Report from the Women’s Scottish Open 2026

Fettes College, Edinburgh

Saturday/Sunday, 12-13 September 2026

Stop Press This is the second staging of the first of 7 ranking tournaments for Women’s Fives. Camille Beattie underlined her status as National Singles champion by beating defending Scottish Champion Louise Mathias in a three-game Singles final. Helena Tunks won the Singles Plate, beating her doubles partner Savanna Leboff. In the Doubles Louise Mathias teamed up with Martha Nugent to win the final against Helena & Savanna in straight games. Julie McIntyre successfully defended the Doubles Plate, this time partnering Edith Courtman. Warmest thanks to those who travelled from London to play, to the young contingent from the Edinburgh Academy and to the ever keen members of the City of Durham Club for supporting this fledgeling event.

Organiser Louise Mathias reports: The Women’s Scottish Open was held for the second time last weekend, this time over two days, bringing together players from London, Durham and Edinburgh for a fantastic weekend of Fives.

The Singles on Saturday started with a knockout draw which saw some high-quality quarter-final matches. Martha Nugent took on Helena Tunks, a repeat meeting, after the pair also faced each other at the Winchester Fives Nationals. Martha remained dominant, winning 11-4, 11-6 after some great rallies and strong hitting from both. Louise Mathias faced Savanna Leboff in another exciting match, keeping the pressure on to win in two games. Julie McIntyre provided some resistance in her match against Kirsten Bell, with some great serving and nifty angles, but Kirsten showed consistent and strong play to win 11-2, 11-0.

Martha then went on to play Camille in the semi-finals, a thoroughly entertaining match that had all spectators gripped. Both players showed great power and determination, giving us the longest rally of the day of over a minute. In the end, finding good length and depth, Camille pulled ahead to win in two games 11-6, 11-6.

In the other semi-final, Kirsten Bell played Louise Mathias, a new encounter at this stage in a tournament. Kirsten showed some great serving and quick balls, but it was Louise who came out on top with a score of 11-1, 11-0.

The main draw then took a break for the Plate round robin, which provided some hard fought games between Durham players, Edith, Ellie, Florence, Fiona and Julie. A particular mention goes to Fiona Courtman, who played some brilliant Fives in her first tournament appearance. In the end, the Plate final went according to seeding, with a best-of-3 contest between Savanna Leboff and Helena Tunks. This was another very entertaining match to watch, with some great play from both and some very close rallies. Despite a good comeback from Savanna in the second game, Helena stayed ahead to win the Plate 11-5, 11-7.

A much anticipated final then took place between Camille Beattie and defending champion Louise Mathias. As expected, this game proved to be a close match with both players showing great retrieval and movement around the court. After reaching neck and neck at 8-8 Louise pulled away to win the first game 11-8, persevering through a few changes of serve as Camille defended 3 game-balls. Camille came back fighting in the second game, taking a lead from the beginning. With a few down serves coming from Louise, Camille built a steady lead while finding good placement of the ball to win the second game 11-2. The deciding game started with some excellent play from both players, but it was Camille who found the nicks to win some early points. She continued to build on this momentum and kept the pressure on despite some long rallies and deservedly came away with the title after winning the third game 11-3.

The Doubles draw started on Sunday morning in a round robin format. In addition to those who had entered the Singles, we were joined by three more Edinburgh Academy pairs. In the group stage, Helena Tunks & Savanna Leboff and Louise Mathias & Martha Nugent showed clear dominance to come top of their respective groups. This put them through to face each other for a head-to-head final.

The Doubles plate was another closely contended round robin, with some equally matched pairs from the City of Durham club and the Edinburgh Academy. Particularly, Iona Stubberfield & Isobelle Gair fought off an impressive comeback from Ellie Ranson & Florence Byng to win 11-9. Against Emily Buchan & Lily Parkes, Ellie & Florence showed impressive determination and strong hitting to win 11-8. However, it was Edith Courtman & Julie McIntyre who came through without losing a match to be very deserving winners of the trophy for the Doubles Plate.

To round off the tournament, Helena Tunks & Savanna Leboff played Louise Mathias & Martha Nugent in the Doubles final. It proved to be a remarkable game with some long rallies and great hitting; it was Louise & Martha who came away with the win 11-1, 11-3.

Many thanks to all players and spectators for making it a fantastic weekend. A great start to the season of Women’s Fives.

Singles

1st round: M Nugent bt F Byng 11-0, 11-3; K Bell bt F Courtman 11-0, 11-0; S Leboff bt E Ranson 11-0, 11-0

Quarter-finals: C Beattie bt E Courtman 11-1, 11-0; M Nugent bt H Tunks 11-4, 11-6; K Bell bt J McIntyre 11-2, 11-0; L Mathias bt S Leboff 11-1, 11-0

Semi-finals: C Beattie bt M Nugent 11-6, 11-6; L Mathias bt K Bell 11-1, 11-0

Final: C Beattie bt L Mathias 8-11, 11-2, 11-3

Plate Group A: 1st H Tunks W3; 2nd E Ranson W2; 3rd E Courtman W1; 4th F Courtman

Plate Group B: 1st S Leboff W2; 2nd J McIntyre W1; 3rd F Byng

Plate Final: H Tunks bt S Leboff 11-5, 11-7

Doubles

Group A: 1st L Mathias & M Nugent W2; 2nd I Gair & I Stubberfield W1 ; 3rd F Byng & E Ranson

Group B: 1st S Leboff & H Tunks W3; 2nd E Courtman & J McIntyre W2; 3rd E Buchan & L Parkes W1; 4th J Miedema & L Rolfe

Final: Mathias & Nugent bt Leboff & Tunks 11-1, 11-3

Plate: 1st E Courtman & J McIntyre W4; 2nd I Gair & I Stubberfield W3; 3rd F Byng & E Ranson W2; 4th E Buchan & L Parkes W1; 5th J Miedema & L Rolfe