Sanjaya Ranasinghe reports:
Once again British Rail engineering works and unreliable trains led to a sudden depletion in pairs for these championships with pairs from Newcastle and Edinburgh being prevented to attend at the last moment. Seven pairs (3 from Oxford and 2 from both Cambridge and Durham) were split into two groups for the round robin stage of the championships.
Groups
Group 1 went as the seedings would have predicted with first seeds Oxford 1 - Sanjaya Ranasinghe (St. Olave's) and Hedi Young (Highgate) having a comfortable win over Durham 1 - Charles Jewkes (St. Olave's) and Nick Heppenstall (Lancing) 12-4, 12-6. Oxford 1 had a harder time against the second pair from Cambridge - Faisal Mir (Mill Hill) and Reuben Arasaratnam (Ipswich) but came from behind in both games to win 12-8, 12-11. It was left to the final game of the group - Cambridge 2 against Durham 1 to decide who would join Oxford 1 in the semi-finals. Third seeds Durham 1, now playing very well as a pair, won through 12-4, 12-9.
Group 2 comprised of four pairs. Second seeds Cambridge 1 - Simon Purkis (King Edward-s) and Oli Cooley (St. Olave-s) were defeated by fourth seeds Oxford 2 - Patrick Hennesey and Ewan Thompson (both Berkhamsted) 12-8, 12-11, a major upset in the circumstances and a boost to Oxford's hopes of wining this seasons varsity match. Both of these pairs eased pass the other two pairs in the group, Oxford 3 - Ed Johnson (King Edward's) and David Cox (Ipswich) and Durham 2 - James Day (St. Olave's) and John Briscoe (King Edward's). Durham 2 beating Oxford 3 12-4, 12-11 completed the results for this group.
Semi-finals
After a very filling lunch at the local pub which was accompanied by the first half of England's rugby match against New Zealand the semi-finals and plate competition commenced. Both the semi finals were very close with both going to deciding games. In the first Oxford 1 lost the first game to Cambridge 1 but fought through with an outstanding attacking performance from Hedi Young to win the next two games to book Oxford 1's place in the final. The second semi-final saw the form pair of the tournament Durham 1 taking on Oxford 2. However the extra team experience of Oxford 2 saw them win after losing the first game.
The Plate was a round robin group and Cambridge 2 and Durham 2 both recorded victories against Oxford 3.
The Final was a very close affair with Oxford 2 carrying on their high standard of play from the semis winning the first game 12-6. Oxford 1 who seem to play better when the pressure was on them (they had been down in all but one of their matches) rallied well to win the second 12-6. Unfortunately time beat both pairs as the school was about to be locked up for the night so the final is still to be concluded.
Note: Match completed February 19th 2003 - Oxford 1 taking the third game 12-2
Appreciations
My thanks must go to George Worthington for his continued assistance with court and facilities hire and to James Toop for his assistance in organising the whole day. The Universities Championships acts very well as a stepping stone between school and adult tournaments and hopefully in years to come the trains will not hinder a larger entry to this growing competition.
Results
Semi Finals
Oxford 1 (S.Ranasinghe & H.Young) beat Cambridge 1 (S.Purkis & O.Cooley) 2-1 (10-12, 12-2, 12-9)
Oxford 2 (P.Hennesey & E.Thompson) beat Durham 1 (C.Jewkes & N.Heppenstall) 2-1 (10-13, 12-2, 13-10)
Final
Oxford 1 beat Oxford 2 2-1 (6-12, 12-6, 12-2)