The 2013 Mixed Tournament took place at Eton on Sunday in glorious sunshine, with a small but high quality field producing a highly entertaining day's Fives with tournament organiser Seb Cooley neatly devising a format that resulted in he and his partner - sister Charlotta - winning and retaining their title with a 2-0 win over George Campbell and Katharina Kuenburg in the final. Fittingly, the plate competition for the Dossi Dish was won by Dossi himself, with a bit of help from partner Elana Osen as they overcame Peter White and Natalie Lilienthal 2-1 in an extremely close contest.
The morning groups produced some intirguing games, with Ryan Perrie and Emily Scoones taking second place to the Cooleys in Group A and Peter Whiteatalie Liienthal and Chris Wheeler/Wendy Carling setting their sights on the highly coveted Dossi Dish.
Group B was a tight one, with George Campbell and Katharina Kuenburg just edging ahead of Gareth Hoskins and Rosie Scott to win the group decider 15-11, with both pairs also pushed hard by Ant Theodossi/Elana Osen and Jeremy Hindle/Sarah Greasley.
In the first semi-final, Hoskins and Scott - Midlands festival winners earlier in the season - threw everything they had at the Cooleys but to no avail, going down 12-3, 12-7. The other semi-final had all the hallmarks of the match of the day and didn't disappoint. Perrie and Scoones overcame their dodgy ankles to sneak the first game 13-12, but in the end George Campbell was the one player on the court who seemed to be expecting rather than hoping to win, and he managed to transmit enough of this to Katharina for her to step up impressively. The second and third games were close but the Lancing/Zuoz pair had the edge and made it through to the final.
Despite their best efforts, George and Katharina were no more successful than anyone else in stopping the Cooley juggernaut and Seb and Charlotta duly added some more silverware to the bulging Cooley trophy cabinet with a fairly routine 2-0 win in the final.
The Dossi Dish plate competition was as keenly fought as the main tournament and it was rather fitting that Ant Theodossi was able to present the trophy to himself and partenr Elana Osen after victory over Peter White and Natalie Lilienthal in a marathon three game final. The day ended with an impressive 81.25% player to pub conversion rate, possibly the most important statistic of the day, with particular concern being taken that Katharina should blot out any pre-flight nerves before catching her plane later in the day.
Thanks to everyone who took part - and those who didn't need to make sure they come back next year because they missed out - to Seb Cooley and Emily Scoones for their organisation and to Eton for hosting the tournament.
Semi-Finals
C.Cooley & S.Cooley beat R.Scott & G.Hoskins 2-0 (12-3, 12-7)
K.Kuenburg & G.Campbell beat E.Scoones & R.Perrie 2-1 (12-13, 12-10, 12-7)
Final
C.Cooley & S.Cooley beat K.Kuenburg & G.Campbell 2-0 (12-9, 12-7)
Dossi Dish
Semi-Finals
N.Lilienthal & P.White beat S.Greasley & J.Hindle 2-0 (12-8, 12-8)
E.Osen & A.Theodossi beat W.Carling & C.Wheeler 2-0 (12-6, 12-6)
Final
E.Osen & A.Theodossi beat N.Lilienthal & P.White 2-1 (12-5, 10-12, 13-11)