Mike Fenn reports:
The twenty-third infamous 'Ipswich Handicap', masquerading as the Graves Cup, was held over a mild, sunny weekend at the beginning of January. For once the weather was kind and enabled a large following of spectators to enjoy a good weekend of Fives in relative comfort.
Excellent pre-tournament organisation by the Bursar, Peter Boughton ably assisted by John Caudle, ensured a good turnout of thirty-two players from the Old Boys, the School and guests. Sixteen pairs, a convenient number for the draw for those of us with a limited mathematical ability, allowed for four groups of four pairs. Each were to play the best of three games against the other pairs in the group with the best two progressing to the quarter-finals.
Group Matches
Seb Cooley & Peter Hilton comfortably won Group 1 3-0 with John Caudle & Alex Bowditch scraping into second place based on games won despite losing a close encounter with Mike Fenn & Josh Robinson 12-8, 10-12, 9-12. In Group 2 Gareth Hoskins & Gus Condie beat the second placed pair Simon Woolfries & Alex Dunlavey 10-12, 12-2, 12-6 with the latter pairing also taken to three games by Steve Burnell & James Nicholson. Group 3 was dominated by Jamie Cameron & Reuben Arasaratnam with Tim Rakow & Tim Fletcher second. In Group 4 Karl Rudman & Eddie Day stuggled to win all three matches, two going to three games. Andrew Cameron & David Cox were the runners up.
Quarter-finals
Two close quarter-finals saw Cooley & Hilton win 12-4, 13-14, 12-8 against A Cameron & Cox and J Cameron & Arasaratnam win against Woolfries & Dunlavey 8-12, 12-8, 12-14. In the other two quarter-finals Rakow & Fletcher comfortably saw off a tiring Rudman & Day and Hoskins and Condie proved too strong for Caudle & Bowditch.
Semi-finals
The 'Handicap' pairing system continued to work well with the pattern of close encounters in the earlier stages continuing into the semi-finals, where the Cooley & Hilton pairing overcame Hoskins & Condie 12-7, 8-12, 12-9 and Rakow & Fletcher reversed their group result, where they lost 7-12, 8-12, to take their revenge and defeat J Cameron & Arasaratnam 14-12, 12-10.
Final
In the best of five game final the superior all court play of Seb Cooley, ably supported by Peter Hilton, was too good for their opponents and although Tim Rakow (winner in 1992) and Tim Fletcher managed to take a close third game they went down to the better pair 4-12, 7-12, 12-11, 7-12. A great result for Peter Hilton who had only taken up Fives a few months prior to the Tournament. His game continually improved throughout the weekend under the careful tutelage and encouragement given by his partner Seb Cooley.
The Plates
Plate A was won by Bob Freeman & Angus Kirk and Plate B by Peter Boughton & Alex Bowditch.
Dinner
Thirty-two sat down to a most memorable dinner held in the Cricket Pavilion on the Saturday evening. Old Ipswichian Club Committee members in attendance were Terry Cracknell Chairman, Simon Woolfries Vice President, Mike Fenn Secretary and John Caudle. Guest of Honour was Anne Shortland-Jones. Sadly John Le Mare, our Fives President, and his wife Rosemary were unable to attend due to illness. Another absentee this year and sorely missed for his conviviality was Edwardian Courtney Friend.
Tributes
The School is to be thanked for allowing the use of their facilities; the caterers for a most enjoyable dinner; the organisers Peter Boughton and John Caudle, without whose effort the weekend would not have been such an outstanding success; and to the participants, the combination of which made the event the success it was. We look forward to next year.
Results
Group 1
Winners: Seb Cooley & Peter Hilton (Olavian/School)
Runners up: John Caudle & Alex Bowditch (Ipswichian/School)
Group 2
Winners: Gareth Hoskins & Gus Condie (Ipswichians/School)
Runners up: Simon Woolfries & Alex Dunlavey (Ipswichian/School)
Group 3
Winners: Jamie Cameron & Reuben Arasaratnam (Ipswichians)
Runners up: Tim Rakow & Tim Fletcher (Olavian/School)
Group 4
Winners: Karl Rudman & Eddie Day (Olavian/School)
Runners up: Andrew Cameron & David Cox (Ipswichians)
Quarter-finals
S Cooley & P Hilton beat A Cameron & D Cox 2-1 (12-4, 13-14, 12-8)
G Hoskins & G Condie beat J Caudle & A Bowditch 2-0 (12-4, 12-0)
J Cameron & R Arasaratnam beat S Woolfries & A Dunlavey 2-1 (12-8, 8-12, 14-12)
T Rakow & T Fletcher beat K Rudman & E Day 2-0 (12-9, 12-3)
Semi-finals
T Rakow & T Fletcher beat J Cameron & R Arasaratnam 2-0 (14-12, 12-10)
S Cooley & P Hilton beat G Hoskins & G Condie 2-1 (12-7, 8-12, 12-9)
Final
S Cooley & P Hilton beat T Rakow & T Fletcher 3-1 (12-4, 12-7, 11-12, 12-7)
Plate A
R Freeman & A Kirk (Ipswichians) beat T Gregory (Ipswichian) & O Bowditch (School) 2-1 (12-4, 10-12, 12-9)
Plate B
P Boughton (Ipswichian) & A Bowditch (School) beat A Cameron & D Cox (Ipswichians) 15-7