St Paul’s School, Barnes
Saturday/Monday, 29-31 March 2025
Organiser Theo Parker reports: Approximately 130 players from 18 schools and clubs took part in the National Schools Championships held, as usual, at St Paul’s School across their reliable 6 courts. Whilst the weather outside was sunny, the indoor viewing gallery remained packed throughout, with players, teachers, parents and other interested supporters all keen to take in as much of the high quality and fiercely contested fives as possible.
In the U14s, organiser Alex Smith had his work cut-out trying to squeeze 47 singles and 23 doubles entries playing across two main and three plate competitions into only three courts over two days. But the seemingly impossible was made possible – despite Alex’s 3hr+ commute – and the result was a festival of fives, with many players experiencing competitive tournament match play for the first time.
The standard in the singles competition was high, with the Scottish contingent from Edinburgh Academy and Merchiston dominating much of the latter stages. Three players from Edinburgh Academy reached the semi-finals – J. Taylor, F. Derry, and L. Clark (the latter having overcome a notably long quarter-final against Robinson from Winchester) – but were joined by W. Gordon from Merchiston, who had reached the same stage a year young last year and looked like he would take some stopping with powerful play off both hands. And so it proved, with Gordon dispatching Derry in one semi before taking on Clark in the final. Clark, however, displayed a huge amount of tenacity and running, able to soak up pressure and looking to wear Gordon down. The first game was very close, but Gordon just held on to win it 12-10. The second game was equally hard-fought, but with the one game advantage, Gordon’s superior power, enabling him to find back nicks, eventually told and he was able to win and claim the title, 12-10 11-6. In the 3rd place play-off (an innovation for 2025), Taylor beat Derry 11-5. In the plate singles, other schools all made progress, including Mount Kelly, who have only just started to play fives once more and acquitted themselves admirably. In the plate final, S. Lim from St Paul’s beat another solid Academy player, A. Ligertwood, 15-12.
In the U14 doubles, again the Scottish schools looked strong. Edinburgh Academy 1 (Taylor & Derry) overcame their opponents in an epic three-game semi-final against Merchiston 1 (Gordon & McKean) which lasted for over an hour and had many twists and turns. Through to the final, their opponents were St Paul’s 1 (J. Hammond Giles & T. Outred), who had themselves got through a tight semi-final, this time in two games against Winchester’s pair of B. Robinson & B. Tucker). The final was a mixture of competing styles, left-handed and right-handed players in both pairs. Hammond Giles’ right hand was a weapon to contend with, but ultimately Taylor & Derry were able to display a superior all-round game throughout and came through deserved winners 11-4 11-2. In the plate competition, another all-Scottish final took place, this time with Edinburgh Academy 2 overcoming Merchiston 2 in the final (11-11-0). And in the bowl (for quarter-final losers), it was fantastic to see Stoke Newington School – another relative newcomer to competitive fives – win, beating Stamford 1 11-7 11-5 in the final.
We now look forward to welcoming back many of the U14s for the U16 championships next year.
In the U16s, with last year’s singles winner, V. Fikhter from Manchester Y Club, still eligible for the competition, the question was whether anyone was going to be able to challenge him. Fikhter, already an experienced player in regional adult tournaments, made serene progress to Monday morning’s final, beating players from Alleyn’s and Edinburgh Academy (including this year’s U18 Scottish Singles Champion, J. Lawrie) along the way. Lawrie had himself come through an epic three-game quarter-final against F. Coleman from Winchester (10-12 12-10 11-6). On the other side things were a bit harder to predict, with N. Cortas (SPS), this year’s West of England Schools U16 winner, meeting W. Henry (last year’s U14 National Champion) in the semi-final. It was a close game, but Cortas’s clean left-hand hitting and home court advantage told with an 11-8 11-6 win. Which brings us to the final. In front of the packed gallery at 9am on Monday, many spectators thought that Fikhter might win comfortably. Initially, this opinion looked misplaced, with Cortas putting a huge amount of pressure on Fikhter in the early stages, with precise hitting down the left wall and a number of right wall nicks. However, Fikhter composed himself, cut out any unforced errors, and began to impose his game upon Cortas. Hitting powerfully with both hands, and in particular targeting Cortas’s weaker right hand, Val was able to remain in control throughout most of the rest of the final, winning both games to 5. It was a great final, and we look forward to watching both players move into the U18s next year.
In the doubles, the smart money was on Edinburgh Academy, made up of the two singles SF losers Lawrie & Henry (who will be playing their singles 3rd place play-off back home!). And so it proved, with EA reaching the final comfortably. On the other side, both SPS 1 and Winchester 1 looked strong. However, with SPS 1 taken to three games by Winchester 2 in the quarter-final, it was perhaps unsurprising that Winchester 1 proved too strong for them in the SF. And so to the final, which on paper (based on singles results) looked like an EA win. But doubles and singles are very different games (as the organiser is often keen to stress) and it was immediately clear that this was going to be an incredibly close final. In the first game EA scraped through 11-8 only for Winchester 1 (F. Coleman & C Wilson) to reverse this scoring in the second game, with Coleman in particular hitting some fantastic right-hand winners. So it came down to a 3rd game and again it was standing room only on the balcony, with many teachers and parents hardly able to take the pressure! Eventually, however, Lawrie & Henry managed to get a lead which they held onto, despite many rotations of serve inbetween, to take the title 11-5 in the third.
Finally, in the plate competition, we had another all-Scottish affair, much anticipated, between Fettes and Edinburgh Academy, this time with the Fettes pair of McCreath & Fraser coming through 15-13.
Which leaves, last but certainly not least, the U18 competitions. As with the U16s, we had a set of returning defending champions: F. Hammond Giles (St Paul’s) in the singles and with his partner, J. Ferro, in the doubles.
Starting with the singles, it was soon clear that Hammond Giles was the player to beat, not only as the defending U18 Singles Champion but moreover as this year’s U25 Singles Champion. And so it proved, with no player able to get more than one point off him across the whole championships. Such dominance is testament to Hammond Giles’s unusual skill and gameplay maturity, particularly for a school-age player, as well as his dedication to continue improving his game in the year since his last win. Hammond Giles still has one more year left, and will be aiming for an unprecedented treble of U18 singles and doubles wins. But his opponents, notably Y. Negyal (Alleyn’s) in the semi-final and C. Lacewing (Christ’s Hospital) in the final on Monday morning, shouldn’t consider this as an indictment of their own game. Far from it, as Wayne Enstone emphasized when kindly handing out the trophies, they – along with the other losing semi-finalist, J. Chan (Winchester) – may well have had a good chance of being champion in any other year. And Wayne knows a thing or two about fives!
In the plate final, S. McMurran (Bedford) overcame a packed field of closely fought matches to win against C. Sharpe of Stamford, 15-5, but then promptly left without collecting his winner’s medal – it will be on its way to him soon!
In the doubles, Hammond Giles & Ferro once again proved too strong for all opponents. As a left-hand/right-hand combination they are formidable at school level, with winners coming from both sides of the court, Ferro’s power and accuracy off the left a real highlight for spectators and reminding some of another exceptional SPS right/left school pairing from a few years back, Arnold & Beltrami. In the final, they were ultimately too strong for Chan & Cloke Browne of Winchester, but the Winchester pair should be proud of their skill and efforts, not least in the incredibly high quality semi-final – certainly one of the matches of the tournament – which they won against Alleyn’s 1 12-11, 11-9. In the 3rd place play-off Alleyn’s 1 (Negyal & Goodwin) were able to hold off SPS 2 and in the plate doubles there was another close contest between Tonbridge 1 and Fettes 1, with the former (Saunders-Aroma & Carroll) winning 15-12.
The organiser would like to end by thanking St Paul’s School for being such generous hosts – particular thanks to MiCs Sam Roberts and James Harrison for all their hard work in setting up and closing down. This year, parents and teachers benefitted from an additional space to relax and have tea and coffee between matches, and this was much appreciated. Thanks also to RFA General Secretary Chris Blakeley and Alex Smith for help with draws and organising various main and plate competitions. Finally, thank you to all the teachers and parents for giving up weekends and holidays to bring their players to London, some from many hundreds of miles away. Looking forward to next year’s tournament already!
Results
U18 Singles
1st round: N Wong (Win) bt S Stevenson (Ton) 15-5; S Kurana (All) bt E Scott (Ton) 15-3; T Blythe (All) bt R Jones (Stam) 15-10; F Morgan (Bedf) bt R Fortune (Ton) 15-1
2nd round: F Hammond Giles (SPS) bt Wong 15-0; Z Goulding (Win) bt T Jarrold (EdAc)) 15-10; L Saunders-Aroma (Ton) bt A Borthwick (Lor) 15-1; M Duncan (Fett) bt A Shaw (All) 15-6; Y Negyal (All) bt X Arkotxa-Lakha (EdAc) 15-0; G Maclay (Fett) bt G Louet (All) 15-8; A Cross (Lor) bt S Richarz (All) 15-13; A Cloke Browne (Win) bt Kurana 15-1; J Chan (Win) bt Blythe 15-0; J Liu (Win) v T Williams (SPS) 15-5; T Ritchie (SPS) bt S McMurran (Bedf) 15-4; A Goodwin (All) bt E Efthimiou (SPS) 15-0; J Ferro (SPS) bt C Sharpe (Stam) 15-4; O Carroll (Ton) bt B Loughran (Fett) 15-0; C Lacewing (CH) bt Morgan 15-0
3rd round: Hammond Giles bt Goulding 11-0, 11-0; Saunders-Aroma bt Duncan 11-3-11-0; Negyal bt Maclay 11-2, 11-0; Cloke Browne bt Cross 11-1, 11-0; Chan bt Liu 11-2, 11-0; Ritchie bt Tang (Fett) 11-1, 11-0; Ferro bt Goodwin 11-8, 2-11, 11-7; Lacewing bt Carroll 11-2, 11-0
Quarter-finals: Hammond Giles bt Saunders-Aroma 11-0, 11-1; Negyal bt Cloke Browne 10-12, 11-2, 11-8; Chan bt Ritchie nsr; Lacewing bt Ferro 11-0, 11-0
Semi-finals: Hammond Giles bt Negyal 11-0, 11-1; Lacewing bt Chan 11-5, 11-0
Final: F Hammond Giles (SPS) bt C Lacewing (CH) 11-1, 11-0
3rd Place match: Y Negyal (Alleyn’s) bt J Chan (Winchester) w/o
Plate: S McMurran (Bedford) bt C Sharpe (Stamford) 15-5
U18 Doubles
1st round: UCS 1 bt Loretto 15-2; Bedford bt Alleyn’s 3 16-15; SPS 3 v UCS 2 15-5
2nd round: SPS 1 bt Stamford 2 15-0; YClub/Alleyn’s bt EdAc 15-6; SPS 2 v Tonbridge 1 15-9; UCS 1 bt Fettes 1 15-10; Winchester 1 bt Bedford 15-2; Stamford 1 bt Alleyn’s 2 15-4; Winchester 2 bt Fettes 2 15-7; Alleyn’s 1 bt SPS 3 15-0
Quarter-finals: SPS 1 v YClub/Alleyn’s 11-2, 11-2; SPS 2 bt UCS 1 11-7, 11-5; Winchester 1 bt Stamford 1 11-2, 11-1; Alleyn’s 1 bt Winchester 2 11-0, 11-2
Semi-finals: SPS 1 bt SPS 2 11-3, 11-6; Winchester 1 bt Alleyn’s 1 12-11, 11-9
Final: SPS1 (J. Ferro & F. Hammond Giles) bt Winchester 1 (J. Chan & A. Cloke Browne) 11-2, 11-2
Third place match: Alleyn’s 1 (A Goodwin & Y Negyal) bt SPS 2 (T Ritchie & E Efthimiou) 15-7
Plate Final: Tonbridge (L Saunders-Aroma & O Carroll) bt Fettes 1 (M Duncan & G Maclay) 15-12
U16 Singles
1st round: O Graham Maw (SPS) bt J Maxwell-Clark (Fett) 11-8; M Russell (EdAc) bt A Bhalodia (SPS) 15-10; A Brook (Fett) bt O Khanapurkar (SPS) 11-2; T Green (All) bt D Thompson (Ton) 11-0; E Hunter (Stam) bt F Brown (EdAc) 11-1; P Jesuarul (EdAc) bt O Maxwell-Clark (Fett) 11-0; B Mahoney-Muir (Cal) bt I Baijal (SPS) 11-8; W Lee (Win) bt A Brown (All) 11-3; O Zhou (CH) bt B Weir (Fett) 12-11; M Staryk (DerbM) bt E Iacuzzi (All) 11-8; H Franks (Win) bt F Murray (EdAc) 11-6; M Mitchell (EdAc) bt R Taylor (All) 11-5; F Aird (Fett) bt Z Winson Yates (DerbM) 11-1; J Duff (EdAc) bt C Allen (All) 11-0; H Lawrie (EdAc) bt E Scott (All) 11-7
2nd round: V Fikhter (ManY) bt Graham Maw 15-0; Russell bt F McAllister (All) 11-8; L Carnegie (Win) bt Brook 15-4; Green bt F James (EdAc) 15-8; F Coleman (Win) bt Hunter 15-7; R Puri (SPS) bt Jesuarul 15-6; C Wilson (Win) bt Mahoney-Muir 15-13; J Lawrie (EdAc) bt Lee 15-3;
W Henry (EdAc) bt Zhou 15-7; Z Okada (SPS) bt Staryk 15-7; L McCreath (Fett) bt Franks 15-10; A Ponte (SPS) bt Mitchell 15-5; H Severino (All) bt Aird 15-8; L Fraser (Fett) bt Duff 15-8; H Fletcher (Marl) v O Zbikowski (EA) 15-4; N Cortas (SPS) bt Lawrie 15-2
3rd round: Fikhter bt Russell 11-0, 11-0; Green bt Carnegie 11-4, 11-1; Coleman bt Puri 11-1, 11-6; Lawrie bt Wilson 11-8, 11-4; Henry bt Okada 11-7, 8-11, 11-6; Ponte bt McCreath 11-6, 11-7; Fraser bt Severino 11-2, 6-11, 11-5; Cortas v Fletcher 11-2, 11-1
Quarter-finals: Fikhter bt Green 11-0, 11-0; Lawrie bt Coleman 10-12, 12-10, 11-6; Henry bt Ponte 11-5, 11-3; Cortas bt Fraser 11-3, 11-0
Semi-finals: Fikhter bt Lawrie 11-1, 11-3: Cortas bt Henry 11-8, 11-6
Final: V Fikhter (Manchester Y Club) bt N Cortas (St Paul’s) 11-5, 11-5
Plate: F McAllister (Alleyn’s) v O Zbikowski (Edinburgh Academy) 15-10
U16 Doubles
1st round: Fettes 3 v Tonbridge 15-6; EdAcademy 3 bt SPS 3 15-10; Fettes 2 bt Alleyn’s 3 15-9; EdAcademy 4 bt SPS 4 15-0; Winchester 2 bt CalClub 15-7; EdAcademy 5 bt Alleyn’s 4 15-0;
2nd round: EdAcademy 1 bt Fettes 3 15-1; Derby Moor bt Win/Fettes 15-9; Alleyn’s 1 bt EdAcademy 3 15-3; SPS 2 v Fettes 2 15-9; Winchester 1 bt EdAc 4 15-1; EdAc 2 bt Alleyn’s 2 16-15; Winchester 2 bt Fettes 1 15-7; SPS 1 bt EdAcademy 5 15-6
Quarter-finals: EdAcademy 1 bt DerbyM 11-5, 11-2; SPS 2 bt Alleyn’s 1 11-1, 11-9; SPS 1 bt Winchester 2 11-8, 2-11, 11-4; Winchester 1 bt EdAcademy 4 11-0, 11-7
Semi-finals: EdAcademy 1 bt SPS 2 11-0, 11-8; Winchester 1 bt SPS 1 11-5, 11-3
Final: Edinburgh Academy 1 (W Henry & J Lawrie) bt Winchester 1 (F Coleman & C Wilson) 11-8, 8-11, 11-5
3rd Place Match: SPS 1 (N Cortas & Z Okada) bt SPS 2 (R Puri & A Ponte) 15-9
Plate Final: Fettes 1 (L McCreath & L Fraser) bt EdAcademy 5 (P Jesuarul & M Mitchell) 15-13
U14 Singles
Group stage
A: 1st J Taylor (EdAc); 2nd R Kinnear (All); 3rd M White (Stoke)
B: 1st K Trichur (SPS); 2nd M Whyte (EdAc); 3rd T Walton (Stam)
C: 1st L McKean (Merc);2nd J Walker (EdAc); 3rd S Lim (SPS)
D: 1st E O’Shea (SPS); 2nd R Jamieson (EdAc); 3rd H Durnall (MoK)
E: 1st M Hunter (Stam);2nd J Agostino (SPS); 3rd R Scanlin (Merc)
F: 1st F Derry (EdAc); 2nd D Moon (All); 3rd T Vines (Stam)
G: 1st T Outred (SPS); 2nd M Teague (EdAc); 3rd L King (Stam)
H: 1st B Robinson (Win); 2nd A Roux (All); 3rd A Norton (MoK)
I: 1st W Gordon (Merc); 2nd E Hamilton-Boyle; 3rd L Scott-Tucker (MoK)
J: 1st T Kininmonth (Stoke); 2nd A Ratto (All); 3rd A Ligertwood (EdAc)
K: 1st M Khan (Ton); 2nd H Dyson (MoK); 3rd O Streather (Stam)
L: 1st L Clark (EdAc); 2nd B Knight (MoK); 3rd E Sampson-Gray (Ton)
M: 1st N Valentine (EdAc); 2nd A Tang (Merc); 3rd F Whybrow (MoK)
N: 1st B Tucker (Win); 2nd D Gilbody (Stoke); 3rd H Brooks (SPS); 4th M Usselmann (All)
O: 1st J Hammond Giles (SPS); 2nd S Luthra (Ton); 3rd N Pereira-Nentwich (All)
Knock-out stage
1st round: Taylor bt Scott-Thomas 11-0; Tang bt Agostino 11-0; Valentine bt Dyson 11-8; Outred bt Luthra 11-6; Robinson bt Teague 11-1; Kininmonth bt Jamieson 11-0; McKean bt Ratto 11-5; Clark bt Roux 11-0; Hammond Giles bt Moon 11-0; Walker bt Khan 11-4; Tucker bt Durnall 11-0; Derry bt Kinnear 11-0; Gordon bt Whyte 11-1; O’Shea bt Knight 11-1; Gilbody bt Trichur 11-8; Hunter bt Hamilton-Boyle 11-3
2nd round: Taylor bt Tang 15-3; Valentine bt Outred 15-10; Robinson bt Kininmonth 15-1; Clark bt McKean 15-8; Hammond Giles bt Walker 15-0; Derry bt Tucker 15-4; Gordon bt O’Shea 15-3; Hunter bt Gilbody 11-6
Quarter-finals: Taylor bt Valentine 15-1; Clark bt Robinson 15-13; Derry bt Hammond Giles 15-5; Gordon bt Hunter 15-2
Semi-finals: Clark bt Taylor 15-4; Gordon bt Derry 15-5
Final: W Gordon (Merchiston) bt L Clark (Edinburgh Academy) 12-10, 11-6
3rd Place Match: J Taylor (EdAc) bt F Derry (EdAc) 11-5
Plate Final: S Lim (SPS) bt A Ligertwood (EdAc) 15-12
U14 Doubles
1st round: Tonbridge 1 bt Mount Kelly 15-6; Merch. 2 bt Alleyn’s 3 15-11; SPS 3 bt Alleyn’s 2 15-0; EdAcademy 3 bt SPS 4 15-3; EdAcademy 5 bt Mount Kelly 2 15-5; EdAcademy 4 bt Stamford 2 15-4; Tonbridge 2 bt Alleyn’s 1 16-14
2nd round: EdAc 1 bt Tonbridge 1 15-0; SPS 2 bt Merch 2 16-14; Stamford 1 bt SPS 3 15-5; Merch 1 bt EdAc 3 15-6; SPS 1 bt Tonbridge 2 15-0; Mount Kelly 1 bt EdAc 4 15-13; StokeN bt EdAc 2 15-13; Winchester bt EdAc 5 15-1
Quarter-finals: EdAc 1 bt SPS 2 15-2; Merch 1 bt Stamford 1 15-0; SPS 1 bt Mount Kelly 1 15-0; Winchester bt StokeN 15-0
Semi-finals: EdAc 1 bt Merch 1 12-10, 3-11, 11-6; SPS 1 bt Winchester 11-6, 11-7
Final: Edinburgh Academy 1 (F Derry & J Taylor) bt St Paul’s 1 (J Hammond Giles & T Outred) 11-4, 11-2
3rd Place match: Merchiston 1 (Gordon & McKean) bt Winchester (Robinson & Tucker) nsr
Plate: Edinburgh Academy 2 (L Clark & M Whyte) bt Merchiston 2 (A Tang & R Scanlin) 11-8, 11-0
Bowl: Stoke Newington School (D Gilbody & T Kininmonth) bt Stamford 1 (M Hunter & O Streather) 11-7, 11-5
The final parade
Champion turn-out from the Edinburgh Academy
The two-time U18 Singles Champion from St Paul’s
The U18 Singles finalists from St Paul’s and Christ’s Hospital
Silver for Christ’s Hospital in the U18 Singles
Bronze for Alleyn’s in the U18 Singles (and Doubles!)
In the U18 Doubles it’s 2 years in a row for the St Paul’s 1st pair
The U18 Doubles finalists from Winchester and St Paul’s
Silver for Winchester in the U18 Doubles
Bronze for Alleyn’s in the U18 Doubles
U18 and U16 Singles finalists
The two-time U16 Champion from the Manchester Y Club
U16 Singles Silver for St Paul’s
Edinburgh Academy’s U16 Doubles champions
Merchiston’s first ever U14 Singles Champion
Bronze in the U14 Singles for the Academy
Smile of the day in the U14 Singles
U14 Doubles Gold for the Academy
U14 Doubles finalists from St Paul’s and the Academy
Bronze for Merchiston in the Doubles
More smiles for the Academy
Not a bad Old Paulines Wood Cup IV?
And the Oscar goes to … the GOAT