Cambridge University Sports Centre
Saturday/Sunday, 29-30 November 2025
STOP PRESS Ben Beltrami was able to win his second Jesters Club Cup by beating 8-time champion Dan Tristao in a hard-fought three-game final. Dan had earlier overcome number one seed Ed Kay. With 24 players, three courts and two full days at his disposal, organiser Charlie Brooks was able to run both a Plate and a Bowl. Lewis Keates won the Plate for a third year in a row and James Tilston won a particularly tough Bowl for those placed third at the group stage.
Organiser Charlie Brooks reports: Ben Beltrami won his second National Singles title in fine style, overcoming a huge fightback from Dan Tristao in the final. Having lost to Dan in an epic semi-final last year, Ben got his revenge on the Cambridge courts, winning 15-2, 13-15, 15-10 to be crowned National Champion.
This year’s tournament will be remembered for many reasons, but it all started with a new format, not seen before at the Nationals… Out with the qualifiers and in with an expanded finals weekend. The top 24 players in the open rankings invited to battle for the biggest accolade in the sport.
The competitors were split into eight groups of three players during a live draw broadcast on YouTube. Each of the first eight players in the rankings were joined by one of the 9th-16th players and another from the 17th-24th pool, drawn randomly from a hat. It threw up some enticing match ups, unpredictable clashes and, inevitably, a group of death (Kay, Cloke Browne and Arnold – strong inded).
More players means more matches – from 30 matches at last year’s finals weekend to 55 this year. With only three courts, it was imperative to keep them full almost the entire weekend. It also shifted a lot of the play to Sunday, where more than half the draw were still involved, either in the main competition, the plate or the newly introduced bowl.
The group stages created some mouth-watering encounters right from the off. James Tilston vs Anthony Goodwin, Sam Russell vs Terry McElvaney and Ander Iraizoz vs Cameron Low all finished 15-14, with many other close battles. There were upsets aplenty with Terry, Anthony and Charlie Brooks all winning their groups against the seedings. The top two in each group progressed to the main knockout, with 3rd place heading to the bowl.
The knockout began with the Round of 16, where the top three seeds all serenely moved into the quarter-finals despite admirable efforts from their foes. Elsewhere, Theo Parker pushed Charlie Brooks in a tight contest, and Ollie Arnold, back from Down Under, didn’t make it easy for Dan Grant. Terry continued his fine form to make his first ever Nationals quarter-final, beating Charlie Lacewing, as did Gwydion Wiseman against Anthony.
In the quarters, the top match pitted number one seed Ed Kay against eight-time champ Dan Tristao. Wait, what? How did that happen? It was engineered by Dan to prevent the possibility of having to play the top two seeds on the same day, because the semi-finals were scheduled for the Sunday (unlike previous years where it has been the Saturday evening). Unsurprisingly, it was a high octane affair. Ed simply flew out of the blocks and established a sizeable lead. But Dan bounced back, and then some. He drew level before storming ahead in the first game on the way to taking it 15-10. This momentum continued unabated into the second, and although Ed knuckled down, he couldn’t prevent Dan advancing, 15-6 in the second.
Ben Beltrami was up against the teenaged Freddie Hammond Giles, who was already appearing in his second quarter-final at this tournament and has risen into the top ten in the national rankings. Despite some superb retrieval and forcing Ben into errors, Freddie could never get close enough to the 2nd seed on the scoreboard to put him under significant pressure.
The other two quarters almost sprang surprises. Terry and Gwydion belied their relative inexperience to give Charlie B and Dan G significant scares. Terry’s ferocious serving, mixed with a newly developed short serve, kept him ahead throughout the first game before Charlie edged it 16-14. The second was not so close, but it was a magnificent display over the course of the tournament from the Northern Irishman.
The last match of the round was a nail biter. Gwydion was playing some of his best Fives ever, and duly pinched the opening game 15-11. Dan bottled his frustration to good effect though and was able to fly through the second to set up the decider. It fluctuated this way and that, with Gwydion getting his nose in front towards the latter stages. With cramp starting to hamper Dan’s movement, it looked like an upset was on the cards. However, a few winners later from both of Dan’s gloves, and some cramp now also affecting Gwydion (did neither of them drink their pickle juice before going on court?), saw the seventh seed advance.
That was Saturday done and dusted, and what a day it had been – a feast of top quality Fives from the country’s best players.
Sunday morning brought, for the first time ever, the singles semi-finals – Tristao vs Brooks and Beltrami vs Grant.
Dan T and Charlie got off to a slightly scrappy start and were evenly matched in the opening exchanges. The scoreboard was ticking along for both of them before Dan edged ahead as double figures approached and took the game 15-11. His drop shots were becoming more effective as he drew his opponent forward and then took advantage of the resulting open court. The second game followed a similar pattern, although the rallies were getting longer, and Charlie was finding some reverse angles of his own. As Dan cut out his errors, he moved 14-10 up and looked to have sealed the match. Charlie was not giving up without a fight though – a few service winners and determined rallying got it back to 14-all and then 15-all. Tense times, but it was not to be for Charlie and he was beaten 16-15.
On the other court, Ben was asserting his power against Dan G. Dan has a plethora of shots in his toolbox, but Ben was equal to them and gave back as good as he got. Ben kept himself well enough ahead throughout, smashing nicks and somehow reaching the majority of Dan’s own barrage. He came through to 7 and 4, never looking particularly troubled.
And so to the final, a match-up of differing styles and technique. Two fantastic players at the top of the sport, but would they deliver a fantastic match? Of course they would, although a dominant start from Ben had the crowd worried that wouldn’t be the case.
A profusion of winners from Ben, with Dan unable to get any kind of foothold, saw a very one-sided opener. Ben seems almost unbeatable in that kind of form, and it wasn’t obvious what Dan could do differently. A speedy final seemed on the cards after a 15-2 thrashing.
But count Dan out at your peril. He has turned many games around from similarly challenging circumstances, and he set about doing the same here. Ben was still playing high quality Fives though, so Dan’s work was cut out. In fact, as the second game moved on, it was Ben who still had the slight upper hand, and was once again ahead, taking a 13-9 lead and the title in sight. Maybe it was this that made Ben a little tentative, maybe it was Dan finding those extra reserves of strength from out of nowhere. Maybe even a bit of both. Either way, the tide was finally turned and Dan applied the pressure to slowly draw level and then win the second, 15-13.
The high quality continued into the decider. Breathtaking rallies with both players being dragged all over the court, only to find winners themselves. The anticipation, retrieval and grit was phenomenal. In fact, the second half of the final game was the best Fives of the match, and the whole weekend. It was tit for tat, punch followed by counter-punch, until Ben found just that little bit more to edge ahead in the tense closing stages. He held his nerve this time, and came away victorious, 15-10, to be crowned a very deserving champion.
The Plate and Bowl
The Plate, for those losing in the Round of 16, was played out over the Sunday. After two injury withdrawals, the remaining six were split into two groups; Lewis Keates, Penn Chai, Charlie Lacewing and Cameron Low emerged from these into the semi-finals. The highest ranked players, Lewis and Penn, faced each other in a match that didn’t disappoint. Lewis was looking for a hat-trick of National Plate victories, and it was perhaps this extra incentive that got him over the line, 15-12. Cameron was able to take advantage of Charlie’s tired legs to progress in the other match.
The final became a classic; there cannot have been many Plates contested with both players digging quite so deep. They used all their reserves of energy, and somehow found more, in two closely fought games; Lewis took the first 15-11 but Cameron sneaked back 15-12. They were out on their feet at the start of the decider, and Cam edged ahead. The energy-sapping rallies continued, with extraordinary retrieval at such a late stage in the tournament, and utter refusal to give in. Lewis slowly started to tick off the points though, and, despite cramp taking hold, stumbled over the line for his third consecutive plate. Bravo!
The Bowl, initiated this year, was taking place in parallel, having started on Saturday afternoon. It had more than its share of tense games as well, epitomised by inaugural winner, James Tilston. His route to the final included a three-gamer against Ander Iraizoz followed by a 12-10, 12-11 victory over Theo Vernacchio. He met Emrys Thursfield there, who had come through impressively against Sam Russell and Marcus Cloke Browne. True to form, James took the opener 12-11, with a marginally more comfortable second game sealing the win.
Throughout the weekend, the three courts were filmed, thanks to Dan Grant, with various players and Fives celebrities taking to the microphones to provide commentary. Keep an eye out for matches and highlights on the RFA’s YouTube channel.
Scores
Group Stage
