06/02/23: Riki Houlden & Hugo Young won their second major title of the season with victory in the Northern Tournament in association with Advanta Wealth at Shrewsbury yesterday.
The 2022 Northern Tournament was the first one post-pandemic and suffered a little bit from covid withdrawals and sundry other non-appearance reasons. It still featured 56 pairs on court - more than most tournaments - but the 2023 version really saw the competition back at full throttle with a full capacity entry of 66 pairs: 26 in the Main tournament and 40 in the Festival, including plenty of familiar faces as well as a few newcomers and some welcome returners. Firmly in the last category were the group of six players from St.Bees School in Cumbria in their first trip back to the Northern Tournament since the relaunch of the school in 2018, led by Assistant Head and former Cambridge University player Laurence Gribble and featuring Brad Simpson, a PE teacher from New Zealand and four students, three from Germany and one from Spain, a truly intern/national selection.
Main tournament proceedings kicked off on Saturday with five groups of five or six pairs, with the group winners qualifying for the quarter-finals automatically, along with the runners-up in the six pair group and the eventual winners of two play-offs between the other four runners-up. There were some excellent group matches across the board, with many of the younger pairs impressing - special mentions for Aadi Agarwal & Tanish Arjaria from St.Olave's and Will Woods & Elliot Caldwell from Ipswich - but with no real shocks to the established order. The top seeded pairs in each of the groups - Riki Houlden & Hugo Young, Seb Cooley & Tom Dunbar, James Toop & Howard Wiseman, Ed Taylor & Noah Caplin and Chris Hughes & Sam Welti - all made it through relatively comfortably, the closest challenge to the pre-tournament pecking order coming from Salopians Will Sissons & Henry Blofield, who reached 11-11 against Toop & Wiseman before going down 15-11. Alex Abrahams & Sahil Shah were the \"lucky losers\" who made it through to the Last Eight by right and they were joined by play-off winners Sissons & Blofield, who saw off their veteran Salopian teammates Mike Hughes & Marc Quinn and by Richard Tyler & Can Koksal who ended a fine run by Nathan Turnbull & Nick Choustikov.
Elsewhere in the main draw, it was good to see a few former festivalers looking to mix it with the big boys, with last year's Festival winner Matt Chinery forming a useful partnership with Archie Cameron-Blackie, the legendary Tony Stubbs showing that the magic is still very much there alongside recent Graves Cup winner Toryn Whitehead and the dynamic duo from Newbury - Will Thomas & Paul Holland - demonstrating their continued improvement.
As usual, Saturday's play concluded with the quarter-finals, which again went entirely to form. Hughes & Welti threatened in the first game against Taylor & Caplin, but otherwise it was pretty plain sailing for the top four seeds, with Houlden & Young holding off a decent first game challenge from Sissons & Blofield before cruising through the next two games, Cooley & Dunbar looking untroubled against Tyler & Koksal, Toop & Wiseman swatting aside Abrahams & Shah and Taylor & Caplin completing the semi-final line-up.
Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny (yes, this is still the Northern Tournament we're talking about) and there was a buzz of anticipation around Shrewsbury about the semi-finals and potential final to come. Pretty quickly, though, the words \"damp\" and \"squib\" provided their own clouds as news came through first that Tom Dunbar's flu had worsened overnight and he was unable to play and secondly that Noah Caplin's elbow had given out before the other semi-final was one game old, leaving Houlden & Young and Toop & Wiseman to progress through to the final without breaking sweat, much to the disappointment of the assembled spectators. The final was brought forward to 1pm and saw the champions of 2001, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2017 back in the final, taking on the top seeds and winners of the pre-Christmas London Tournament. To start with, the final looked it was going to fall equally flat. These two pairs had met in the Barber Cup final the week before, which had produced some fine Fives but a routine 12-6, 12-6, 12-3 win for Riki & Hugo. When they won the first game of the Northern final 12-1 in double quick time, and then followed up with a more hard-fought but still pretty convincing 12-6 second game, the writing looked like it was on the wall for the Olavian pair. But not for the first time in their long careers, James & Howard had other ideas. 22 years after their first win together in this competition and 40 years after Howard's Northern Tournament debut as an Olavian schoolboy, they dug deep at the start of the third game and began to turn the tide, sorting out their set piece issues, negating the attacking threats from the two Westminsters that had been causing so many problems and beginning to pose some problems of their own. They moved into a 7-2 lead before Riki & Hugo started to find an answer but as the cut returns began to flow again from the Westminster pair they gradually started to eat into the lead. James & Howard were now playing much better than in the first two games, though, and the next half an hour or so of Fives more than made up for the disappointments of the morning semis and the one-sidedness of the early stages of the final. A large percentage of cuts were being returned by all four players, with long rallies and scoring chances on both sides the consequence. The crowd began to increase in size, the spectators becoming engrossed in the action and living every near miss or winning shot. The game reached 10-10 and was set to 15 before the seemingly inevitable 14-14 denouement. Chances came and went; both pairs went through several hands without being able to find the winning point before finally Riki & Hugo hit the front for the first time in the game, clinching a 15-14 win and their first Northern title together.
Running in parallel on the Sunday, the Main Tournament plate was one of the best plate competitions seen for some time. Three groups of five pairs battled it out tooth and nail to produce three group winners - Agarwal & Arjaria, Chinery & Cameron-Blackie, Ben Merrett & Emily Scoones - who were joined in the semi-finals by Ipswichians Tim Gregory & Steve Burnell. They had beaten the other group runners-up still standing, Mill Hill coach/pupil pairing Gwydion Wiseman & Charlie Graville, in a play-off, Turnbull & Choustikov (the third runner-up pair) having fallen by the wayside due to injury. When even plate specialist Stubbs can't make it into the latter stages, you know it's been some plate competition.
Gregory & Burnell gritted their teeth and won a tough and lengthy semi-final against Merrett & Scoones, for whom not even a Saturday evening doing jigsaws in the Houlden \"House of Fun\" was enough to take them all the way. Chinery & Cameron-Blackie ended the run of the young Olavian pair in the other semi-final, producing a final that was a repeat of an earlier group match, which had been won convincingly by Matt & Archie. It looked as though the tables had been turned in the final, though, as Tim & Steve established an 11-5 lead; at this point, however, the weekend's endeavours (and perhaps the extra play-off match?) began to catch up with them and the game flipped on its head decisively as Matt & Archie reeled off 10 unanswered points to claim a fine victory.
One of the great joys of the Northern weekend is the co-existence of the top pairs in the main tournament playing side by side with the stars of the future (or in some cases the has beens of the past) who are competing for the Festival title. The aforementioned St.Bees pairs were joined by large contingents from Ipswch and Shrewsbury and a selection of eminent club players, including some legends of the game such as Nick Bunyan, Nigel Cox, Peter Boughton, Jeff Lawrence, Ian Mitchell and John Cooley as well as some of the biggest (and longest in some cases) names in the women's game such as Charlotta Cooley, Rachel Wood, Freya Butler, Fiona Barnes, Mandie Barnes and Charlie Farquharson-Roberts (see what I mean?). Out of the chaos of eight groups of five pairs on the Saturday and a knockout round of 1sts v 2nds and 3rds v 4ths emerged a remarkably coherent Sunday plan, thanks to some terrific work from Andrew Mitchell: the top eight pairs would contest the Festival itself, the losing last sixteeners would fight it out for Plate A and everyone else would be back into groups from which they would seek to eventually emerge and get their hands on the prestigious Plate B title.
Plate A suffered a little bit from withdrawals, but plenty of matches were still played and it was Rachel Wood & Freya Butler who came through unbeaten, getting in some excellent match practice for the Ladies Championships next weekend. Plate B turned into a triumph for the Ipswich women, Charlotta Cooley & Kezia Lower defeating Peter & Andrew Westwood and Tash Gregory & Petra Tweedy taking care of Gribble & Simpson in the semi-finals, setting up a fantastic final - the first game especially - in which the three youngsters showed a huge amount of skill and determination alongside their multiple n/national championship winning coach. Charlotta & Kezia it was who took the honours eventually but it was a terrific final and some deserved success for the Ipswich team, who impressed en masse over the course of the weekend.
Meanwhile, the top end of the Festival was building beautifully. In last year's competition, four of the seven matches from the quarter-finals went to a deciding third game; this year it was five out of seven, with two of those (both involving Peter Boughton & Bill Christie) ending 15-14 and another one finishing 14-11. Henry Gardner & Matt Williams had had a slow start on Saturday, losing one of their group matches to a Shrewsbury pair. They obviously chose the right curry off the Saturday night menu, though, as they returned on Sunday as a pair transformed, brushing aside fellow Ipswichians Owen Free & Daniel Ingram in their quarter-final. Their semi-final looked tough as they were up against the form horses of the competition, Olavian youngsters Alex Sapozhenko & Rishi Nandakumar, who had made short work of Salopians Pete Griffiths & Simon Belfield in their last eight clash. Alex & Rishi started their semi against Henry & Matt in blistering fashion, winning the first game 12-2 and consolidating their status as tournament favourites. This was where Matt & Henry showed considerable maturity and resilience as well as impressive tactical nous. They could easily have given the match up as lost; instead they managed to hit back, winning the second game to 7 and then showing terrific composure to upset the odds, closing the match out from 11-11 in the deciding game to take their place in the final.
While youth was holding sway in one half of the draw, the opposite was true in the other half. Scratch pairing Peter Boughton & Bill Christie and Windsor & Eton stalwarts Jeff Lawrence & Ian Mitchell both lost the first game in their quarter-finals, to Ipswichians Sam Allen & Alex Phillips and Salopians Giles Holliday & Seb Motala-Evans respectively. The benefits of experience are many, however, and were amply demonstrated by both pairs, Peter & Bill eventually sneaking across the line 15-14 in a third game thriller against Sam & Alex and Jeff & Ian mounting a remarkable comeback from a game and 7-1 down to earn their spots in the semi-finals. There may have been some tired bodies out there, but the semi-final between the two pairs was yet another stone cold classic, momentum swinging back and forth until once again it all came down to a 14-14 sudden death shootout in the third game. This time the roll of the dice didn't go the way of Boughton & Christie and it was Lawrence & Mitchell who progressed to the final to take on the waiting Ipswichians.
The final was another terrific and close match and it was no surprise that it once again went to a deciding game, the veterans taking the first game and the youngsters again showing great character to fight back and level at 1-1. Perhaps the only surprise was that the third game didn't end up at 14-14 again; instead it was Ian & Jeff who made the decisive move at the start of the third and this time Henry & Matt couldn't find a response, the Windsor & Eton pair going on to win the decider 12-4 and finally get their hands on the trophy (actually trophies to be more accurate) after several near misses in recent years.
Our thanks go to Advanta Wealth for their continued sponsorship, to Adam Morris, Seb Cooley and everyone at Shrewsbury School for being such terrific hosts, to Andrew Mitchell for his indefatigable and invaluable work behind the scenes and to everyone who came and made it such a special weekend. See you all again next year!
Main Tournament
Play-Off Round
W.Sissons & H.Blofield beat M.Hughes & M.Quinn 15-9
R.Tyler & C.Koksal beat N.Turnbull & N.Choustikov 15-8
Quarter-Finals
R.Houlden & H.Young beat W.Sissons & H.Blofield 3-0 (12-5, 12-1, 12-0)
E.Taylor & N.Caplin beat C.Hughes & S.Welti 3-0 (14-11, 12-5, 12-3)
J.Toop & H.Wiseman beat A.Abrahams & S.Shah 3-0 (12-2, 12-2, 12-4)
S.Cooley & T.Dunbar beat R.Tyler & C.Koksal 3-0 (12-1, 12-4, 12-0)
Semi-Finals
R.Houlden & H.Young beat E.Taylor & N.Caplin 3-0 (10-3 ret)
J.Toop & H.Wiseman beat S.Cooley & T.Dunbar scratched
Final
R.Houlden & H.Young beat J.Toop & H.Wiseman 3-0 (12-1, 12-6, 15-14)
Main Tournament Plate
Play-Off
T.Gregory & S.Burnell beat G.Wiseman & C.Graville 12-5
Semi-Finals
T.Gregory & S.Burnell beat B.Merrett & E.Scoones 15-12
M.Chinery & A.Cameron-Blackie beat A.Agarwal & T.Arjaria 15-10
Final
M.Chinery & A.Cameron-Blackie beat T.Gregory & S.Burnell 15-11
Festival
Last Sixteen
J.Lawrence & I.Mitchell beat L.Davison & N.Urmston
G.Holliday & S.Motala-Evans beat H.Mainwaring & C.Mainwaring
A.Phillips & S.Allen beat T.Jagger & E.McGinnigle
P.Boughton & B.Christie beat J.Hepburn & T.Goodman
A.Sapozhenko & R.Nandakumar beat M.Draper & G.Battersby
P.Griffiths & S.Belfield beat N.Bunyan & N.Cox
H.Gardner & M.Williams beat R.Wood & F.Butler
O.Free & D.Ingram beat K.Hu & O.Parton
Quarter-Finals
J.Lawrence & I.Mitchell beat G.Holliday & S.Motala-Evans 2-1 (5-12, 12-9, 12-4)
P.Boughton & B.Christie beat A.Phillips & S.Allen 2-1 (9-12, 15-12, 15-14)
A.Sapozhenko & R.Nandakumar beat P.Griffiths & S.Belfield 2-0 (12-1, 12-6)
H.Gardner & M.Williams beat O.Free & D.Ingram 2-0 (12-4, 12-7)
Semi-Finals
J.Lawrence & I.Mitchell beat P.Boughton & B.Christie 2-1 (12-6, 9-12, 15-14)
H.Gardner & M.Williams beat A.Sapozhenko & R.Nandakumar 2-1 92-12, 12-9, 14-11)
Final
J.Lawrence & I.Mitchell beat H.Gardner & M.Williams 2-1 (12-7, 7-12, 12-4)
Quarter-Finalists Plate
P.Griffiths & S.Belfield won on a round robin basis
Festival Plate A
R.Wood & F.Butler won on a round robin basis
Festival Plate B
Semi-Finals
C.Cooley & K.Lower beat P.Westwood & A.Westwood 15-13
N.Gregory & P.Tweedy beat L.Gribble & B.Simpson 15-8
Final
C.Cooley & K.Lower beat N.Gregory & P.Tweedy 2-0 (12-9, 12-4)