Foreword
The preliminary and second rounds, quarter-finals and Pepperpot Trophy Festival took place at Eton this year on 8th and 9th April. Whilst, sadly, the overall entry was down this year to twenty-eight pairs, we were graced by excellent weather, particularly on the Saturday.
Preliminary Round - Eton
The preliminary round omitted the six seeds and was played on a round robin basis with four groups of four and one group of six. No pair in the group of six played more than three matches and the top two pairs from each group went through to the second round on the Sunday where they were joined by the seeds.
Second Round and Quarter-finals - Eton
In Sunday's second round, all the matches were won in three straight games with the six seeds, R. Mason and J. Mole, J. Toop and M. Wiseman, E. Wass and J. Halstead, P. Markkanen and H. Wiseman, I Hutchinson and E. Taylor and S. Cooley and K. Rudman being joined in the quarter-finals by C. Cooley and D. Hawkins and V. Bhimjiyani and J. Lefort.
Before commenting on the quarter-finals, a few extra words on what had already passed. Firstly, I promised not to make mention of the evergreen Mike Fenn winning his preliminary round group with Courtney Friend (his thirty-fourth consecutive appearance). Then there were excellent performances from two schoolboy pairings - Alick Varma and Jamie Shamash from Highgate and Vishal Bhimjiyani and Justin Le Forte of Mill Hill, this latter pairing playing some great Fives to reach the quarter-finals. Finally, it was pleasing to see the Walters father and son pairing reaching day two after having made the effort to come down from Shrewsbury.
In the quarter-finals, Mason and Mole struggled in the first game against C. Cooley and Hawkins before running out winners 15-12, 12-1, 12-0. Taylor and Hutchinson defied their lower seeding by overcoming Markkanen and H.Wiseman 12-8, 12-8, 12-5. E. Wass and J. Halstead played one of the matches of the tournament (they were later to play in the other match of the tournament) against K. Rudman and S. Cooley. The score line shows it could have gone either way and it was enthralling to watch with the former pairing getting home by 12-6, 13-15, 15-10, 5-12, 13-11. In the other match, there was a fairly comfortable passage for Toop and M. Wiseman over Bhimjiyani and Le Forte by 12-2, 12-4, 12-5.
Perpperpot Trophy Festival
The Pepperpot Trophy Festival was also played for on the Sunday. It was organised on a round robin basis and the winners were Peter Cohen and Paran Sarmah. Runners up were Richard Dennis and Nigel Cox.
Semi-finals - Ludgrove
The semi-finals on 16th April chose another sunny day but the show had now moved on to Ludgrove. The first seeds, Robin Mason and Jonathan Mole, met the fifth seeds, Ian Hutchinson and Ed Taylor. After a relatively level start, this turned out to be a disappointing and one sided contest with Mason and Mole seemingly well below par. This left Hutchinson and Taylor with a surprisingly comfortable ride through to their first final in straight games 12-7, 12-5, 12-4. It also gave us our first final without Mason and Mole for eight years. I am sure they will be back.
In the other semi-final, the second seeds, James Toop and Matthew Wiseman, met the third seeds, Ed Wass and Jamie Halstead. This turned out to be the other match of the tournament but the way it started, you would be forgiven to think that only one result would be possible. Wass and Halstead won a hard fought first game and then played superbly to stroll the second. Unfortunately, they then started to lose the plot and, as their return of serve became less reliable, Toop and Wiseman gradually found theirs. It was a thoroughly enjoyable match to watch and it was a pity that there had to be a loser but, eventually, Toop and Wiseman won through 9-12, 3-12, 12-7, 12-5, 12-3 to ensure new names on the Cup.
The Final - Ludgrove
The final at Ludgrove was on Easter Monday, 24th April. It would be fair to say that it was not a classic. In the first game James Toop and Matthew Wiseman rushed in to a 6-0 lead and generally kept full control through the better choice of shot, eventually winning it 12-8. In the second game Ian Hutchinson and Ed Taylor went from 2-0 up to 6-2 down before losing it by 12-6 with Toop and Wiseman's back court play a major factor. In the third and, ultimately, the final game, again Hutchinson and Taylor went 2-0 up but then found themselves 8-2 down and lost the game 12-4 and the match. Congratulations to James and Matthew.
Our thanks go to both Eton and Ludgrove for allowing us to use their facilities. Also, thanks to Mike Fenn for the hard work that he put in prior to, during and after the tournament.
First Round - Eton:
Four Groups of four pairs and one of six
Group 1
1st C Cooley & D Hawkins Won 3 lost 0
2nd P Scholey & T Chamberlain Won 2 lost 1
3rd M Barter & S Ranasinghe Won 1 lost 2
4th A Crump & E Buxton Won 0 lost 3
Group 2
1st A Varma & J Shamash Won 3 lost 0
2nd J Knowles & G Chapman Won 2 lost 1
3rd A d'Cruz & Adrian Burrows Won 1 lost 2
4th J Cameron & A Cameron Won 0 lost 3
Group 3
1st M R Fenn & C Friend Won 3 lost 0
2nd P Boughton & J Caudle Won 2 lost 1
3rd M Lindsay & G Bates Won 1 lost 2
4th S Brooke & T Record Won 0 lost 3
Group 4
1st R Pattison & S Fautly Won 3 lost 0
2nd G Pulsford & R Beenstock Won 2 lost 1
3rd R Dennis & N Cox Won 1 lost 2
4th E Boughton & T Wyndham Won 0 lost 3
Group 5
1st V Bhimjiyani & J Lefort Won 3 lost 0
2nd A Walters & A Walters Won 2 lost 1
3rd J Woodcock & I Leeming Won 2 Lost 1
3rd Alex Burrows & F Wong Won 2 Lost 1
5th D Cox & T Fletcher Won 0 Lost 3
5th P Sarmah & P Cohen Won 0 Lost 3
Second Round - Eton:
R Mason & J Mole bt P Scholey & T Chamberlain 12-4, 12-4, 12-6
C Cooley & D Hawkins bt J Knowles & G Chapman 12-3, 12-3, 12-8
E Taylor & I Hutchinson bt A Varma & J Shamash 12-5, 12-5, 12-5
H Wiseman & P Markkanen bt P Boughton & J Caudle 13-11, 12-3, 12-6
E Wass & J Halstead bt M Fenn & C Friend 12-5, 12-1, 12-4
K Rudman & S Cooley bt R Pattison & S Fautly 12-5, 12-3, 12-4
V Bhimjiyani & Le Fort bt G Pulsford & R Beenstock 12-6, 15-10, 14-11
J Toop & M Wiseman bt A Walters & A Walters 12-2, 12-2, 12-3-2, 12-3
Quarter-finals - Eton:
Mason & Mole bt Cooley & Hawkins 15-12, 12-1, 12-0
Taylor & Hutchinson bt Wiseman & Markkanen 12-8, 12-8, 12-5
Wass & Halstead bt Rudman & Cooley 12-6, 13-15, 15-10, 5-12, 13-11
Toop & Wiseman bt Bhimjiyani & Lefort 12-2, 12-4, 12-5
Semi-finals - Ludgrove:
E O Taylor & I J F Hutchinson bt R A Mason & J R Mole 12-7, 12-5, 12-4
J P Toop & M C T Wiseman bt E A Wass & J C Halstead 9-12, 3-12, 12-7, 12-5, 12-3
Final - Ludgrove
J P Toop and M C T Wiseman beat E O Taylor and I J F Hutchinson 12-8, 12-6, 12-4
Pepperpot Trophy Festival (A Plate)
Round Robin - Five pairs
1st P Cohen & P Sarmah Won 4 lost 0
2nd R Dennis & N Cox Won 3 lost 1
3rd S Brooke & E Buxton Won 2 Lost 2
4th J Cameron & A Cameron Won 1 Lost 3
5th T Wyndham & E Boughton Won 0 Lost 4
B Plate
C K Friend & E N Buxton beat N L Cox & R S R Pattison 12-6, 12-6
Report by Martin Samuel