St Paul’s School, Barnes
Saturday/Sunday, 2-3 November 2024
STOP PRESS An entry of 10 for the Singles, including a squad of 5 from Cambridge Past and Present, contained neither of the winners from the past two years, Zara Elliot and Camille Beattie, both still eligible but not entered. A new name was therefore bound to be inscribed on the trophy. We were delighted to have four likely contenders for the title: Kirsten Bell, a previous captain of Fives at Durham University; Savanna Leboff, the 2021 winner of the U23 Doubles; Sophie Lundie, returning to the senior game in London to pick up where she left off at the Edinburgh Academy, and Jemima Mitchell, the current National Schools U18 champion in Singles and Doubles. It was no surprise that these four contested the semi-finals, with Kirsten nearly taken to three games by Savanna and with Jemima a little more consistent than Sophie over the course of their two games.
The final was very much a match of two halves, with Kirsten forcing persistent errors from Jemima in a very one-sided first game. The second game looked to be no different until Kirsten found Jemima whittling away her substantial lead and even briefly getting ahead. There was a very real possibly of a third game and a second schoolgirl after Camille in 2022 reaching the final — and perhaps even lifting the trophy — , but Kirsten rallied and fought her way home in two.
While the later stages of the knock-out were being contested, the Plate was played out and also produced a nail-biter in Group B between Harriet and Juliana, which allowed Harriet to go through 16-15 to an all-Cambridge final against Catherine, which the latter won in two games.
On the Sunday the Doubles were staged, with four pairs contesting a round robin. Two pairs stood out as likely winners: Kirsten Bell & Sophie Lundie and Harriet Fearon & Jemima Mitchell, and in the event it was Kirsten and Sophie who won the key match between those two pairs, enabling Kirsten to do the golden double. Juliana Murphy & Catherine Abercrombie came third, thus winning the Plate medals, which meant that Catherine likewise did the bronze double.
Unfortunately Oxford captain Abbie Evans was prevented by injury from taking part but did an immaculate job of organising the two day competition, for which the RFA thanks her warmly.
Singles
1st round: Harrriet Fearon bt Charlotte Bruce 15-2; Iona Chorley bt Lottie Merrylees 15-8
Quarter-finals: Kirsten Bell bt Catherine Abercrombie 15-0, 15-1; Savanna Leboff bt Fearon 15-0, 15-0; Sophie Lundie bt Chorley 1-5, 15-0; Jemima Mitchell bt Juliana Murphy 15-0, 15-1
Semi-finals: Bell bt Leboff 15-7, 15-13; Mitchell bt Lundie 15-8, 15-6
Final: Bell bt Mitchell 15-2, 16-14
Plate
Group A: 1st Abercrombie 30 pts; 2nd Bruce 15 pts; 3rd Merrylees 11 pts
Group B: 1st Fearon 31 pts; 2nd Murphy 30 pts; 3rd Chorley 8 pts
Final: Abercrombie bt Fearon 15-11, 15-2
Doubles
1st Kirsten Bell & Sophie Lundie 90 pts; 2nd Harriet Fearon & Jemima Mitchell 70 pts; 3rd Catherine Abercrombie & Juliana Murphy 36 pts; 4th Iona Chorley & Lottie Merrylees 8 pts
The Singles group
The Singles finalists
The Singles Plate final ends
Singles Plate winner
The Doubles group and organiser
Kirsten and Sophie win the Doubles
Doubles finalists
The Doubles medallists
The Cambridge contingent
Action shots from the Singles
