N/national Winchester Fives Doubles Championship
Bradfield College, 16th March 2014
The 33rd edition of the Winchester Fives Doubles had a bit of everything, writes David Barnes: an extremely strong entry; unpredictably sweating courts at Bradfield on a beautiful early spring day; an Achilles tendon injury to one of the players; and the most entertaining and closest final for years, demonstrating Winchester fives of the very highest quality.
With such a talented field, there were some close matches in the first round. Akerman and M Mohammed had to play well to beat a solid pair in George and Tilston, while Butler and Parker had a mammoth encounter with Minta and Pearce-Smith, squeezing home by the odd point in the third game. 2013 Schools' champions Arnold and Beltrami from St. Paul's confirmed their ability by beating the canny Kiggell and Thomas in two good games.
The quarter-finals produced two more classic matches. Akerman and M Mohammed, champions here back in 2006, showed their mettle to come back from a game down to beat Buchanan and Grant in three, while Butler and Parker had another marathon match, this time against last year's runners-up Cavanagh and Fox, the older pair eventually emerging as narrow winners in the third game. Meanwhile the second seeds, Roberts and Tristão, were needing all their experience and court-craft to defeat the youthful Arnold and Beltrami, who hit the ball as hard as anyone in the competition.
After all this excitement, punctuated by regular sessions of sawdust-sweeping to restore the courts to something like playability, the semi-finals saw straightforward wins for the first and second seeds. Five-times champions Ellison and H Mohammed were finally able to play a full match after hours of inactivity through no fault of their own, and they duly dispatched their old rivals Akerman and M (Dad) Mohammed in two games. Roberts and Tristão also won their semi-final in style, defeating Cavanagh and Fox in straight games.
The final was a classic. After a fairly routine first game dominated by Ellison's astounding volleying and speed around the court, the holders came up against some forceful resistance from Roberts and Tristão, who took a substantial lead in the second game and managed to hold on to it – just – through a wonderfully skilful series of exchanges leaving the gallery gasping in disbelief at the attacking and retrieving on show. In the third, the pattern continued, with Roberts and Tristão again going into an early lead. This time, however, they came under heavier pressure in trying to defend it, although the pace of the game slowed as all the players began to feel the effect of the effort expended. As the score crept up, there was little to separate the pairs, and the odd error reminded the spectators that the players were human, after all. The result was in doubt until the final rally, but in the end Ellison and Mohammed managed to take the game 15-12 and retain their hold on the Barnes Bridge trophy, making it six in a row.
The plate was won by Minta and Pearce-Smith, beating Hughes and Rew in the final.
Many thanks are due to Bradfield College for providing us with lunch, and to Jeremy Ball in particular for all his help with the arrangements for the tournament and throughout the day itself.
RESULTS
Prelim. round: J Marshall & E Ronan bt T Watkinson & J Smith 15-1, 15-0.
1st round: W Ellison & H Mohammed w/o M Hale & N Whitney; Marshall & Ronan bt Hughes & Rew 15-2, 15-5; H Akerman & M Mohammed bt A George & J Tilston 15-12, 15-12; H Buchanan & D Grant bt K Kennerley & B Kirk 15-1, 15-1; M Cavanagh & D Fox bt J Sinton & R Dyke 15-4, 15-7; D Butler & T Parker bt J Minta & J Pearce-Smith 10-15, 15-2, 16-15; O Arnold & B Beltrami bt T Kiggell & C Thomas 15-9, 15-11; S Roberts & D Tristão bt J McManus & G Munn 15-0, 15-9.
Quarter-Finals: Ellison & H Mohammed bt Marshall & Ronan 10-5 retd.; Akerman & M Mohammed bt Buchanan & Grant 6-15, 15-13, 15-10; Cavanagh & Fox bt Butler & Parker 15-13, 14-16, 15-12; Roberts & Tristão bt Arnold & Beltrami 15-8, 15-12.
Semi-Finals: Ellison & H Mohammed bt Akerman & M Mohammed 15-3, 15-8; Roberts & Tristão bt Cavanagh & Fox 15-6, 15-7.
Final: Ellison & H Mohammed bt Roberts & Tristão 15-9, 14-16, 15-12.
Plate winners: Minta & Pearce-Smith