Graham Turnbull Trophy: Three In A Row For Highgate
09/12/19: 29 pairs from 11 different schools/centres took part in the Turnbull Trophy in association with Advanta Wealth at Eton yesterday with seven different schools represented in the quarter-finals. The trophy was retained by Highgate, as Jonny Ho & George Everitt beat Olavians Howard Wiseman & Prajeeth Sathiyamoorthy in the final.
This tournament provides a fantastic opportunity for school players to partner adults, providing a great learning experience for the youngsters and creating important links between the school and club game. It has attracted a strong entry in recent years and despite a few high profile absentees, the 2019 edition managed to continue the trend, with 29 pairs from all points of the Fives compass making it to Eton.
The strength in depth of Highgate at both school and Old Cholmeleian level was evident with eight strong pairs all taking part and there were also pleasing turnouts from Ipswich (5 pairs), St.Bart's (4 pairs) and Shrewsbury (4 pairs). The field was completed by pairs from Westway, City of London, QE Barnet, Westminster, Harrow, Eton and St.Olave's with the ages of the participants ranging from 11 to 60+.
The morning group stage shuffled the pack, producing a Last Sixteen for the main competition and 13 pairs for Plate B. The Last Sixteen stage then provided a further sifting process, with the top eight pairs heading for the quarter-finals and the next eight into Plate A.
Highlights of the Last Sixteen round were an excellent win for the Harrow pair of Fred Prickett & Karen Hird (a late replacement for the injured Manuel de Souza Girao) over Highgate 4 (Charlie Duah & Will Ryan) and a stunning comeback from 11-1 down by Highgate 2 (Abhishek Bhattacharya & Joel Robb) to dash the hopes of the QE Barnet pair. The quarter-final line-up was completed by the first pairs from Highgate, Westminster, Shrewsbury, Ipswich, Eton and St.Olave's.
Harrow's run came to an abrupt end in the quarter-finals, with Highgate's top pair of Jonny Ho & George Everitt looking in ominously good form and Highgate 2 made it an all-Cholmeleian semi-final by continuing the momentum gained from their comeback in the previous round to defeat Westminster's Hatam Barma & Riki Houlden, denying onlookers the chance to watch Ho & Houlden take each other on a week after winning the London Tournament together. In the other half of the draw, the Eton/Sunningdale pair of Seb Hopkins & Tom Dawson found Shrewsbury's Sam Welti & Ed Evans too tough a nut to crack and the experienced Olavian pair of Howard Wiseman & Prajeeth Sathiyamoorthy put paid to the hopes of Ipswich youngsters Isaac Weaver & Cam Lyle.
The semi-finals were pretty straightforward, with Highgate 1 beating Highgate 2 with a minimum of fuss and St.Olave's having too much nous for Shrewsbury, setting up an intriguing final. The first half of the final was a very cat and mouse affair, with both sides feeling each other out and neither able to take control of proceedings. The decisive break came at 7-7 as Jonny & George suddenly made their move, returning a series of cuts and taking control of the match, which they quickly went on to win 15-8, claiming the trophy for Highgate for the third successive year.
The rest of the field were busy exhausting themselves in a wide variety of plate competitions. Plate A for those knocked out in the Last Sixteen turned into a mini-Highgate competition with only QEB able to offer a different option in the last four. The final was the last game of the day to finish and saw Duah & Ryan (Highgate 4) overturn the internal rankings with a win over Highgate 3 (Aroop Bhattacharya & Justin Rathe).
Plate B was won by Shrewsbury 4 (Alex Whittal & guest Salopian Ralph Morgan), who gained revenge in the final for an earlier group stage defeat at the hands of Highgate 8 (Niifio & Ethan Addy). The least surprising result of the day was the win in Plate C for Ipswich 4, led by plate specialist Tony Stubbs, who came back from 9-11 down with partner Victor Whytock to beat Marc Tavra & Dan Rawlins of St.Bart's 12-11. Genius. Plate D was another win for Highgate as Alex Tansey & Emma Williets outlasted Ed Porter & Scott Pender Thaw of St.Bart's.
My thanks to Eton and George Thomason for hosting the tournament, to Advanta Wealth for their sponsorship and to everyone who helped put pairs together and came and played on the day. If you weren't there this time round, make sure you are in 2020!
Results
Last 16
Highgate 1 (G.Everitt & J.Ho) beat Ipswich 2 (L.Free & C.Cooley) 15-3
Harrow (F.Prickett & K.Hird) beat Highgate 4 (W.Ryan & C.Duah) 15-11
Highgate 2 (J.Robb & Ab.Bhattacharya) beat QEB (A.? & V.Gudiwala) 15-12
Westminster (H.Barma & R.Houlden) beat Westway (J.Levinson & A.Field) 15-8
Shrewsbury 1 (E.Evans & S.Welti) beat Highgate 5 (M.Barry & D.Lioubimov) 15-6
Eton (S.Hopkins & T.Dawson) beat Shrewsbury 2 (B.Hulme & A.Morris) 15-7
Ipswich 1 (I.Weaver & C.Lyle) beat Highgate 3 (J.Rathe & Ar.Bhattacharya) 15-8
St.Olave's (P.Sathiyamoorthy & H.Wiseman) beat Highgate 7 (M.Anderson & D.Mew) 15-3
Quarter-Finals
Highgate 1 beat Harrow 15-2
Highgate 2 beat Westminster 15-5
Shrewsbury 1 beat Eton 15-9
St.Olave's beat Ipswich 1 15-5
Semi-Finals
Highgate 1 beat Highgate 2 15-1
St.Olave's beat Shrewsbury 1 15-7
Final
Highgate 1 beat St.Olave's 15-8
Quarter-Finalists Plate
Harrow beat Ipswich 1 12-11
Westminster beat Harrow 12-4
Plate A
Quarter-Finalists
Highgate 4 beat Ipswich 2 12-1
QEB beat Westway 12-10
Highgate 5 beat Shrewsbury 2 12-11
Highgate 3 beat Highgate 7 12-11
Semi-Finals
Highgate 4 beat QEB 12-8
Highgate 3 beat Highgate 5 12-6
Final
Highgate 4 beat Highgate 3 12-7
Plate B
Semi-Finals
Highgate 8 (E.Addy & N.Addy) beat CLS 1 (A.Langdon & S.Packer) 12-11
Shrewsbury 4 (A.Whittal & R.Morgan) beat Ipswich 3 (E.Caldwell & P.Boughton) 12-5
Final
Shrewsbury 4 beat Highgate 8 12-6
Plate C
Semi-Finals
Ipswich 4 (V.Whytock & T.Stubbs) beat CLS 2 (L.Gringras & J.Greenhouse) w/o
St.Bart's 1 (D.Rawlins & M.Tavra) beat St.Bart's 2 (R.Chester & W.Seath) 12-7
Final
Ipswich 4 beat St.Bart's 1 12-11
Plate D
Semi-Finals
Highgate 6 (E.Williets & A.Tansey) beat St.Bart's 4 (T.Rawlins & L.Rawlins) 12-2
St.Bart's 3 (S.Pender Thaw & E.Porter) beat Ipswich 5 (A.Phillips & D.Seymour-Howell) 12-3
Shrewsbury 3 (J.Fraser-Andrews & W.Street) scratched
Final
Highgate 6 beat St.Bart's 3 12-2
3rd/4th
Ipswich 5 beat St.Bart's 4 12-8
