Sherborne School, Dorset
Saturday/Sunday, 6-7 January 2023
Organiser Ian Jackson reports: 64 players from 9 schools attended these championships and enjoyed much good Fives over the weekend. We are very grateful to Sherborne School for hosting the event, especially as a member of Sherborne staff now needs to be at the courts for the whole time. Nick Scorer took on the lion’s share himself and must have called in lots of favours from his colleagues and we are very grateful to each of them.
There appeared to be four quality players in the U16 tournament, two from Winchester and two from Alleyn’s. Sadly, the late withdrawal of one of those, Alexander Dorokov from Alleyn’s, gave Jeffrey Chan a relatively easy path to the final in the lower half of the singles. The top half of the draw was a little stronger and the top seed Anthony Cloke Browne from Winchester had to work hard to see off the top player from St. Paul’s, Freddie Hammond Giles, 11-2, 12-11 in an enthralling quarter-final. The semi-final was an almost exact repeat match but went the other way and Yarin Nagyel from Alleyn’s won through 11-4, 11-9 with a very tense end to the second game. Yarin had given a lot in that win and could not quite reproduce the same level in the final the next morning. The first two-thirds of the first game was close but gradually Jeffrey Chan’s superior length and line paid dividends and he won comfortably 11-6, 11-1.
While the later rounds were taking place, Sam Roberts, organised an excellent plate competition, which was fiercely contested. The four semi-finalists were two from Tonbridge and one each from Winchester and St. Paul’s. The Winchester dominance could not be stopped, and Zach Goulding won the final, beating Joshua Ferro from St. Paul’s in a close match 15-12.
The Seniors looked to have an outstanding top seed in Shiloh Wu from Winchester, while the number two seed, Chris Lee, was also from Winchester. With Winchester also having seeds 5 and 6, neutrals were hoping that someone could break this dominance. Theo Vernacchio from Alleyn’s came close but could not quite do so in the top half of the draw, losing 11-7, 1-11, 11-9 to Henry Akerman from Winchester. JP Cheng from Winchester survived a scare against the impressive Felix Stone from Blundell’s, only coming through 16-15 for a quarter-final place against Max Freudenheim from Tonbridge. It was even closer than the top half where Max finally won 8-11, 11-6, 11-8 in a marathon, to deny Winchester all four semi-finalists. In the top semi-final Shiloh came through easily against a tired Henry Akerman. In the lower half Max showed that he was not quite as tired and pushed the number two seed Chris Lee all the way in another marathon, before succumbing 11-5, 11-12, 11-6. As expected Shiloh Wu won the final comfortably 11-2, 11-1. He played a superb length and line and varied the angles and pace impressively and Chris had no answer to that.
First match losers contested a plate competition. In Pool A Kristians Davins from Derby Moor won all his games and contested the final against Max Fowle from Sherborne, who won all his in Pool B. Kristians just hit the ball a little too hard in the final against a tiring Max and won 15-7.
Second match losers contested a bowl. Felix Stone from Blundell’s won his group easily and played Greg Slater from Tonbridge in the final, winning comfortably 15-5.
After the singles all other schools were trying to break the Winchester dominance but knew they faced an uphill task. In the U16s, without Dorokhov, Alleyn’s were not as strong and Winchester 2 overcame them comfortably in the bottom semi-final to face their teammates who had overcome St. Paul’s 1 in the other semi-final. Both pairs were working the other around the angles at the back of the court in a way not always seen at this level but in the end the two year 11 players were too strong for the two year 10 players in the final and Winchester 1 (Anthony Cloke Browne & Jeffrey Chan) beat Winchester 2 (James Kennedy & Arthur James-Duff) 11-0, 11-3.
The plate competition was contested with rally scoring which made for some close results. Winchester 3 topped Pool A, winning all games, while Stamford 1 just edged out St. Paul’s 2 in an extremely close Pool B, despite losing one game. In the final Winchester 3 (McGregor & Goulding) were just too strong for Stamford 1 (Sharpe & McNaughton) winning 15-9.
In the Senior doubles the top four seeds came through to the semi-finals. Winchester 1 were too strong for last year’s U16 winners at the West of England, Alleyn’s, Theo Vernacchio & Laurie Milner. The other semi-final had the makings of a classic between Tonbridge 1 (Max Freudenheim & Greg Slater) and Winchester 2 (Henry Akerman & JP Cheng). When the first game was sneaked 12-11 by Winchester it certainly started well. Winchester made a few uncharacteristic errors in the second game and Tonbridge capitalised to take that 11-6. The lead swung many times in the final game before Tonbridge reached the first match point at 10-8. Five match points came and went before Winchester edged ahead 11-10. It took them until their fourth match point to finally close things out 12-10 in the third game of a superb match. The final was a slight anti-climax as the top seeds were relatively fresh while Winchester 2 were exhausted, and JP Cheng was nursing a bad bruise. Winchester 1 (Shiloh Wu & Chris Lee) beat Winchester 2 (Henry Akerman & JP Cheng) 11-1, 11-5.
However, for many, despite the epic semi-final, the highlight of the tournament was the Senior Doubles plate. Seven pairs lost their first match and contested the plate in an all-play-all format. As the afternoon went on it was clear this was going to be very close with three pairs, Derby Moor 1, Blundell’s 2 and the scratch pairing of Sheyns (yes, one from Sherborne and one from Alleyn’s) contesting things. The last match started just as the epic main semi-final came to an end and Derby Moor took on Sheyns. A win to Derby Moor and they won the plate, whereas a win to Sheyns by 11-9 or more would see Blundell’s 2 as winners. They would have been on equal points with Sheyns, but won by virtue of Blundell’s winning their head to head. I have never seen the platform as full nor as much enthusiasm for each point and even if the hitting and retrieving may not quite have rivalled the main semi-final, the passion and determination was every bit its equal. Again fortunes fluctuated but, after what seemed an age, Sheyns won 11-10. The organiser was told the awful news that three pairs had tied on 65 points out of 66, each having won one of their two matches against the other pairs. Further calculations ensued to see how many points each pair had conceded. Derby Moor and Blundell’s had both conceded 35 but Sheyns had conceded only 33, and so Gareth Kwong from Sherborne and his partner Eli Arie from Alleyn’s became the plate champions by the most slender of margins, a result that was almost impossible when the last game started. It was a pity not to be able to have three winners as all three pairs thoroughly deserved to win.
The schools now look forward to a good term of Fives culminating in the Nationals at the end of March when those playing at the West of England Championships will have to take on the players from the rest of country, including the very impressive group coming up through the Edinburgh schools. It was a pleasure running the tournament and the enthusiasm, desire to improve and decency of all the Fives players never ceases to impress me.
Results
U18 Singles
1st round: E Watson (Derby Moor) w/o J Cole (Blundell’s); T Gardner (Tonbridge) bt A Upton (Sherborne) 15-9; L Milner (Alleyn’s) bt B Aubury (Winchester) 15-5; H Akerman (Winchester) bt L Taor (St Paul’s) 15-3; G Slater (Tonbridge) bt J Peake (Sherborne) 15-2; D Wielenga (Blundell’s) bt K Davins (Derby Moor) 15-6; T Vernacchio (Alleyn’s) bt F Molesworth-St Aubyn (Sherborne) 15-3; G Kwong (Sherborne) bt D Wright (Derby Moor) 15-5; F Stone (Blundell’s) bt R Zhou (Winchester) 15-6; J Cheng (Winchester) bt M Fowle (Sherborne) 15-4; C Calzia (St Paul’s) bt E Arie (Alleyn’s) 15-0; A Rackham (Blundell’s) bt R Beard (Sherborne) 15-7; F Edelman (Tonbridge) bt B Robertson (Sherborne) 15-7
2nd round: S Wu (Winchester) bt Watson 15-0; Milner bt Gardner 15-3; Akerman bt Slater 15-12; T Vernacchio bt Wielenga 15-7; M Freudenheim (Tonbridge) bt Kwong 15-0; Cheng bt Stone 16-15; Calzia bt Rackham 15-4; C Lee (Winchester) bt Edelman 15-3
Quarter-finals: Wu bt Milner 11-0, 11-0; Akerman bt Vernacchio 11-7, 1-11, 11-9; Freudenheim bt Cheng 8-11, 11-6, 11-8; Lee bt Calzia 11-9, 11-1
Semi-finals: Wu bt Akerman 11-0, 11-2; Lee bt Freudenheim 11-5, 11-12, 11-6
Final: S Wu (Winchester) bt C Lee (Winchester) 11-2, 11-1
Plate: K Davins (Derby Moor)
Bowl: F Stone (Blundell’s)
U18 Doubles
1st round: Blundell’s 1 bt Derby Moor 1 11-1, 11-2; Winchester 3 bt Sherborne 1 11-2, 11-2; Alleyn’s bt Tonbridge 2 11-6, 11-1; Winchester 2 bt Derby Moor 2 11-0, 11-4; Sherborne 2 bt Marlborough 11-9, 11-9; St Paul’s bt Blundell’s 2 7-11, 11-9, 11-7; Tonbridge 1 bt Sherborne/Alleyn’s 11-1, 11-1
Quarter-finals: Winchester 1 bt Blundell’s 1 11-5, 11-1; Alleyn’s bt Winchester 3 11-7, 11-3; Winchester 2 bt Sherborne 2 11-0, 11-4; Tonbridge 1 bt St Paul’s 11-3, 11-3
Semi-finals: Winchester 1 bt Alleyn’s 11-6, 11-3; Winchester 2 bt Tonbridge 1 12-11, 6-11, 12-10
Final: Winchester 1 (C Lee & S Wu) bt Winchester 2 (H Akerman & J Cheng) 11-1, 11-5
Plate: Sherborne/Alleyn’s (G Kwong & E Arie)
U16 Singles
1st round: J Ferro (St Paul’s) bt A Parkinson (Winchester) 15-1; Z Goulding (Winchester) bt E Richards (Tonbridge) 15-1; M Bilagi (St Paul’s) bt O Wilson (Tonbridge) 15-7; C Greaves (Derby Moor) bt A de Vrieze (Winchester) 15-3; E Xiao (Winchester) bt P Monro-Davies (St Paul’s) 15-4; O Carroll (Tonbridge) bt E Calzia (St Paul’s) 15-3; W Huang (St Paul’s) bt H Rogerson (Tonbridge) 15-0
2nd round: A Cloke Browne (Winchester) bt Ferro 15-2; F Hammond Giles (St Paul’s) bt Goulding 15-4; J Kennedy (Winchester) bt Bilagi 15-2; Y Negyal (Alleyn’s) bt Greaves 15-0; Xiao bt G Louet (Alleyn’s) 15-4; A James-Duff (Winchester) bt Carroll 15-4; R McGregor (Winchester) bt J Moesel (Sherborne) 15-0; J Chan (Winchester) bt Huang 15-4
Quarter-finals: Cloke Browne bt Hammond Giles 11-2, 12-11; Negyal bt Kennedy 11-7, 11-5; James-Duff bt Xiao 11-5, 11-4; Chan bt McGregor 11-5, 11-0
Semi-finals: Negyal bt Cloke Browne 11-5, 11-9; Chan bt James-Duff 11-6, 11-2
Final: J Chan (Winchester) bt Y Negyal (Alleyn’s) 11-6, 11-1
Plate: Z Goulding (Winchester)
U16 Doubles
1st round: Winchester 1 bt St Paul’s 3 11-0, 11-2; Stamford 2 bt Winchester 4 11-5, 11-0; St Paul’s 1 bt Stamford 3 11-1, 11-6; Winchester 2 bt Tonbridge 2 11-0, 11-1; Winchester 3 bt Marlborough 11-4, 11-1; St Paul’s 2 bt Tonbridge 1 8-11, 11-8, 11-6
Quarter-finals: Winchester 1 bt Stamford 2 11-0, 11-2; St Paul’s 1 bt Stamford 1 11-0, 11-0; Winchester 2 bt Winchester 3 11-5, 11-8; Alleyn’s bt St Paul’s 2 11-1, 11-2
Semi-finals: Winchester 1 bt St Paul’s 1 11-0, 11-3; Winchester 2 bt Alleyn’s 11-6, 11-2
Final: Winchester 1 (J Chan & A Cloke Browne) bt Winchester 2 (A James-Duff & J Kennedy) 11-0, 11-3
Plate: Winchester 3 (Z Goulding & R McGregor)
A clean sweep for Winchester College
U18 Singles Champion from Winchester
U16 Singles Champion from Winchester
U18 Singles Plate winner from Derby Moor
U18 Doubles Plate winning pair from Alleyn’s/Sherborne