Marlborough College
Sunday, 15th December 2024
STOP PRESS Tim Hebblethwaite won the President’s Cup for a second time, having won with Emrys Thursfield in 2021, and Shinan Zhang became the third woman to have held the trophy after Martha Nugent in 2018 and Helena Tunks in 2022. In a traditionally long and full day of social but competitive Fives there were plenty of surprises and several three-gamers to report. In a further boost to Mixed Doubles, three of the four competitions were won by mixed pairs.
Hamish Buchanan reports: Sixty-six years after the inaugural President’s Cup we were treated to one of the most even competitions seen in any era, with the pundits struggling to achieve any consensus on the top four contenders, let alone the winners.
Two three-game matches in the first round were followed by seven more in the whole day and there were many more close games throughout all four competitions.
The final of the main Cup was contested over two high quality games, with Tim Hebblethwaite & Shinan Zhang almost taking it to the wire in beating Alex Goodwin & James Hughes 15-13, 15-12. The second game pivoted on an extremely tense passage at 12-12, which could have swung the balance in favour of the eventual runners-up, but saw the eventual champions hold their nerve under pressure to take the Cup: Tim’s second win and Shinans’s first on her debut. That debut appearance required some arm-twisting from the organiser and we hope that she will be returning for many more once the President’s Cup bug has taken hold.
Another first-time participant and trophy winner was Ed Carr, taking the T-Pot with Harvey Bishop against Chris Jones and emergency sub Hamish Buchanan (replacing long-time doubles partner Bruce Hanton, who suffered a calf injury in the semi-final) in an epic with a 16-14 third game. Ed later reported “Was in a state yesterday, but really enjoyed it, great fun”. A perfect tag line for the tournament.
The Love Mug was won by Holly Nugent & Lewis Keates in another three-game final against Ashwin Ahuja & Will Bishop, who managed to make this their third three-gamer of the day. It would seem that some players just can’t spend enough time on court.
Finally the Mate’s Plate was won, of course in three games, by Lizzie Ware & Theo Parker. Last year Theo was disappointed to exit in three matches, this year he complained that the final was his “fifth match of the day!” It seems that, for some, the amount of Fives played on one day has to be just right. Meanwhile Lizzie just got on with it.
Many thanks to Marlborough College and Tom Kiggell for the use of their courts.
Postscript: President’s Cup veteran, Guy Matthews, was disappointed in his effort to become the sixth member of the Grand Slam club, a place reserved for those who have won all four trophies. Guy has yet to win the elusive T-Pot and was on a mission to claim this rare thing, a trophy hidden behind a labyrinthine draw developed by Tom Wood. Nevertheless, Guy had a plan, which in the second round involved many, many late calls of ‘yours’ delivered at an almost impossible last second for his partner Dave Butler to cover. Dave struggled and they lost the match. The plan was coming together and now the path to the T-Pot was clearly defined: it was simple, keep winning and the Grail was there to be won. What could go wrong? They lost in the next match to Alex Smith and Penn Chai. Some say that Dave’s heart was never in this quest, others that the quest is too hard for the average Fives player. We know that Guy will be back, a man cannot be separated from his destiny.
Selected Results
President’s Cup: Tim Hebblethwaite & Shinan Zhang bt Alex Goodwin & Jim Hughes 15-13, 15-12
Love Mug: Lewis Keates & Holly Nugent bt Ashwin Ahuja & Will Bishop 15-9, 11-15, 15-6
T-Pot: Harvey Bishop & Ed Carr bt Hamish Buchanan & Chris Jones 14-16, 15-8, 16-14
Mate’s Plate: Theo Parker & Lizzie Ware bt Tom Kiggell & Nick Whitney 15-11, 7-15, 15-7
Also played: Sarthak Garella & Quentin Hoad; Dave Butler & Guy Matthews; Freddie Hammond Giles & Adam Piekos; Nick Geere & Ben Yass; Chris Davey & Helena Tunks; Bruce Hanton & Chris Jones; Penn Chai & Alex Smith; Julian Aquilina & Abbie Evans; Savanna Leboff & Tom Maconie
President’s Cup for Shinan & Tim
Love Mug for Holly & Lewis
T-Pot for Ed & Harvey
Mate’s Plate for Theo & Lizzie
Action photos
Great to see Hamish back on court!