Alleyn’s School, Dulwich
Saturday/Sunday, 31st October – 1st November 2026
STOP PRESS A smallish entry for this inaugural Women’s London Open, but no lack of quality players, six of them ranked in the Top Ten, with numerous National, Regional and Schools titles to their name. This time the trophy on offer was the Julie McIntyre Cup for Singles, and appropriately it was Camille Beattie from Julie’s City of Durham Fives Club who carried it off, but not before she had suffered the surprise loss of a match in the group stage at the hands of Schools Champion Taylor-Rose Foo from Alleyn’s School and had weathered a tough semi-final against Louise Mathias. The final of the Singles, played on Saturday, was a repeat of the Women’s U25 Championship two weeks earlier, with Kirsten Bell once more the victim of Camille at her dominant best.
The Alleyn’s pair of Taylor-Rose and Annabel were unable to play on the Sunday, so the Doubles went ahead as a round robin consisting of three pairs. There was little doubt as to who would win the title — Camille & Louise duly won their two games with ease. The decider for Silver and Bronze turned out to be the match of the day, with Savanna & Kirsten made to work hard by Helena & Phoebe. It was a weekend of doubles: 2 Golds for Camille, 2 Silvers for Kirsten and 2 Bronze for Helena.
This championship will surely grow. There were several players from the Executioners and the Edward Alleyn Club not available to enter at this particular time. There was a sole competitor from the universities, and just the one from Alleyn’s in the end. Hopefully next year. From small acorns …
Singles
Group A : 1st Taylor-Rose Foo W4; 2nd Camille Beattie W3; 3rd Helena Tunks W2; 4th Phoebe Thornhill W1; 5th Katie Parry
Group B: 1st Louise Mathias W3 ; 2nd Kirsten Bell W2; 3rd Savanna Leboff W1; 4th Sophie Lundie
Semi-finals: Beattie bt Mathias 11-9, 11-8; Bell bt Foo 11-3, 11-4
Final: Camille Beattie bt Kirsten Bell 11-0, 11-2
Plate Preliminary round: Lundie bt Parry 15-0
Plate Semi-finals: Tunks bt Lundie 15-5; Leboff bt Thornhill 15-7
Plate Final: Helena Tunks bt Savanna Leboff 11-7, 11-2
Doubles
1st Camille Beattie & Louise Mathias Won 2: beat Kirsten Bell & Savanna Leboff 11-2, 11-1; beat Phoebe Thornhill & Helena Tunks 11-2, 11-0
2nd Kirsten Bell & Savanna Leboff Won 1: beat Phoebe Thornhill & Helena Tunks 11-4, 11-8
3rd Phoebe Thornhill & Helena Tunks
Singles players Taylor-Rose, Louise, Kirsten, Helena, Camille, Sophie, Savanna, Phoebe and Katie
Singles finalists Camille and Kirsten
Singles Plate for Helena
Doubles finalists Savanna & Kirsten, Camille & Louise
Doubles Plate for Phoebe & Helena