For the second year, it was boys from Blundell's School who dominated the events at the Colquhoun Trophy. Tom McPherson beat fellow Blundellian Sam Combe to win the Open singles title, while in the best match of the tournament Bludellian Tobias Francis came back from a game down to beat Sherborne's Henry Newman in the Colts.
In all, five schools (Blundell's, Sherborne, Malvern, Kelly and King's Bruton) sent boys to play at Sherborne, and their sportmanship and play would have delighted Charle Colquhoun, after whom the tournament is named. As in previous years, Open and Colts sections were played, with round-robin pools deciding who would progress to the main and Plate competitions in each category.
In the Open, Blundellians Tom McPherson and Sam Combe came through their pool to reach the semis alongside Bruton's Alex Grabilov and Sherborne's Ollie Boon; and, it was the Bllundellians who both won through to the final, where McPherson's power and aggressive use of the angles proved too much for his opponent. Tom won comfortably in two games and, with Sugru Saito coming through to win the plate, it was a Blundellian clean sweep for the prizes in the Open category.
In the Colts section, too, there were two Blundellians in the semi-finals – Tobias Francis and Ben Clarke – but they were drawn to play each, preventing an all-Blundellian final. Their match was a very close one, but Tobias just won through to face Sherborne's Henry Newman, who had beaten Malvern's Ed Best in the second semi.
The resulting final was reckoned by one seasoned observer to have been one of the best Colts finals he had ever seen, and that was no exaggeration. It went to the full three games, with the left-handed Newman edging the first game, as his power told. Come the second game, though, Francis started to change his tactics, attacking his opponent's right hand and varying his length. It was a display of intelligence and tactical nous rare in any Fives player, let alone one at Colts level. Throughout the match, there was never more than a few points between the two players, but in the end Francis had just enough to claim the title. Still, Sherborne didn't end the day empty-handed: Gregor Tims took the Colts plate, with a close win over Teddy Knollys, who – given that he was playing two years ahead of his age – looks an excellent prospect for the future.
RESULTS
Open Singles
Pool 1: 1st Ollie Boon (Sherborne), 2nd Alex Grabilov (King's Bruton), 3rd Sam Davenport (Blundell's), 4th Sugru Saito (Blundell's)
Pool 2: 1st Tom McPherson (Blundell's), 2nd Sam Combe (Blundell's), 3rd Fred Drake (Sherborne), 4th Ognjen Lukacevic (Kelly College)
Knockout:
Semi-finals: Combe bt Boon 15-7; McPherson bt Grabilov 15-1
Final: McPherson (Blundell's) bt Combe (Blundell's) 11-2, 11-1
Plate: Saito (Blundell's)
Colts Singles
Pool 1: 1st Tobias Francis (Blundell's), 2nd Ed Best (Malvern), 3rd Teddy Knollys (Sherborne), 4th Gregor Tims (Sherborne), 5th Justin Luk (Malvern), 6th Braden Hall (Kelly)
Pool 2: 1st Henry Newman (Sherborne), 2nd Ben Clarke (Blundell's), 3rd Reed (Sherborne), 4th Andrew Tudor (Malvern), 5th Will Pisani (Sherborne), 6th Jom Wherling (Malvern)
Knockout:
Semi-finals: Francis bt Clarke 15-11, Newman bt Best 15-6
Final: Francis (Blundell's) bt Newman (Sherborne) 8-11, 11-9, 11-7
Plate: Tims (Sherborne)