Rugby School
Saturday, 22nd February 2025
Chris Blakeley reports: We had a great day of Fives at Rugby. Two courts in continuous use from just after 10am until soon after 5pm concluding with, appropriately, two former Rugbeians playing the deciding match in the Plate, William Milne getting the better of Arthur Noble.
In the main draw the pick of the QFs was the close encounter between Ander Iraizoz and Theo Vernacchio, with Theo winning 15-12 and then going on to win a topsy-turvey semi against the #2 seed Charlie Lacewing. The Bowl featured four strong players (QF losers), with the last game between the two players who had won both of their previous games. Val Fikhter coming back from. 3-6 to win 11-9.
In the Main Final, despite Theo Vernacchio’s excellent play throughout the day to defeat both the #3 and #2 seeds Terry McElvaney found a way to win with a display of powerful hitting, consistent with the way he had despatched his earlier opponents and fully justified his top seeding.
Thanks to all the players for turning up on time, and for demonstrating the flexibility required to keep to the schedule. Thanks also to Herman Fikhter for setting up cameras in both courts to record the whole day’s events. We look forward to the edited highlights which will appear later on the RFA YouTube account. Finally, thanks to Ben Lane and Rugby School Sports Centre for hosting us and for providing sandwiches, cakes, tea and coffee to keep us sustained.
Semi-finals: McElvaney bt McGuire 11-7, 11-9; Vernacchio bt Lacewing 11-7, 2-11, 11-6
