham pair of Adrian Lee and Hal Mohammed. Hal's former schoolboy partner, Will Ellison, also did well, reaching the semi-final with Will Hardyment, while the Leeds pair of Korris and Marshall survived some tough games to also make the last four.
Charlie and Alan had already shown their form in the singles tournament, both winning tough quarter-finals before facing each other in one semi-final, where Alan always had the edge. The other semi, however, was arguably the match of the tournament: a two-hour, three-game epic in which UCL's Dan Grant eventually overcame Adrian Lee. It was a performance all the more remarkable given that Dan had already played one three-game marathon against Oxford's Jamie Pendergrass in the quarter-final.
Come the final, though, and Dan couldn't repeat his heroics. It was Alan who always had the upper hand, running out the winner in two games, and claiming his first BUSA singles title.
Cambridge's stranglehold on the silverware was only broken in the Plate competitions, where Southampton's Ed Hawke retained the singles plate he won last year, and the hard-hitting UCL pair of Will Pleming and Mark Gibbor won the doubles plate in three very tight games against the Durham pair of Hay and Midmer.
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National Student and BUSA Championships results |
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LONDON OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Alleyn's School, London, 16/17th September 2006 |
[posted 27 November 2006] |
A selection of photographs taken at September's London Open Champiosnhips is now available online. However, we hasten to point out that these are on an external site, and the RFA is not responsible for its content, especially not the picture of Dan Grant's towel. To see the photos, click on the link below.
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London Open photos |
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BOB HOLLAND MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT |
Y Club, Manchester, 11th November 2006 |
[posted 25 November 2006] |
A really good day was had by all the players at the recent Bob Holland Memorial Tournament. Organiser Jeff Thomas would like to thank all the lads who took part: Bob would have been very proud.
After the hard fought group of initial games and tough semi finals, Phil Bishop and his very reliable partner Clive Butler won a very good final against Neil Roberts and the player of the day, young Ashley Hill from Derby, two games to one.
The plate final was won by Brian Nithsdale and Brian Kirk and, after the fives, a good few of the players and spectators went up to the bar for beers and hotpot. Bob would have approved...
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LATEST OFFICIAL RFA RANKINGS |
London, 14th November 2006 |
[posted 19 November 2006] |
Just ahead of the 2006 National Singles Championships, the 2004 champion, Matt Cavanagh, has jumped to the top of the latest offical RFA rankings. Following wins in the West of England and South West Open Championships, he has displaced the 2005 National champion, Phil Bishop, who drops to third position.
Also making up ground at the top of the rankings is London Open champion Ed Fuller – up to fourth after finishing as runner-up at the West of England Championships. Good performances at the same tournament saw quarter-finalist Harry Akerman come into the rankings at 20th, while Plate winner Tom Kiggell is at 36.
The latest doubles rankings, also compiled by Dave Hebden for the RFA, were published at the same time, but see little change in the top 20. Hamish Buchanan remains in top spot – and by some distance – and the only moves of any size come from Marcus Bate, James Toop and Ed Fuller, all of whom reached the semi-finals at Clifton. To see the full doubles and singles rankings, click on the link below.
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Latest RFA singles and doubles rankings |
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NATIONAL STUDENT & BUSA CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Oundle, 24-26th November 2006 |
[posted 12 November 2006] |
The organisers have published the draw for this month's National Student & BUSA Championships, which will be held at Oundle School. Both the singles and doubles tournaments have been drawn and, if there are any changes before the tournament begins, the organisers will contact the players involved directly. For more information, click on the link below to download the full draw.
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National Student & BUSA Championships singles & doubles draw [Excel document, 40KB] |
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SCHOOLS WINCHESTER FIVES DOUBLES TOURNAMENT |
Winchester College, 5th November 2006 |
[posted 12 November 2006] |
A lean year in terms of entry nonetheless produced an enjoyable day's competition, with some very close matches. As last year, two St Paul's pairs reached the final, the school's first pair beating Winchester II in the quarter-finals and then Winchester I in the semis. In the bottom half, St Paul's II had a real battle with Marlborough I and then defeated Sherborne I in two close games. In the final, Tristao and Corbin (SPS I) showed their class to take the first game easily, but Ladak and Ashok (SPS II) came back strongly in the second game, only to lose it by the narrowest of margins.
The plate final was a superb game between the rising stars of Winchester III (Kelly & Squire-Smith) and St Paul's III (Rowland & Faber), just won by the home side.
Many thanks to Winchester College for the use of its fine courts, and to Jamie McManus and Paul Carling for their help in organising and running the tournament.
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Schools Winchester Fives Doubles tournament results |
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PRESIDENT'S CUP |
Merchant Taylors' School, 10th December 2006 |
[posted 02 November 2006] |
The entry form for the 2006 President's Cup is now available to download. This year's tournament, the 48th, will take place on Sunday December 10th at Merchant Taylors' School, Middlesex, and is limited to 32 players on a first come, first served basis. It is, therefore, vitally important that players send their entry forms back as soon as possible, but they should note that only postal entries will be accepted – it is not possible to enter by email.
On the day, the 32 players will be split into 16 pairs to compete in the main tournament, as well as three plate competitions. A full day's fives is guaranteed, and friends and family are more than welcome to watch from the gallery, as well as to partake in the legendary buffet. For further details, and to enter, click on the link below to download the official entry form.
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2006 President's Cup entry form [Word document, 32KB] |
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RFA 80th ANNIVERSARY DINNER |
Queen's Club, London, 29th September 2007 |
[posted 02 November 2006] |
The RFA is to celebrate its 80th anniversary with a dinner at the famous Queen's Club in West London on September 29th 2007. Further details will be announced in the forthcoming mid-season newsletter but, in the meantime, members are advised to put the date in their diaries now.
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NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS |
St Paul's School, London, 2nd/3rd December 2006 |
[posted 30 October 2006] |
Entry forms for both the Open Singles and Ladies' National Championships are now available online. The Open Singles Championship begins with regional qualifiers on November 18/19th, with the finals weekend taking place on December 2nd/3rd. The tournament is organised by Ollie Stone-Lee and, for more information, click on the link below to download the official entry form.
The Ladies' Championships, including both singles and doubles tournaments, will also take place at St Paul's on December 3rd, but is organised by Melanie Whitehead. It is open to players of all codes of fives, and a special reduced entry fee is on offer to schoolgirls. For full details, click on the link below for the official entry form.
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National Open Singles Championship entry form [Word document, 20KB]
National Ladies' Championships' entry form [Word document, 32KB] |
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BOB HOLLAND MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT |
Manchester Y Club, 11th November 2006 |
[posted 30 October 2006] |
The second Bob Holland Memorial Tournament will be held on Saturday 11 November at the Manchester YMCA Club, timed to coincide with the Northern Winchester Fives tournament in Sedbergh on the following Sunday.
The format is ten people from outside the YMCA, and ten people from the YMCA, each “squad” ranked according to ability, and then paired up American-style. The Fives is fun and there is competitive drinking provided by a barrel of Holland’s Best by the courts. Additional refreshments are available at the YMCA during the course of the day, with the accent being on enjoyment, without the edge of hard competition. For more information, contact the organiser, Jeff Thomas, or either of his able assistants, John Beswick and Kevin Henry.
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UNDER 25s CHAMPIONSHIPS |
London, 10/11th February 2007 |
[posted 30 October 2006] |
The venue for next year's Under 25s Championships has been switched to London. Although the original venue was scheduled to be Clifton, current plans are for the tournament to take place at Whitgift School or, failing that, Alleyn's School.
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WEST OF ENGLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Clifton College, Bristol, 28/29th October 2006 |
[posted 29 October 2006] |
On a day that started with Matt Cavanagh's second singles title of the season, the gods of fives saved the best till last: a hard-fought three-game win for Dave Hebden and Hamish Buchanan to take the West of England doubles title by the narrowest of margins.
It was the perfect end to a weekend that had seen fives of the highest quality. Even in the first round of the singles, two of the matches went to three games. However, as the day wore on, experience won through, and seven of the eight quarter-finalists were seeds. The one exception was Harry Akerman, who had recorded notable wins over Chris Jones and Kevin Henry - in three games on both occasions.
However, his run came to end against James Toop, who went on meet Matt Cavanagh (winner against Dave Fox) in one semi-final. James tried everything he knew, but it simply wasn't enough against an in-form Cavanagh. Their match included many long rallies, but almost invariably it was Matt who won them.
In the top half of the draw, meanwhile, things were much tighter: Phil Bishop and Ed Fuller only reached the semi-finals after three-game wins over Marcus Bate and John Minta respetively. In the first game, pretty much everything went Ed's way, but he only reached the final after surviving a major fightback from Phil.
It was much the same story in the final, but with the opposite result. In the first game, Ed simply had no answer for Matt's relentless accuracy and athletic retrieving, and the second game started off in the same vein, allowing Matt to build up a big lead. Ed did begin to fight back, but by then it was too little, too late. Matt was always ahead, and held on to take the second game and, with it, the title.
The doubles tournament, too, was blessed with some excellent fives, and even the plate tournament - won by the promising young pair of Dan Grant and Freddy Sjostrom - saw plenty of very close games. In the main draw, though, the form book held true: six of the eight seeds made the quarter-finals and three of the top four seeds played out the semi-finals, with the top two winning through to the final.
And, what a final it was, hard-fought, hard-hitting and hard to work out who was on top right until the very end. Dave Hebden and Hamish Buchanan took the first game, with their powerful cross-court shots finding the vital winning nicks. However, in the second game, the aggressive power of Phil Bishop and John Minta began to tell. They found their length and began to hit their trademark winners into the back nick. One game all...
The third game started as the second had ended and, with the score at 10-6 to Matt and Phil, it looked like curtains for Dave and Hamish. They had other ideas, though, and clawed their way back up to 10-all and even went on to game-ball at 11-10. However, again the tide turned: Phil and John won a point to get another game ball for themselves at 11-all, only for Dave and Hamish to dig deep and find the right shots at the right time. Several match points were saved by both pairs and, for the last quater of an hour, it was impossible to predict the eventual winner. Only when the last shot of yet another tough, tense rally spun agonisingly away from the reach of a despairing John Minta was the result certain: Hamish and Dave could finally claim the trophy.
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West of England Championship results |
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LATEST RFA RANKINGS |
London, 23rd October 2006 |
[posted 23 October 2006] |
Things are tighter than ever at the top of the latest official singles rankings, compiled by Dave Hebden and published by the RFA today. Just 1.4 points cover the top three players, with current national champion Phil Bishop taking over first place from Hamish Buchanan, who was unable to play in this season's first two singles tournaments. Meanwhile, South West Open champion Matt Cavanagh closes in on both of the players above him.
Also making good progress up the rankings to fifth is London Open champion Ed Fuller. That win puts him within touching distance of James Toop in fourth – and the final automatic qualifying place for the national singles championship in December. With that in mind, next weekend's West of England championships will take on even more significance.
Nevertherless, perhaps the most impressive performance comes from Ed's dad, Ian, who jumps from nowhere to 11th in the singles rankings after reaching the semi-finals at last month's London Open.
In the doubles rankings, however, Hamish Buchanan makes up for losing the top singles position by cementing his first place after wins in the London and Yorkshire Open tournaments. His closest challengers – South West champions John Minta and Phil Bishop – are more than 20 points behind.
Dave Hebden and Matt Cavanagh, Hamish's partners in his two wins this season, make good moves up the rankings, but the biggest riser in the top 20 is a certain Wayne Enstone. Runner-up in the South West Open and losing semi-finalist in Yorkshire, he jumps 10 places to 15th.
For the full rankings, click on the link below.
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Latest official RFA rankings |
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YORKSHIRE OPEN DOUBLES TOURNAMENT |
Giggleswick School, Settle, 14th October 2006 |
[posted 15 October 2006] |
Warm sunshine blessed the endeavours of the thirteen pairs contending for the Yorkshire Open Doubles title at Giggleswick this year, writes organiser Ian Roberts. Hopefully this mitigated the discomfort of the lack of availability of showers, due to the commencement of work on a new sports hall being built adjacent to the Fives courts.
The entry was a strong one, and this showed in the length of time taken over the games. Despite an uncharacteristically early start, no three game matches clogging the timetable, and both courts being in constant use through the day, it proved necessary to curtail the Plate to enable play to end at a reasonable time.
By the late afternoon, contestants were drifting away, so Plate games were played with a view to identifying the winners on each side of the draw who should appear in the final. This led to the Leeds University pair of Korris & Marshall being pitted against Mancunians Nithsdale & Harrison in the Plate final, which was decisively settled in favour of Korris & Marshall.
The final of the main competition lasted longer. It was, as they say, a game of three halves. Hebden & Buchanan had had the tougher semi-final game against the new and successful pairing of Minta & Widdop. Nevertheless, they swiftly established a seven point lead which Roberts & Beswick did well to overturn to win the first game. However, by then, Beswick’s shoulder was giving him trouble, allowing Hebden & Buchanan to win the next two games easily and, with them, the match.
The proceedings were then adjourned to the bar of the nearby Black Horse, where the restorative qualities of Taylor’s Landlord bitter were demonstrated, before dinner chez Gillian & Neil Roberts in the fastnesses of Rathmell.
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Yorkshire Open Doubles results |
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OLD BOYS' CHAMPIONSHIP (OWERS TROPHY) |
St Paul's School, Barnes, 30th September 2006 |
[posted 30 September 2006] |
After the closest final in the history of the tournament, the Owers Trophy returned to its first ever winners, the Alleyn Old Boys. Judging their tactics perfectly, their eventual margin of victory over the Old Paulines was just three points.
The final was a fitting end to a tough day's play, notable for the competition's first ever fraternal battle, when Old Oundelian Alex Smith faced his brother Nick (of the Alleyn Old Boys) in the first round. This year's tournament also saw the debuts of the Radley Manuals and the Old Blues (from Christ's Hospital), and both teams did very well. The Old Blues eventually went on to win the Plate and the Radley Manuals reached the semi-finals after a tight win over the Old Tonbridgians – thanks in no small part to the efforts of former schoolboy champions Tom Maconie and Chris Saltmarsh, who won their second round of doubles for the loss of just three points, allowing the Manuals to win by nine points overall.
However, they couldn't repeat their feat in the semi-final against the Alleyn Old Boys, where the experienced pair of Hamish Buchanan and Bruce Hanton dropped just three points in their four games. The second semi-final, Old Paulines against Old Eastbournians, was a repeat of a clash at the same stage last year, but the result was very different. The eight games were shared evenly between the two teams, but crucially the Paulines scored more heavily in the games they lost, giving them a 14-point victory overall.
The resulting final was a tense, tactical battle, with Hamish and Bruce desperate to win their games convincingly to relieve the pressure on the hard-working Dave Hebden and his less experienced partner, Nick Smith. For the whole match, there were never more than a few points in it, and the teams each won four of the eight games. However, the crucial difference was that Dave and Nick won 17 points in their four games, whereas Hamish and Bruce conceded just 14 in theirs.
Victory, then, to the Alleyn Old Boys, if not the Owers Trophy itself, which the unfortunate organiser had broken the previous evening!
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Owers Tophy results |
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NATIONAL STUDENT & BUSA CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Oundle School, Northants, 24/26th November 2006 |
[posted 28 September 2006] |
Entries are now being accepted for the National Student and BUSA Championships. The tournament will take place at Oundle School from November 24-26th, and is organised by the usual triumvirate of David Gardner, David Barnes and Chris Jones.
Both singles and doubles competitions will be played, and entry costs £13.50 per person in the singles and £16.75 per pair in the doubles. For complete information, and to enter the tournament, click on the links below to download the relevant documents.
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BUSA tournament information [Word document, 208KB]
BUSA tournament entry form [Word document, 96KB] |
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LONDON OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Alleyn's School, Dulwich, 16/17th September 2006 |
[posted 17 Sept 2006] |
It was a year of firsts at the 2006 London Open. Ed Fuller won his first ever singles title, and Matt Cavanagh won his first ever open doubles title.
In fact, more than one Fuller made headlines this year. Ed's dad, Ian Fuller, played superbly in his first singles tournament for some time to reach the semi-final at the expense of John Minta. Matt Cavanagh eventually knocked him out of the tournament, but Matt wasn't able to complete the Fuller double in the final, where he faced Ed, fresh from a semi-final win over James Toop, one of three former national champions in the semi-finals.
The match was a gruelling affair for the two players, with the opening two games very close, and shared. Come the deciding third game, though, it was Ed who had the greater strength in his legs, and he was able to defeat the tiring Matt - after well over two hours on court.
Elsewhere in tournament, other young players put in impressive performances. St Paul's schoolboy James Corbin took Ben Taberner to three games before going out in the first round, and UCL student Freddie Sjostrom played well to win the singles plate.
It was a very similar story in the doubles tournament, where national schoolboy colts champions Luke Rowland and Jamie Faber did extremely well to reach the quarter-finals. Dan Grant and Freedie Sjostrom also played well, beating Alex Smith and Jez Sinton in the first round before going out to the established pair of Ben Taberner and Paddy d'Ancona in the quarter-finals.
The competition really came to life in the semi-finals. On one court, Ben and Paddy won through against Chris Jones and Andy Pringle in two very close, hard-hitting games, while on the other court two relatively untried pairings battled it out. Eventually, however, Matt Cavanagh gained revenge for his singles final defeat, as he and partner Hamish Buchanan beat Ed Fuller and James Toop.
The final was a gripping match, with contrasting styles. Ben and Paddy, with years of experience as a pair, were working together like a well-oiled machine, whereas Hamish and Matt, who had never played together in a Rugby Fives tournament before, were more prone to getting in each other's way. The first game was a tense battle, with the score locked at nine-all for what seemed like ages, but Matt and Hamish held their nerve to clinch it 12-11. They then went on to claim the title with a more comfortable win in the second game, always more able than their opponents to pick off the winning shot when the chance came.
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London Open results |
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RFA CLUB FIXTURE LIST |
London, 10th September 2006 |
[posted 10 September 2006] |
The RFA today published the RFA Club's full fixture list for the 2006/7 season. The matches start this month and continue until June next year, and the full list (as organised by new Club Manager Ed Fuller) is now available online. To see the list, as well as the existing tournament schedule, click on either the link below this story or the Fixtures button in the menu on the left had side at the top of this page.
If you are interested in playing in any fixture, please get in touch as soon as possible with the match manager, whose full contact details are in the RFA Pocket Book.
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RFA Club 2006/7 fixture list |
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LONDON OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Alleyn's School, Dulwich, 16/17th September 2006 |
[posted 24 August 2006] |
After experiencing some problems at the originally planned venue, the RFA has switched the venue for September's London Open Championships to Alleyn's School in Dulwich.
However, all the remaining details for the tournament remain unaltered. Organised by Tom Maconie, they will be held over the weekend of September 16th and 17th.
Both singles and doubles tournaments will be played, with plate competitions for early round losers. Entry costs £10 for the singles and £20 per pair for the doubles, and for more information, click on the link below to dowload a copy of the revised official entry form.
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London Open 2006 entry form [Word file, 28KB] |
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SOUTH-WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS |
Blundell's School, Tiverton, 29/30th July 2006 |
[posted 30 July 2006] |
There may have been an unusually low number of entrants for this year’s South West Open, but the quality of fives certainly didn’t suffer. The singles final was contested by the two most recent National champions, and all four players in the doubles final were current title holders.
In the singles, despite a couple of scares on the way – most notably Gareth Price pushing John Minta hard in the first round – the top four seeds made it safely through to the semi-finals. In the top half, Phil Bishop just had the edge over John Beswick, while in the bottom half, Matt Cavanagh (the only semi-finalist not from Manchester’s Y Club) disposed of John Minta.
The final may have been a repeat of last season’s National Singles final, but the result could not have been more different. Matt’s pin-point accuracy coupled with his athletic retrieval won him the first game and took him into a commanding lead in the second. Only then did Phil really begin to find his length, and the back nick, but it was too late. Matt held on to clinch the game and, with it, the championship.
In the doubles, too, the Y Club was dominant. After Wayne Harrison and Brian Nithsdale had won the Plate, the final of the main competition was contested by two pairs from Manchester: Phil Bishop teamed up with John Minta to face Wayne Enstone and Kevin Henry, who had earned their place in the final after hard-fought wins in both the quarter- and semi-finals.
The final itself was played at a frenetic pace, John cracking the ball round the court with either hand, Wayne matching him volley for volley at the front of court, and all four players retrieving seemingly impossible shots.
To start with, the match was very even, but gradualy the tide began to turn the way of John and Phil. And, once they found their length, the relentless pressure told. They eventually secured the first game and, with their confidence boosted, went on to win the second game comfortably and claim the silverware.
Last but not least, we must mention two other sterling efforts: first, Nick Hillier battled his way to the finals of both plate competitions, only to finish runner-up twice; and, secondly, every player recognised the dedication and faultless, consistent performance of Fred Beswick, who gallantly manned the kettle all day long – a real godsend on a grey and rainy day.
There are already some pictures from the event in the Gallery on this site (click on the link to the left of this page to view them), but for a selection of further photos from John Beswick, click on the link below.
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South-West Championships results
John Beswick's photos |
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