John Reynolds reports:
22/09/22: Seven British fives players have just visited Geneva for a fives tournament on the only blue Eton fives courts in the world.
Board members Rachel Wood and Matt Chinery joined five Old Citizens David Cooper (still astonishingly active in his 80s), Stephen Kelly, UN staffer Alex Kasterine (who conveniently lives and works in Geneva), Martin East (who travelled from Bonn to be there) and club captain John Reynolds.
Martin’s son William, now in his mid-20s, came along to be learn how to play. By the end of the weekend he had got quite a few hours of fives under his belt and was beginning to look as if he knew what he was doing.
The two courts we played upon are at the David Lloyd sports and fitness club in Veigy Foncenex, just outside Geneva, and they were coloured blue a couple of years ago when the alumni of the Lyceum Alpinum in Zuoz (near Saint Moritz), refurbished them and made the brave choice to colour them blue to improve contrast and make them more attractive. Courageous because it’s never been done before, although courts across England are now considering a similar move.
And the result in Veigy is brilliantly successful! The contrast between ball colour and wall colour is crystal clear, and regular users of the courts as well as the weekend’s visitors report that they are playing better as a result, and there’s been an uptick in interest in the game because the courts are now so attractive.
This year the club members attached green sheeting to the top, to prevent balls being lost and to shield players from the sun – making the courts even more colourful.
Old Citizens have been visiting the continent to play fives with Zuozers for nearly 70 years - either at the courts in the Alps, in Zurich or here in Geneva. David Cooper was one of those Old Citizens who visited Zuoz in the 1950s – and thus starting the friendship between the two clubs which continues to this day.
A total of 36 players took part in the tournament – there were contingents from the lyceum itself, the locals and England – in a flurry of games and contests all devised by Old Olavian Matt Wiseman, the fives coach at Zuoz.
The final was won by the lyceum’s new fives captain, Jason Zhao and recent school leaver Pavel Penev, who beat Matt Chinery and the lyceum’s Jacky Liu in a high-class game which kept the rest of us very entertained. The third-place playoff was won by Rachel Wood and student Julian Von Knoch, who beat Geneva local Roland Knapp and Stephen Kelly.
On Saturday night, we dined magnificently at Le Cafe Lyrique – apparently the oldest brasserie in town, next to Geneva’s Grand Theatre – where David Cooper shared with us all a book about pelota basque. Thanks, David.
Very many thanks go to our hosts, the members of the Geneva section of the Old Zuozers Fives Club, who treated us to a wonderful weekend of fives on their splendid courts. Take a bow Erkki Tammivuori, Christopher Reid, Emma, Louis, Alexandre de Senger, Filippo Variola, Florian G'tier and Roland Knapp. Many thanks indeed for your hospitality and for looking after these courts so well. Hope to see you at the Old Citizens’ annual Adams Cup weekend in London next summer.
Also thanks to Alex Kasterine, who took us out on Lac Leman in a sailing boat on the Friday before the hurly burly.