Varsity Match: Cambridge Close The Gap But Oxford Still Carry The Day

04/03/26: Oxford had the better of the 2026 Varsity Match at Eton on Saturday, but overall the match was one of the most competitive for some time.

The ongoing evolution of the Eton Fives Varsity Match was again evident at Eton on Saturday, with the number of participants who have learned their Fives at university now significantly outweighing the number who played at school and the men's match increasingly following the path of introducing newcomers to the game and training them up that the women's teams have been treading for some time.

As well as the preponderance of adult beginners there were also a notable number of players who perhaps more dabbled with the sport while at school (there were players on Saturday from St.Olave's, Highgate, Westminster and Berkhamsted who could be put in this category) and who have then rediscovered it as students or played at schools where Fives is a more niche pursuit (RGS High Wycombe, Oakham and Emanuel). Added to the smattering of dedicated school players and even a Winchester Fives player, it is fair to say that the Varsity Match is becoming an increasingly diverse and democratic occasion and is all the better for it with Saturday's match producing twelve courts covering a wide range of experience and standard and forty-eight players all enjoying a great afternoon of Fives.

Oxford have been the dominant force in recent years, building up a formidable run of victories in the men's match, Cambridge last winning the men's first team match in 2016. That run was extended this year with another 3-0 triumph for the Dark Blues, but the narrowing of the gap was evident in the second team match, which was won 2-1 by Cambridge and which should give them great heart for next year.

Although Oxford had lost all bar one (Nick Choustikov) of last year's top six, they were able to promote four of last year's very strong second team to the top ranks, with Olavians Tommy Farmer, Aaditya Deshmukh and Rohan Tse all earning Half-Blues alongside Shiloh Wu, who learned his Eton Fives at Summer Fields before switching codes at Winchester. Nick was joined in the Oxford top six by a second ex-Cambridge student turned Oxford post-grad as Lewis Drummond switched sides after four successive appearances in the Light Blue ranks. Tommy has already won the U21 title this year and he & Aaditya won in straight games at first pair against Jamie Levinson & Salopian Giles Holliday, despite Tommy taking a ball to the eye early on. James Hanrahan & Tom Ford put in a strong performance for Cambridge at second pair, pushing Choustikov & Wu hard, especially in the first game, before the extra experience of the Oxford pair made itself count. Drummond & Tse scored another fairly comfortable straight games win at third pair to wrap up the 3-0 win against Cambridge captain Alex Davies and ex-Emanuel player Felix Lawry.

With last year's second team now up in the top three pairs, and OU captain Spencer Chapman leaving himself on the bench, there was a new and inexperienced look to the Oxford second team this year, with last year's novices stepping up alongside several freshers. For the first time in a while, therefore, the Cambridge second team were able to approach the match feeling that they were on a level playing field. Light Blue first pair Mark Ludden & Frank Burron needed no second invitation, dominating from start to finish against Old Westminster freshers Kieran Saujani-Lee & Sacha Hunter to become the first Cambridge men's pair to win their rubber since 2020. The Highgate/Berkhamsted Oxford third pair combination of Fionn Springett & Will Green had too much experience for Cambridge's Francis Kelly & Lewis Redman, which left the match hanging on the outcome of the second pair. Oxford's Anthony Adamson & Ben Murphy won in the 2025 novices match and they were up against Tom Salter, a veteran of the 2025 Cambridge second team & newcomer Alex Armer. Cambridge had the edge early on, winning the first two games to 8, but the Oxford pair fought back in the third, taking it to 12-12 sudden death before the Cambridge pair struck the decisive blow to win 3-0 and give Cambridge the overall win, their first in the men's match since 2016.

While the women's match in the last ten years has frequently been closer than the men's match, Oxford have still generally held sway in that time, and this was once again the story of this year's contest. Both sides were much changed from last year, with seven players from each team playing in their first Varsity match and the majority of those in their first season (and in a couple of cases first month or even week!) playing Fives.

Oxford have been lucky to be able to call upon the services of Berkhamstedian Freya Butler and Cholmeleian Lorenza Valensise in recent seasons and they were both present at the top of the Dark Blue order once again. Lorenza was playing her first Varsity match at first pair, reprising her Universities Championships winning pairing with OU captain Rachel McCormack. Cambridge had the experienced Lucy Bland at first pair once again and she was joined by talented fresher Lena Cartwright, the first Oakhamian to play in the Varsity Match that anyone could remember. This was a cracking match, the closest of the day despite the 3-0 scoreline, with the Oxford pair rescuing tricky situations in both of the first two games to win 14-13 and 14-11, leaving the Cambridge pair feeling a little hard done by that they weren't at least level on the scoreboard at that point. Lorenza & Rachel relaxed a bit having got 2-0 in the lead to play their best Fives in the third game and win 12-8, but they knew just how close they had been to getting involved in a potentially long drawn-out struggle. Freya's presence at second pair - despite missing a large chunk of the season with a broken ankle - alongside 2024 Half-Blue Holly Culhane meant that Cambridge captain Anna Fitzpatrick and one of her predecessors Emma Spencer had their work cut out and despite playing some good Fives, they succumbed in straight games, allowing Holly to dash back to Oxford for her dance Varsity, having hotfooted it to the Eton courts at lunchtime from her lacrosse Varsity in the morning. Quite the treble. With Oxford winning the first two pairs, the Cambridge third pair were playing for pride and trying to prevent the 3-0 whitewash. This was a fascinating game, with a player on each side with previous second team experience partnering two very inexperienced novices with pedigree in other sports. Tamara Fifield & squash player Abi Barrass started strongly for Cambridge against Swiss postgrad Julia Schaub & cricketing fresher Thara Padmanhaban, winning the first game 12-5. Thara was visibly improving point by point, however and when the Oxford pair turned an 8-12 second game defeat into a 12-8 third game win, it looked as though the momentum might be switching to them. The Cambridge pair dug in well in the fourth, however, cutting well enough to halt the supply of Oxford returns and closing the game out expertly once they got their noses in front.

Ten of the twelve second team players were newcomers to the sport this year and the standard produced in such a limited space of time was very good indeed. The Oxford first pair of freshers Yuti Kumar & Ella Pal (another cricketer) were particularly impressive, showing that they will both be first team contenders next year with a ruthless 3, 0, 0 win over Sarah Murphy & Hannah Spurry. The second pair was a much closer affair, especially the first game, but Oxford's Hattie Postance & Lizzie Dobbin grew in confidence as the match went on, and after taking the first game 14-11 against Georgie Van Dyke & Ella Cheung they controlled the second and third games to win 3-0. Again, the Cambridge third pair were left with just pride to play for and they did so in excellent style, Ellie Hopkins (trained as an Oxford player last season before switching allegiance this year) & Theresa Drobnik proving a bit too consistent in the set piece for Oxford's Freya Kemp & Ella Allen, both of whom fought hard and showed potential for the future.

There were the usual celebrations and informal mixed matches before some of the Pol Roger was drunk and the rest awarded to the winning pairs in Upper Club, served with the traditional accompaniment to high quality champagne, pizzas from Don Benis on Eton High Street. No students were left locked up and asleep in Upper Club (just) and everyone headed back off to their respective universities plotting the route to glory next year...

Our thanks go to Eton - especially Jonny Nelmes - for hosting the day and to Pol Roger for their sponsorship.

Results

Cambridge names first

Women’s Match Oxford won 2-1

L.Bland (Selwyn) & L.Cartwright (St.John’s) lost to R.McCormack (Christ Church) & L.Valensise (Exeter) 0-3 (13-14, 11-14, 8-12)

E.Spencer (Magdalene) & A.Fitzpatrick (Hughes Hall) lost to F.Butler (University) & H.Culhane (Christ Church) 0-3 (2-12, 1-12, 2-12)

T.Fifield (Murray Edwards) & A.Barrass (Girton) beat J.Schaub (Nuffield) & T.Padmanhaban (Christ Church) 3-1 (12-5, 12-8, 8-12, 12-7)

Women’s Second Team Match Oxford won 2-1

S.Murphy (Girton) & H.Spurry (Girton) lost to Y.Kumar (St.Peter’s) & E.Pal (Merton) 0-3 (3-12, 0-12, 0-12)

E.Cheung (Wolfson) & G.Van Dyke (Christ’s) lost to H.Postance (St.Hugh’s) & E.Dobbin (Christ Church) 0-3 (11-14, 5-12, 7-12)

E.Hopkins (Homerton) & T.Drobnik (Selwyn) beat E.Allen (St.Peter’s) & F.Kemp (St.Peter’s) 3-0 (12-8, 12-8, 12-6)

Men’s Match Oxford won 3-0

J.Levinson (Pembroke) & G.Holliday (Homerton) lost to T.Farmer (St.Peter’s) & A.Deshmukh (Christ Church) 0-3 (4-12, 3-12, 2-12)

T.Ford (Magdalene) & J.Hanrahan (Lucy Cavendish) lost to N.Choustikov (Oriel) & S.Wu (St.Hilda’s) 0-3 (9-12, 6-12, 5-12)

A.Davies (Pembroke) & F.Lawry (Pembroke) lost to R.Tse (University) & L.Drummond (Reuben) 0-3 (2-12, 2-12, 4-12)

Men’s Second Team Match (Penguins vs Peppers) Cambridge won 2-1

M.Ludden (Peterhouse) & F.Burron (Homerton) beat K.Saujani-Lee (Queen’s) & A.Hunter (St.Edmund Hall) 3-0 (12-4, 12-3, 12-2)

A.Armer (Magdalene) & T.Salter (Magdalene) beat B.Murphy (St.Anne’s) & A.Adamson (Pembroke) 3-0 (12-8, 12-8, 13-12)

F.Kelly (Jesus) & L.Redman (Selwyn) lost to F.Springett (Exeter) & W.Green (University) 0-3 (5-12, 5-12, 8-12)

Alumni Match

H.Asquith (O) & G.Day (O) beat E.Collinson (C) & J.Tu (C) 3-0 (12-10, 12-7, 12-3)

M.Chinery (O) & J.Robb (O) beat A.Knight (C) & A.Shah (C) 12-9

M.Chinery (O) & J.Robb (O) beat R.Thorogood (C) & J.Grant-Peterkin (C) 2-0 (12-7, 12-8)

A.Shah (C)  & A.Taylor (C) beat W.Thomas (C) & J.Asquith (C) 12-2

R.Thorogood (C)  & J.Grant-Peterkin (C) beat L.Maxwell (C) & J.Lai (C) 12-10

L.Maxwell (C) & J.Lai (C) beat W.Thomas (C) & J.Asquith (C) 12-5

J.Nelmes (O) & L.Maxwell (C) beat J.Asquith (C) & J.Lai (C) 13-12

J.Lai (C) & E.Collinson (C) beat L.Maxwell (C) & G.Day (O) 13-11

A.Taylor (C) & A.Knight (C) drew with A.Shah (C) & W.Thomas (C) 1-1 (3-12, 12-6)