To be held at Marlborough College, Wiltshire, 25/27th November 2011
BUCS has published the draw for the N/national Student Rugby Fives championships – and it looks set to be a tournament of extremely high quality. In the singles, for example, there are two players from inside the n/national top 10 rankings: defending BUCS champion Dan Grant and last season's n/national schoolboy champ Luke Thomson, now at Loughborough University. And that's to say nothing of the likes of Chris Burrows, Peter Hanton, Ed Kay, all of whom performed well in 2010. Last but not least, there's also the 2006 champion Alan Beverly, who has returned to Cambridge University.
Initially the entry looked good, with 41 for the singles & 21 pairs for the doubles, numerically slightly down on last year, but with a similar number of institutions participating - thirteen. However a steady trickle of withdrawals during the couple of weeks prior to the event reduced numbers considerably, particularly in the singles. Only ten places actually turned up - Edinburgh, Worcester & Kent withdrawing - and the No 1 Seed, Dan Grant was an early casualty with a recurrence of his ankle problems which have now put him out for some months to come.
There are always a few last-minute withdrawals, but it does seem, on this occasion, that quite a number of individuals committed themselves to the event without actually checking that they were really free on the Friday! It might be a good idea if team captains were to get their players to double check this in future years before sending in their entry forms! As it was sections of the singles draw had to be re-vamped on several occasions in order to give a balanced schedule.
Having said this, the revised top four seeds all reached the semi-finals and there were lots of closely contested matches. Ed Kay, (Cambridge) had a tough Saturday with some 13 games in 5 matches. It is to his credit that he survived them all, although it might just have taken its toll on the Sunday!!
In the Singles Final, the previous two seasons' N/national Schools Champions faced each other, with the 2011 victor, Luke Thomson, from Loughboroough, running out the winner. The Doubles Final again saw the top two seeds in combat, with Durham, represented by Peter Hanton & Alex Griffiths, narrowly defeating the holders, Ed Kay & Tom Chase, from Cambridge, with a second game that see-sawed around at 15 all for a long time!
Plate victories went to James Tilston, also of Durham, in a three-game singles final, and to Adam George of St. Andrew's, keeping his Plate Doubles crown intact partnered by Kit Ward.
Special mention must also be made of the St. Paul's schoolboy pair, Theo Parker & Francis Thomas, who come in under the heading of N/national Students, who reached the semi-final of the Doubles, whilst Theo contested the final of the Plate. A good omen for the future.
Our thanks must go to Marlborough College for allowing us the use of their fine facilities, in particular to Tom Kiggell and facilities manager Julian Beckett. Also to all the organisers, who helped make this 52nd championship another success.
In the entirely unofficial team championship, using figures and statistics compiled by the RFA's Dave Hebden, Durham emerged on top, just ahead of Cambridge - a reversal of the positions at Durham last year. For the full details, simply click on the link below.
Results
Singles
1st round: Thomson (Loughborough) beat Chail (UCL) 15-1, 15-0; Brubert (Cambridge) beat Lalor (Durham) 15-1, Ret inj.; Coffey (Southampton) beat Gravatt (Durham) 15-8, 15-6; Parker (St. Paul's) beat Esin (Oxford) 15-5, 15-1; Hine (Oxford) beat Squire (Imperial) 15-1, 15-1; Aquilina (Durham beat Bhattacharya (Imperial 15-1, 15-0; Waller (Oxford) beat Tilston (Durham) 15-13, 15-12; Burrows (Imperial) beat Malde (Cambridge) 15-0, 15-6; Thomas (St. Paul's) w.o. Barnsley (UCL); Malone (Cambridge) beat Lung (UCL) 15-1, 15-0; Jefferies (Oxford) beat Harvey ((UCL) 15-0, 15-2; Hanton (Durham w.o. Roberts (Oxford); Chase (Cambridge) beat Bowden (Durham) 12-15, 15-5, 15-8; George (St. Andrew's) w.o. McKelvie (Oxford); Ward (Durham) beat Lang (UCL) 15-0, 15-1; Kay (Cambridge) beat Spencer (Durham) 15-0, 15-1
2nd Round: Thomson beat Brubert 15-7, 15-2; Coffey beat Parker 15-10, 15-2; Aquilina beat Hine 15-13, 15-9; Burrows beat Waller 15-2, 15-4; Thomas beat Malone 16-14, 13-15, 15-12; Hanton beat Jefferies 15-0, 15-2; George beat Chase 15-11, 9-15, 15-9; Kay beat Ward 15-4, 15-1
Quarter-Finals: Thomson beat Coffey 15-0, 15-5; Burrows beat Aquilina 15-3, 15-1; Hanton beat Thomas 15-1, 15-3; Kay beat George 15-1, 14-16, 15-13
Semi-Finals: Thomson beat Burrows 15-5, 15-0; Kay beat Hanton 15-13, 9-15, 15-9
Final: Thomson bt Kay 15-9, 15-6
Plate: Tilston
Doubles
1st round: Rolls & Brierly (Bristol) w.o. Lung & Hervey (UCL); Parker & Thomas (St. Paul's) w.o. Connolly & Golding (Kent); Chai & Lang (UCL) w.o. Butt & A.N. Other (Edinburgh)
2nd Round: Kay & Chase (Cambridge) beat Spencer & Wakelam (Durham) 15-0, 15-1; Thomson & Satterfield (Loughborough) beat Burrows & Squire ( Imperial) 15-0, 15-3; Parker & Thomas (St. Paul's) beat Tilston & Aquilina (Durham) 15-7, 15-5; Coffey & Lebon (Southampton) beat George (St. Andrew's) & Ward (Durham) 15-11, 15-5; Malone & Beverly (Cambridge) beat Jefferies & Waller (Oxford) 15-3, 15-12; Gravatt & Bowden (Durham) beat Brubert & Malde (Cambridge) 15-7, 15-9; Hine & Esin (Oxford) beat Chai & Lang (UCL) 15-6, 15-7; Hanton & Griffiths (Durham) beat Rolls & Brierly (Bristol ) 15-4, 15-6
Quarter-Finals: Kay & Chase beat Thomson & Satterfield 15-3, 11-15, 15-5; Parker & Thomas beat Coffey & Lebon 8-15, 16-14, 15-10; Malone & Beverly beat Gravatt & Bowden 15-8, 15-4; Hanton & Griffiths beat Hine & Esin 15-8, 15-6
Semi-Finals: Kay & Chase beat Parker & Thomas 15-8, 15-7; Hanton & Griffiths beat Malone & Beverly 16-14, 15-5
Final: Durham (A Griffiths & P Hanton) bt Cambridge (E Kay & T Chase) 15-9, 16-15
Plate: George & Ward
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