Durham Racecourse
Saturday/Sunday, 25-26 February 2023
STOP PRESS In a strong field Ed Kay was successful in retaining his Singles title, winning it in the expected final against Dan Tristao for a third consecutive time. Dan got his reward in the Doubles, which he won for a fourth time, with his third partner, Dan Grant, at the expense of two-time defending champions Ollie Arnold & Ben Beltrami in a tense three-gamer. Max Bolt, Alleyn Old Boy and student at Manchester University, won the Singles Plate, and Ben Jourdan paired up with Lewis Keates to win the Doubles Plate. Warm thanks go to organiser Julian Aquilina and to RFA President Julie McIntyre and her City of Durham Fives Club for hosting this tournament, which traditionally attracts a top-class entry.
Organiser Julian Aquilina reports: Ed Kay successfully defended his singles title to retain the Ferens Trophy for the third time in a row, beating Dan Tristao in an epic 3-game final. Dan still came away from the tournament as a champion though, pairing up with Dan Grant to win the Fuller Cup. It was DT’s fourth doubles trophy in Durham, and DG’s first.
The Singles on Saturday featured 24 players, with six Durham University students joined by competitors from all over the country — Edinburgh, Manchester, Derby, Tiverton, Cambridge, and London.
Progress through the first three rounds, including the quarter-finals, was relatively straightforward. The only 3-gamer up to that point was between Ben Jourdan and Dan Grant in the second round, with Ben playing a blinder to nab the first game 12-10 before Dan surged to victory. Meanwhile, Ben Kirwan upset the seedings to take out Ollie Arnold (as he did at the National Singles), and Richie Murby and Tom Watkison did well to suppress spirited performances from Lewis Keates and Isaac Weaver respectively.
The top four seeds faced off in the semi-finals, and after a fairly comfortable first game for each of the top two seeds (Dan Tristao and Ed Kay), Tom Watkinson and Ben Beltrami turned their fortunes around to level both matches at 1-game-all. However, in the deciders, Dan and Ed were simply too good, setting up a repeat of the 2019 final. Although 2019’s final had been very one-sided in Ed’s favour, the spectators all expected a close match this time round, and the gallery was packed for the 7pm start time.
True to its promise, the final was full of fast and furious rallies, with amazing displays of shot-making and unbelievable foot speed and retrieval from both players. Dan constantly made use of all four corners of the court, bringing Ed forward with dropshots time and time again, but Ed was more than up to the challenge, and he took the first game 11-7. The intensity ratcheted up and up in the second game, with even more extraordinary movement on display and a dramatic finish seeing Dan clinch it 12-11 to force a decider. However, Ed brought the match under control in the third, finding more nicks and punishing more dropshots, and after exactly one hour he sealed victory with a return winner, 11-4. That’s now three singles titles from three campaigns at the North of England for Ed.
In the plate, Max Bolt (Manchester University) and Alex Kessell-Holland (Durham University) topped their groups, with Max ultimately sealing a 15-8 victory in the final to lift the coveted plate.
On Sunday, most of the players returned for the Doubles, joined by seven fresh faces from the City of Durham club and the university. 12 pairs took to the courts, and quite quickly the top four seeds made it through to the semi-finals, although Jourdan & Keates put up some solid resistance against Kirwan & Watkinson, as did Scott & Weaver against last year’s runners up, Aquilina & Kay.
In the semi-finals, top seeds and two-time defending champions Arnold & Beltrami needed three games to oust Kirwan & Watkinson in an incredibly hard-hitting battle, while Grant & Tristao played smart doubles to down Aquilina & Kay in straight sets.
The final was a stellar showcase of power, touch and retrieval, with the momentum swinging back and forth. The Dans edged the first game 12-10, before Ben and Ollie bounced back strongly in the second, winning it 11-5. Ben and Ollie seemed to have found the form which had won them the West of England together this season, and they certainly looked to have the upper hand going into the third. But the Dans were able to keep things close. After a ball change at 7-8 their experience proved valuable in the tightest of moments, and they scored a few points in quick succession to win 11-9.
Alongside the main draw, many more matches were played, including a round robin group for the first-round losers and another (the official plate) for the quarter-final losers. In the Plate, Jourdan & Keates and Scott & Weaver won their first two group games. Instead of a single game to decide the group, they went straight into a best-of-three final, which Ben and Lewis won 11-9 11-6.
Once again, special thanks to Julie McIntyre and the rest of the City of Durham club for all their help with the organisation and fantastic catering — players and spectators alike thoroughly enjoyed the spread.
Finally, it was great to have such a well-attended event and a high-quality entry once again. Thank you to everyone who participated.
Results
Singles
1st round: M Morgan bt O Wallace-Vorberg 15-6; L Keates bt E Bevilacqua 15-3; O McIntyre bt A Tillotson 15-1; I Weaver bt M Bolt 15-0; S Scott bt M Matthews 15-0; B Kirwan bt A Kessel-Holland 15-0; B Jourdan bt T Wakelam 15-1; M Cloke Browne bt D Tillotson 15-0
2nd round: D Tristao bt Morgan 11-3, 11-5; R Murby bt Keates 11-4, 11-7; J Aquilina bt McIntyre 11-1, 11-0; T Watkinson bt Weaver 11-7, 11-2; B Beltrami bt Scott 11-1, 11-3; Kirwan bt O Arnold 11-1, 11-5; D Grant bt Jourdan 10-12, 11-4, 11-3; E Kay bt Cloke Browne 11-2, 11-2
Quarter-finals: Tristao bt Murby 11-6, 11-7; Watkinson bt Aquilina 11-3, 11-1; Beltrami bt Kirwan 11-4, 11-3; Kay bt Grant 11-3, 11-9
Semi-finals: Tristao bt Watkinson 11-1, 7-11, 11-2; Kay bt Beltrami 11-4, 6-11, 11-1
Final: Kay bt Tristao 11-7, 11-12, 11-4
Plate: M Bolt bt A Kessel-Holland 15-8
Doubles
1st round: A Hicks & O McIntyre bt N Jerome & M Morgan 15-12; B Jourdan & L Keates bt M Matthews & A Tillotson w/o ; B Kirwan & T Watkinson bt M Bolt & O Wallace-Vorberg 15-5 ; S Scott & I Weaver bt C Beattie & I Wright 15-1 ; M Cloke Browne & S Fraser bt L Hogarth & E Vallascas 15-0
Quarter-finals: O Arnold & B Beltrami bt McIntyre & Hicks 11-1, 11-1; KIrwan & Watkinson bt Jourdan & Keates 11-4, 11-6 ; J Aquilina & E Kay bt Scott & Weaver 11-6, 11-4 ; D Grant & D Tristao bt Cloke Browne & Fraser 11-2, 11-1
Semi-finals: Arnold & Beltrami bt Kirwan & Watkinson 11-4, 9-11, 11-4; Grant & Tristao bt Aquilina & Kay 11-5, 11-7
Final: Grant & Tristao bt Arnold & Beltrami 12-10, 5-11, 11-9
Plate: Jourdan & Keates bt Scott & Weaver 11-9, 11-6
Organiser Julian and host Julie
Third win a row for Ed
Thus the final ends for Dan and Ed!
Singles Plate winner Max from Manchester University
Action from the Singles: Oscar to Julian
Doubles champions Dan & Dan
Runners-up Ollie & Ben
Before action in the Doubles final
Doubles Plate winners Ben & Lewis
One good reason to take part!