U25s: New Names On The Trophies

U25s: New Names On The Trophies

29/09/25: There were new winners of both the Men's and Women's U25 tournaments in association with Advanta Wealth at Eton yesterday, with Isaac Weaver & Fred Prickett and Issy Wong & Bethan Miles coming out on top.

Returning to Eton for the first time for a couple of seasons, this year's Under 25s was a fantastic day with good entries for both competitions, the majority of the courts full all day, a good smattering of spectators and an excited buzz around the place from start to finish despite the drizzle in the air.

The men's tournament has been dominated in recent years by current Kinnaird champions Hugo Young (winner from 2019-2024) and Riki Houlden (winner from 2015-2019). With Hugo and his partner for his last two wins Charles Plummer no longer in the Under 25 age bracket, there was an opportunity for the next generation to step up this year. One or two potential contenders were unable to make it, notably Berkhamstedian Jack Pemberton and last year's school champions Aadi Agarwal & Tanish Arjaria. There were plenty of strong pairs on show, however, with last year's runners-up Isaac Weaver & Fred Prickett looking to go one better and two other former finalists teaming up in Gwydion Wiseman & Prajeeth Sathiyamoorthy. The other main challengers seemed likely to come from the strong school contingent, with the top players from Shrewsbury, St.Olave's and Ipswich all in the mix.

There were no major shocks in the group stages with Weaver/Prickett and Wiseman/Sathiyamoorthy confirming their status as the top two seeds; there were, however, a series of firecely contested matches between the other pairs seeking to first qualify for the quarter-finals and then secure a higher seeded slot in the draw. Olavian U16 pair Luke Whitnall & Krivi Bhavsar started well, defeating Theo Seely & Fred Kottler and Shrewsbury's Callum Dovaston & Jack Lupton to claim second spot behind Isaac & Fred in Group A, with the experience of Seely & Kottler just pipping the young Salopian pair 12-11 for the final qualifying slot. Ipswich's Jake Shelley & Richard Byford put in some decent performances but had to look to the Plate to get their first win of the day.

Group B was a bit more straightforward, with Wiseman & Sathiyamoorthy first, Olavian U17s Henry Etherington & Oscar Rushton second and recent Cambridge captains Jamie Levinson & Lewis Drummond third, with Repton youngsters Tom Gilbody & Fred Tebbs impressing but just missing out on qualification, as did James Wheale & Tom Salter.

Jamie & Lewis confirmed their quarter-final spot with a tight 12-9 win over fellow Cantabs Luke Maxwell & Jamie Lai, who had finished third in Group C behind Shrewsbury School's seniors Michael Draper & Freddie Ogilby and an interesting Ipswich/St.Olave's alliance in Daniel Ingram & Aayan Shetty, who qualified in first place with an impressive 12-5 win in the battle for top spot. Another Shrewsbury pair in Nathaniel Hammond & Rufus Darke and the Carthusian/Westway Brigands pairing of Bertie Marshall-Rice & Dylan Clarke played some fine fives in Group C without always getting the results their play deserved.

The morning shake up over, the action really began to hot up after lunch. The seven pairs who didn't make it through to the quarter-finals split into two further groups to produce some Plate finals. Lai & Maxwell succumbed to injury, leaving Shelley & Byford to finally break their duck in the Plate C final against Wheale & Salter and Hammond & Darke to repeat their morning win over Marshall-Rice & Clarke in Plate B. The two group winners faced off in the final, an excellent match between two pairs who both have bright futures ahead if them if they continue to improve at the current rate, with Repton's Gilbody & Tebbs a bit tidier and more consistent than Shrewsbury's Dovaston & Lupton in a 15-9 win.

The top two seeds continued their serene progress in the quarter-finals, despite some spirited resistance from Levinson & Drummond and Seely & Kottler. The other two quarer-finals matched up the school pairs, Shrewsbury's Draper & Ogilby putting in their best performance of the day to win 15-9 against Rushton & Etherington and Ingram & Shetty making short work of an under par Whitnall & Bhavsar.

Both school pairs then found themselves unable to compete with the step up in standard in their respective semis, the top two seeds dropping only nine points between them as they both moved into the final without undue fuss.

The final promised much on paper, featuring four experienced players who have all been in and around the latter stages of age group, university and open tournaments in the last few years. It felt as if a three game classic might be on the cards, but Isaac & Fred had other ideas, imposing themselves on Gwydion & Prajeeth from the start with a superior set piece, fewer errors and a dominant all court attacking display. A couple of favourable ledges towards the latter stages of the second game hastened the end, but in truth this was a decisive victory for Isaac & Fred who ran out deserved winners 12-7, 12-4, a first EFA tournament victory for both of them after a series of semi-final and final appearances between them across various competitions.

After the disappointment of not having a competition in 2024, the women's U25 tournament was back with a bang this year, 12 pairs taking part from a range of clubs, schools and universities in an excellent competition played at a very high standard across the board. In a mirror image of the men's tournament, there were two "older" pairs coming in as favourites with a group of younger school pairs behind them looking to claim a scalp or two. Group A was dominated by the exciting pairing of Issy Wong & Bethan Miles. Both are more widely known for their cricketing achievements, for Warwickshire & England in Issy's case and Surrey for Bethan. Despite not having much time to get on a Fives court these days, both have an impeccable Fives pedigree, with Salopian Issy a former U21 national champion (in 2020) and Bethan a multiple national schools champion across different age groups at Berkhamsted, including a win over Issy in the 2017 U15 final. They soon hit their stride, sweeping aside all of their group opponents for the loss of only three points in total, including the top Shrewsbury pair of Sienna Earles & Millie Parry, who could potentially have caused a few problems but never managed to get a foothold in the game. Sienna & Millie made no mistakes in their other matches, however, qualifying comfortably for the semi-finals in second place ahead of ex-Cambridge pair Emilia Collinson & Alex Davies, Repton/Oxford scratch pairing BeBe Stannard & Holly Culhane, who grew in confidence and finished the group stages strongly, and two younger pairs in Anastasia Moore & Rebecca Kelly from Ipswich and a rotating Shrewsbury three of Mary Tomlinson, Aamna Khan and Ariana Marais.

Group B was won by Berkhamstedians Freya Butler & Zoe Wheale, although they were pushed hard by Repton's Bri Hansen-Hoare & Meghna Rajan and last year's U14 national champions, Betsy Laws & Millie Hodgkinson from Ipswich. The battle for second spot between these two pairs was won impressively and decisively by the Repton pair, who therefore made it into the semi-finals, ahead of Betsy & Millie, Shrewsbury's Bella Clark & Tiffany Leung, another Shrewsbury pair in Cerys Tippings & Maddie Geary and Cambridge's Lucy Bland & Anna Fitzpatrick.

The third and fourth placed pairs then competed for Plate A, with Betsy & Millie coming out on top and the fifth and sixth placed pairs fought out Plate B, with victory going to Maddie & Cerys.

In the main semi-finals, Issy & Bethan continued in cruise mode, England (Issy) comfortably winning the battle of the international cricketers against Switzerland (Meghna). The other semi-final was much tighter with Sienna & Millie playing their best Fives of the day to take Freya & Zoe to 10-10 and then 12-12 in the first game. It was the Berkhamstedian pair who won it 15-12, however and they were able to go on and dominate the second game to take their place in the final. Bri & Meghna recovered well to win the third/fourth play-off against Sienna & Millie, with both school pairs having produced some very impressive Fives over the course of the day.

The results leading up to the final suggested that Freya & Zoe would have their work cut out against Issy & Bethan, but the Berkhamsted pair are experienced players and immediately showed that they were in the contest, taking an early lead and posing Issy & Bethan problems that they hadn't yet had to deal with, especially at the set piece which had hitherto been one way traffic for them. The first game produced some outstanding Fives with the four players all offering different things - Freya returning cut well and controlling things on top step, Zoe volleying with plenty of attacking intent but also a good measure of accuracy, Issy cutting hard and hurtling around the court and Bethan demonstrating her trademark ambidexterity and placement, while never once looking hurried. With the score at 8-8, it was all to play for but it was at this point that the combination of power and control in the Wong/Miles partnership began to tell and they seized the game by the scruff of the neck, moving ahead decisively to take it 12-8. They never looked back from that point on, and while Freya & Zoe continued to play some good quality Fives, they weren't able to exert the same pressure in the second game as they had in the first, allowing Issy & Bethan to sweep out to a 12-5 win and to claim the title. It was a real treat watching these two talented players play again and they were deserving winners - we very much hope we get to see them both on court again before too long!

Our thanks go to Eton for hosting the tournament, to Advanta for their continued support and to all of the players and spectators who made it such an enjoyable day.

Women's Tournament

Semi-Finals

I.Wong & B.Miles beat B.Hansen-Hoare & M.Rajan 2-0 (12-1, 12-1)

Z.Wheale & F.Butler beat S.Earles & M.Parry 2-0 (15-12, 12-3)

Final

I.Wong & B.Miles beat Z.Wheale & F.Butler 2-0 (12-8, 12-5)

3rd/4th

B.Hansen-Hoare & M.Rajan beat S.Earles & M.Parry 12-9

Plate A

Semi-Finals

I.Clark & YC.Leung beat E.Collinson & A.Davies 15-12

B.Laws & M.Hodgkinson beat B.Stannard & H.Culhane 15-1