This Sunday sees the final of the two Eton Fives n/national championships with defending champions Tom Dunbar & Seb Cooley and Karen Hird & Charlotta Cooley defending their titles against James Toop & Matt Wiseman and Ashley Lumbard & Emily Scoones respectively. The ladies final kicks off at Eton at 1pm, with the Kinnaird final following at 2:30pm. All spectators are welcome!
The Kinnaird Cup final sees the latest instalment of the long-running duel at the top of the game between these two outstanding pairs. Tom & Seb have always managed to have the edge in previous encounters and are still to be beaten in a competitive match, a remarkable statistic given that this is their seventh season of playing together. Matt & James have once again dismissed all other challengers with ease and will be aiming to get their hands back on the trophy that they last won in 2010. Between them these four players have set some remarkable records in this competition:
- Tom Dunbar is aiming to extend his record and win the Kinnaird Cup for the 13th time. This will be his 16th consecutive appearance in the final, dating back to his first win in 2002.
- Seb Cooley is looking to win the Kinnaird for the seventh time, which would take him one win away from joint fifth on the all-time list.
- James Toop will be appearing in his 17th Kinnaird final, second only to Tony Hughes (19) in the record books.
- Matt Wiseman is aiming to win his fourth Kinnaird title and were he to win, he and James would be one year away from equalling the record time gap between first and last Kinnaird wins (currently Howard Fabian 1930-1948), having won their first title together back in 2000. They would still have some way to go to equal the record gap between final appearances, though, which belongs to Tony Hughes (1958-1990).
By way of contrast, the Ladies final features first time finalists in Ashley Lumbard & Emily Scoones, who defeated second seeds Phoebe Bracken & Amira Reimer to make the final. Ashley has been suffering from a bruised thumb in recent weeks, but it has recovered in time for her and Emily to take on the winners for the last four seasons, Charlotta Cooley & Karen Hird.
Most Kinnaird Cup wins
12 Tom Dunbar
11 John Reynolds
10 Brian Matthews
8 Gordon Campbell
8 Robin Mason
6 Seb Cooley
5 Denys Firth
5 Jonathan Mole
4 James Toop
Most Kinnaird Final Appearances (not including 2017)
19 Tony Hughes
16 James Toop
15 Tom Dunbar
13 Gordon Campbell
12 Jimmy Biggs
12 John Reynolds
11 Robin Mason
11 Brian Matthews
11 Matthew Wiseman
8 Denys Firth
8 Jonathan Mole
7 Peter Dunbar
7 Andy Gibson
7 Doug Wainwright
7 Ed Wass
6 Seb Cooley
6 Jamie Halstead
6 Robin Moulsdale
5 Malcolm Keeling
Most Ladies Final Wins
12 Kerry White
11 Karen Runnacles
9 Lynn Wootten (née Parker)
8 Dominique Redmond
5 Charlotta Cooley
4 Karen Hird
4 Erica Tadman
4 Krystyna Vargas