St Paul’s School, Barnes
Saturday/Sunday, 17-18 October 2026
Bob Dolby reports: The entry for this event was bedevilled by a combination of Freedom of Movement and Winter Ailments. i.e. several would-be participants sojourning in foreign climes and one significant absentee languishing abed in distant Dulwich. Nevertheless Cambridge University Women’s Rugby Fives Club Past and Present (CUWRFCPaP) put the other Fives-playing universities to shame by entering a squad of four players. As for quality, among the entry there were the three-time Woman’s National Champion Camille Beattie, the two-time defending Women’s U25 Singles Champion Kirsten Bell, the National U16 Girls’ Singles and Doubles Champion from Alleyn’s School, Annabel Brown, and the Captain of the aforementioned CUWRFC, Katie Parry. It’s not all about numbers.
With the small entry it was possible for organiser Kirsten to run both competitions on the one day. With the round robin completed, we looked forward to the predictable Singles final, where the National Champion rightly won the Claire Knowles Cup in a contest to which the scores do not to justice. Annabel took the Kathleen Briedenhann Plate.
In the afternoon Doubles, every game was a medal match, so Cambridge went home with a gratifying haul of Silver and Bronze, plus the Alexandra Steel Plate, while Camille & Kirsten won the Directors’ Cup. For Kirsten it was 3 in a row, each time with a different partner.
Lest anyone think the weekend’s Women’s championship was an event wholly divorced from the competition on the adjoining courts, it was good to see Camille and Kirsten watching the Men’s play throughout the second day. Let us now hope for a more substantial entry for the upcoming Women’s London Open and the post-Christmas Women’s National and Mixed competitions.
Results
Singles
Round Robin: 1st= Camille Beattie and Kirsten Bell W5; 3rd Annabel Brown W4; 4th= Lauren Osborne-Patterson and Katie Parry W2; 6th= Charlotte Bruce and Ava-Louisa Christiansen
Final: Camille Beattie bt Kirsten Bell 15-1, 15-4
Doubles
Round Robin: 1st Camille Beattie & Kirsten Bell W2; 2nd Annabel Brown & Katie Parry W1; 3rd Charlotte Bruce & Lauren Osborne-Patterson
The medallists at close of play
Claire Knowles Cup for Women’s U25 Singles …
… contested by Camille and Kirsten
Singles Plate for Annabel
Directors’ Doubles Cup to Camille & Kirsten
Doubles Plate for Charlotte & Lauren
The Cambridge squad