Old Salopians Ian Hutchinson and Ed Taylor claimed the last Kinnaird Cup semi-final spot at Eton on Saturday with a comfortable three game win over Old Westminsters Laurie Brock and Ed Rose in their postponed quarter-final match.
Hutchinson and Taylor dominated the first game, taking it to 2, before the Westminster pair had really got started; the second game was much closer and at 9-9 Brock and Rose were not far away from levelling at 1-1 and possibly taking things the distance. It wasn't to be, though, with a strong finish from Taylor and Hutchinson winning the game 12-9. The resistance of the Westminster pair wasn't yet broken, and they had their moments in the third game, but ultimately the Salopians were too strong and took the third game to 7 to set up a semi-final against the top seeds Tom Dunbar & Seb Cooley next Sunday.
It is greatly to the credit of Brock and Rose that the match took place; with Ed Taylor suffering a nasty foot injury in the course of the last sixteen match which he and Ian won, Laurie and Ed would have been within their rights to claim a walkover with Ed T unable to play on the Sunday afternoon as scheduled. Keen not to win by default and wanting to play the match if at all possible, Brock and Rose requested that the match be postponed and played at a later date. After due consideration, the tournament organisers decided that this offer showed great sportsmanship and was very much in the spirit of Fives, and therefore allowed the match to go ahead on Saturday, while making it clear that Brock and Rose (or indeed any other pair in a similar situation in the future) were under no obligation to offer a postponement and that it was entirely at their discretion.
The semi-finals will take place at Eton on Sunday 13th March at 2:30pm:
T.Dunbar & S.Cooley (1) v E.Taylor & I.Hutchinson
J.Toop & M.Wiseman (2) v A.Theodossi & R.Perrie (3)