Report from the Men’s National U25 Championships

St Paul’s School, Barnes
Saturday/Sunday, 17-18 October 2025

Bob Dolby reports: In a slightly smaller entry than in previous years there was no lack of hard-fought contests, even a surprise or two.

In the Singles Joe Sumner had his traditional strength-sapping three-gamer, this year with Jeremy Hughes, which ended 16-15 to Joe; Theo Vernacchio had a morale-boosting victory over fellow Bristolian Cameron Low; and Patrick Harrison upset the seeding by beating Yarin Negyal. Gwydion Wiseman and defending champion Freddie Hammond Giles eventually met in a final where the score gives very little idea of the intensity and excitement of a match where deft dabs were as decisive as full-blooded drives and front-wall smashes, with Freddie ultimately edging more of the rallies than his opponent and thus successfully defending the title he won last year for the first time. Yarin Negyal dominated a five-man Plate, winning all of his matches, and Cameron Low demonstrated his true quality in winning the Bowl for quarter-final losers.

6 pairs contested the Doubles. With Archie McCreath no longer eligible, a new winning combination was guaranteed. With all pairs either unfamiliar with each other or not having played together since their schooldays and every player striking the ball ferociously round all four walls we had more lets than the proverbial hot dinners. That notwithstanding, Marcus Cloke Browne & Freddie Kottler produced some cantabrigian magic to overcome Bristol’s Jeremy Hughes & Alex Upton in the Plate; and Cameron Low “played a blinder” (thus the GenSec), ably backed up by Theo Vernacchio, to beat Stuart Scott & Gwydion Wiseman in the main final. It was a good day for Alleyn Old Boys: Theo’s first title in a senior tournament, Gwydion and Stuart Scott’s 3 Silvers between them, and Yarin’s Plate. And a day to be proud of for Bristol University’s resurgent Fives Club, too.

Warmest thanks go to Chris Blakeley for his support of the tournament over the two days, and to the outgoing organiser Joe Sumner, who has played in these championships every year since 2016, when he was a young schoolboy at Bedford Modern, and has run the event these past several years. A hard act to follow for Stuart Scott, who has kindly agreed to take on the job for the next phase.

Singles

1st round: P Harrison bt Y Negyal 15-9, 15-11; S Scott bt Al Goodwin 15-8, 15-8; V Fikhter bt F Kottler 15-8, 11-15, 15-11; J Sumner bt J Hughes 12-15, 15-9, 16-15; T Vernacchio bt J Pyman 15-3, 15-8
Quarter-finals: F Hammond Giles bt Harrison 15-1, 15-1; Scott bt Sumner 15-1, 15-3; G Wiseman bt Fikhter 15-0, 15-3; Vernacchio bt C Low 15-6, 15-4
Semi-finals: Hammond Giles bt Scott 15-1, 15-1; Wiseman bt Vernacchio 15-3, 15-3
Final: Hammond Giles bt Wiseman 15-4, 15-5

Plate: 1st Negyal W4 44 pts; 2nd Hughes W3 37 pts; 3rd Goodwin W2 37 pts; 4th Kottler W1 29 pts; 5th Pyman 17 pts
Bowl: Low bt Harrison 15-1

Doubles

Quarter-finals: Harrison & Negyal bt Hughes & Upton 15-11, 15-8; Fikhter & Goodwin bt M Cloke Browne & Kottler 12-15, 15-11, 15-9
Semi-finals: Scott & Wiseman bt Harrison & Negyal 15-11, 15-7; Low & Vernacchio bt Fikhter & Goodwin 15-0, 15-4
Final: Low & Vernacchio bt Scott & Wiseman 15-4, 15-3

Plate: Cloke Browne & Kottler bt Hughes & Upton 15-8, 15-13