Winchester College
Sunday, 16th March 2025
After victories in 2015 and 2023 Dan Grant and Dan Tristao pulled off a hat-trick at the first National Winchester Fives Doubles Championship to be played on the new courts at Winchester College, popularly known as the Barnes Bridge — named after the magnificent trophy. In the final they beat new pairing Ed Kay and Dave Butler. Winchester College pupils Jeffrey Chan and Anthony Cloke Browne won a very competitive Plate for first-match losers, and Lewis Keates and Tom Maconie won a tough three-gamer against Freddie Hammond Giles and Sam Roberts in the 2nd Plate for quarter-final losers. The PlatePlate final, for 1st-round-of-the-Plate losers, was an all-Cambridge contest won by Savanna Leboff and Emrys Thursfield.
Organiser Harry Akerman reports:
A Thrilling Day of Winchester Fives at the Barnes Bridge
A busy day on the stunning new Winchester College Fives courts saw 52 players battle for the Barnes Bridge and various plate competitions. After over 10 hours of intense play, top seeds Dan Tristao & Dan Grant emerged victorious, overcoming third seeds Ed Kay & Dave Butler in a high-quality final.
The tournament featured countless exciting matches. Round two nearly saw two seeds fall, as Steve Coffey & Ben Hale stunned fourth seeds Julian Aquilina & James Tilston by racing to a 7-0 lead. However, Julian and James fought back to edge a 15-13 win. Meanwhile, Sam Roberts & Freddie Hammond Giles sought revenge against Shinan Zhang & Penn Chai, who had beaten them in last year’s plate final. This time, Sam and Freddie prevailed 16-14 in a sadly single-game contest.
In the quarter-finals, Julian and James again struggled early on, losing the first game 11-1 to Tom Maconie & Lewis Keates. A tense second game saw match points for Tom and Lewis, but the fourth seeds clawed through 12-10 before sealing victory 11-3. The semi-finals saw Dan and Dan overcoming Julian and James reasonably comfortably, while Ed and Dave battled second seeds Ben Beltrami & Theo Parker in a gripping encounter. The momentum swung back and forth, but despite some dazzling play from Ben and Theo, Ed and Dave edged through 16-14, 3-15, 15-12.
The opening game of the final could have gone either way, with Ed and Dave earning six game points, three of which were won by unreturnable serves from Dan Grant. The second game was more controlled by the Dans, who secured a hard-fought 16-14, 15-10 victory.
Plate Competitions
Twice defending plate champions Shinan & Penn fell to Steve Coffey & Ben Hale in a thriller (11-9, 12-10), but that left Steve and Ben spent for the final, where Winchester schoolboys Jeffrey Chan & Anthony Cloke Browne triumphed 11-7, 11-3.
A quarter-finalists’ plate saw Simon Fraser & Richard Guthrie push Tom and Lewis to three games before falling in the decider. Tom and Lewis then edged Sam and Freddie in another marathon 3-game match (11-5, 5-11, 11-9). Meanwhile, the ‘PlatePlate’ (for first-round plate losers) featured an all-Cambridge showdown, where Emrys Thursfield & Savanna Leboff defeated Helena Tunks & Sarthak Garella.
A Day to Remember
This was a fantastic day of Winchester Fives in a world-class new sporting facility. Typically, pre-tournament worries revolve around sweating courts, but now the challenge is figuring out how to host a regular Winchester event while keeping the Barnes Bridge on tour!
A huge thank you to all 52 players and their supporters who travelled from Scotland, Manchester, Leeds, Derby, Cambridge, London… And, a special thanks for those who made it for the post-tournament curry!
Relive it all again!
For those wanting to watch the video of the semi-final and highlights of Ben & Theo versus Ed & Dave, and also the full video of the final, plus highlights, go to www.wessexfivesclub.org.uk
Scores
1st round: K Bremner & S Ion bt S Leboff & E Thursfield 15-8; J Birch & T Hebblethwaite bt S Garella & H Tunks 15-7; S Fraser & R Guthrie bt G Matthews & R Wilson 15-0; J Chan & A Cloke Browne bt R Beard & A Upton 15-3; S Coffey & B Hale bt R Christie & R Thompson 15-11; J Smith & L Walton bt H Fearon & M Ord 15-3; P Chai & S Zhang bt D Sheppard & D Spiegal 15-1; JP Cheng & E Hawke bt Ab Bhattacharya & Ar Bhattacharya 15-1; D Fox & J Minta bt B Callaghan & C Lacewing 15-8; A James-Duff & R James-Duff bt N Arnott & M Studdard 15-0
2nd round: D Grant & D Tristao bt Bremner & Ion 15-2; Fraser & Guthrie bt Birch & Hebblethwaite 15-6; L Keates & T Maconie bt Chan & Cloke Browne 15-10; J Aquilina & J Tilston bt Coffey & Hale 15-13; D Butler & E Kay bt Smith & Walton 15-1; F Hammond Giles & S Roberts bt Chai & Zhang 16-14; Cheng & Hawke bt Fox & Minta 15-7; B Beltrami & T Parker bt James-Duff & James-Duff 15-1
Quarter-finals: Grant & Tristao bt Fraser & Guthrie 125-4, 15-1; Aquilina & Tilston bt Keates & Maconie 1-11, 12-10, 11-3; Butler & Kay bt Hammond Giles & Roberts 11-5, 11-1; Beltrami & Parker bt Cheng & Hawke 11-1, 11-2
Semi-finals: Grant & Tristao bt Aquilina & Tilston 15-8, 15-5; Butler & Kay bt Beltrami & Parker 16-14, 3-15, 15-12
Final: Grant & Tristao bt Butler & Kay 16-14, 15-10
Plate: Chan & Cloke Browne bt Coffey & Hale 11-7, 11-3
2nd Plate: Keates & Maconie bt Hammond Giles & Roberts 11-5, 5-11, 11-9
PlatePlate: Leboff & Thursfield bt Garella & Tunks 8-11, 11-6, 11-5
Whoop whoop!
Busy, these courts …
… and very tidy.
3rd time of winning for Dan & Dan
Hats off to the organiser!
