2013 Ladies Championships: Top two cruise though

The 2013 Ladies Championships took place at Eton yesterday with the tournament getting as far as the semi-final stage. One or two high profile absentees due to various illnesses, injuries and clashes with holidays meant that the top two seeds went though the day pretty much unchallenged and Dominique Redmond & Marianne Catmull will face Charlotta Cooley & Karen Hird in the final at Eton on Sunday April 7th. There were some encouraging signs elsewhere in the tournament as some new faces took the opportunity to demonstrate their improvement and make it through to the latter stages of the competition.

2013 Under 21 Tournament: Wilson and Abbott Double Up

The 2013 EFA Under 21 Championships took place at Eton at the weekend. The size of the draw was slightly disappointing but was more than made up for by the quality of the pairs taking part, with many of the top school and University pairs battling it out. The men's tournament was won by Cambridge University pair Robert Wilson and Jamie Abbott, who beat Highgate's Charlie Noble and Joe Berriman in the final to claim their second trophy of the season, after their win in the Universities tournament back in October. The ladies event was dominated by Highgate School and was won for the second year in a row by Eve Smith-Bingham and Aimee Paul who came from behind to beat Amira Reimer and Phoebe Bracken in an exciting final.

Roger Beament

Feb 2013: We are sad to report the recent death of Roger Beament, former Master-in-Charge of Fives at Highgate and later Secretary of the Eton Fives Association. A Memorial Service will be held in St.Albans Cathedral on Monday 25th February 2013 at 3pm. 

2012/13 Alan Barber Cup: Olave's win the Barber (Part 2)

Mark Williams reports:

The Old Harrovians had their best six players available for this year's Alan Barber Cup final, and were optimistic for their chances of finally toppling the Olavians' recent domination of this event, especially since Pete Cohen was unable to play at short notice.

2013 EFA Trophy Qualifying Round: Fun in the Sun

The qualifying rounds for the EFA Trophy are always one of the highlights of the Fives Calendar and a beautifully sunny day at Eton on Sunday saw eight teams battle it out to make it into the last four of this year's competition. This was most definitely Fives at its best - competitive yet friendly, with players from 12 to 70+ playing a large number of matches in all sorts of different combinations and all having a thoroughly enjoyable time doing so.

2013 Ipswich Tournament: Fletcher and Clarke are Different Gravy

The 2013 Ipswich Tournament for the Graves Cup took place at the weekend with the usual assortment of OIs, current Ipswichians and random interlopers convening on the most easterly set of courts in the country for the annual feast of eating, drinking and sleeping on the pavilion floor with a bit of Fives thrown in for good measure (at all times of the day and night). The final was an all-Ipswichian affair with two evenly matched OI/schoolboy partnerships battling it out, Tim Fletcher and Sam Clarke eventually winning 3-1 against Steve Burnell and James Gray.

2013 Mixed Universities title still up for grabs

Emily Scoones reports:

The Jesters Mixed University Championships were held at Highgate yesterday on a very dingy Sunday. However this did not put a downer on the fives. The whole tournament was full of great matches, upsets, games of nip and tuck and showed a great standard from all the pairs that came. The final between Bath and London Law Schools was halted due to injury and will be replayed at a later date.

2012/13 Turnbull Trophy: Cooley and Self regain the Turnbull

Fives history was made on Christmas Eve at Eton as Olavian pair Seb Cooley and Chris Self became the first pair ever to regain the Turnbull Trophy. Having won the cup in 2010/11 but missed out last season they scored a comfortable straight games win against Berkhamsted pair Doug Foster and 2011/12 winner Ali Leighton.

S.Cooley & C.Self (St.Olave's) beat D.Foster & A.Leighton (Berkhamsted) 3-0 (12-7, 12-4, 12-6)

2013 Northern Tournament: Dunbar and Cooley unchallenged

For the second time in three years, the final of the 2013 Northern Tournament at Shrewsbury turned out to be something of an anticlimax. Two years ago an eye injury to James Toop brought an early end to the final; this year the final never got started as Peter Dunbar was forced to withdraw due to an ankle injury sustained towards the end of his and George Campbell's semi-final victory over Toop and Howard Wiseman. It is surely a unique feat for Tom and Seb to have won this competition three years in a row having only had to win three games in the final in three years!

Fancy Dress Aldenham-style Dec 2012

Phil Lyndon reports:
Congratulations to Graham Pulsford who won Aldenham Fives Club's fancy dress Fives Christmas competition last night (18 December). Players were asked to dress up with the theme of 'hair'. Most chose wigs which proved very itchy but Richard Dennis won a Mars Bar for remaining bewigged for all four of the 20 minute games.