Berkhamsted's Pett Project

Mark Williams reports:

03/02/20: Nine teams from five schools entered this increasingly popular tournament, with Berkhamsted underlining their extraordinary depth at this level with five teams.

Pools matches consisted of one game, and Berkhamsted 1 and St Olave's qualified easily from Pool A. Bertkhamsted 2 proved themselves strongest in Pool B, and Cranleigh just squeezed into second place, defeating Highgate 2-1 in the decisive match.

In the semi-finals, which were best of three games, Berkhamsted 1 beat Cranleigh in all three well contested pairs, but the other semi-final was very close: St Olave's won the first pair easily, and the second in two set games, but Berkhamsted 2 eventually won the third pair 2-1 after three tight games.

In the 3rd place final, Cranleigh split their first pair to good effect, beating the Berkhamsted 2 first pair in straight games and after two very close games, winning the decisive third 12-3.

In the final, Berkhamsted 1 won all three pairs in straight games, nearly dropped the 2nd game; St Olave's fought hard throughout and were clearly the second best team in the tournament.

Congratulations to Berkhamsted upon winning the trophy for the second year running: they have enormous strength in depth and real quality at the top end.