Colquhoun Tropy
Sherborne, March 23rd 2014
The fifth Colquhoun Trophy – named in memory of the former Master-in-charge at Clifton College – saw several firsts: silverware for a boy from Bruton, every competing school represented in a main or Plate final, and a girls' event running alongside the boys'.
As in previous years, the boys competed in two categories, Open and Colts, with a round-robin section followed by a knockout competition for both the main and Plate tournaments, with the seedings based on the performances in the round-robin.
In the Colts event, the second Pool turned out to the be the stronger of the two, with Malvern's Lucas Nelson finishing first and going on to meet second-placed (and defending champion) Tobias Francis of Blundell's in the final. Both had had pretty comfortable semi-final wins (Tobias over Malvern's Justin Luk, and Lucas over Marlborough's Rupert Shingleton), and their final was every bit as keenly contested as their earlier game in the round-robin.
Although Lucas had won their first encounter, it was Tobias who quickly picked up a good lead in the first game and looked set to close it out. Lucas had other ideas, however, and ground his way back into the game, pegging Tobias back before going on to sneak the game 11-9. That seemed to rattle Tobias' confidence, and although he battled hard to the end, Lucas held his nerve to take the second game 11-6, thereby winning the title.
In the end, it was a double for Malvern in the Colts, with Giles Williams (who had been in the same pool as Lucas and Tobias) securing the plate title with a narrow win over Blundells' Addie Chai, whose 16-15 semi-final win over Marlborough's James Barrows was described by spectators as the 'game of the tournament.'
In the Open competition, meanwhile, Pool 2 generated plenty of cheer for the 'home' team as Sherborne's Henry Newman (2013 Colts runner-up) and Stephen Reed earned their places in the semi-finals. However, Pool 1 was nothing like as clear-cut, and the places hinged on the final game between Alastair Chilcott and Will Psian of Sherborne. In the end, it was Alastair who won, to seal a place in the semis alongside group winner Louis Fulford-Smith of Marlborough.
Louis had a 100% record in the group stages, and maintained his form in the semis, where he scored an emphatic win over Reed. Newman also scored a clear win over Chilcott, but sadly Alastair was hindered by a sprained ankle in the semis and couldn't compete with Henry's strength and speed.
That left Louis and Henry to slug it out in the final and the match didn't disappoint. Henry used his stronger left had to great effect, but as the game wore on, tiredness seemed to creep in and Louis was able to retrieve more and more shots, as well as finding winners of his own. Louis edged the first game, but was a clearer winner in the second game, taking the title 11-9, 11-5. Meanwhile, the Plate was won by Bruton's Alex Gavrilov, who became the first boy from the school to win any silverware at this event.
Last, but not least, was the other first at this race: the girl's event. Malvern, Blundell's and Marlborough all sent girls slong to compete, but in the end it was Malvern's Maggie Wong who emerged as the winner in the singles, before also taking the doubles. Such strong performances bode well for a successful School Girls' Chmpionship in April.
RESULTS
Open
Round-robin section:
Pool 1: 1st Louis Fulford-Smith (Marlborough); 2nd Alastair Chilcott (Blundell's); 3rd Alex Gavrilov (King's Bruton); 4th Gregor Tims (Sherborne); 5th Will Pisani (Sherborne)
Pool 2: 1st Henry Newman (Sherborne); 2nd Stephen Reed (Sherborne); 3rd James Green (Marlborough); 4th Hector Michalopolous (Blundell's)
Knockout section:
Sem-finals: Fulford-Smith bt Reed 15-3; Newman bt Chilcott 15-5
Final: Fulford-Smith bt Newman 11-8, 11-5
Plate: Gavrilov
Colts
Round-robin section:
Pool 1: 1st Justin Luk (Malvern); 2nd Rupert Shingleton (Marlborough); 3rd Addie Chai (Blundell's); 4th Rory Buchanan (Malvern); 5th James Allan (Sherborne)
Pool 2: 1st Lucas Nelson (Malvern); 2nd Tobias Francis (Blundell's); 3rd Giles William (Malvern); 4th James Barrows (Marlborough)
Knockout section:
Sem-finals: Francis bt Luk 15-7; Nelson bt Shingleton 15-8
Final: Nelson bt Francis 11-9, 11-6
Plate: Williams