There was a very healthy entry of 46 players for the singles and 23 doubles pairs for the Under 13 Championships, which were held at St Paul's School on Sunday March 17th. It was good to see entries for the first time from Oundle School, St Andrew's Eastbourne, Shrewsbury House and St Olaves. Altogether eight schools were represented.
The singles players were divided into six pools and the six pool winners and next two highest points scorers proceeded to a knock-out formula from the quarter-final stage. It soon became clear that the players from St Olaves were very strong and adapting well to Rugby Fives despite Eton Fives being their usual game. In particular their ability to volley the ball strongly and effectively gave them an advantage over their opponents. Thus it was that by the end of the pool rounds St Olaves provided five pool winners and one qualifier under the points scored rule. The other two qualifiers were from Pilgrims School, Winchester.
St Olaves provided three of the singles semi-finalists along with Sebastian Byers from Pilgrims. In the first semi-final, Byers fought hard against Sohayl Ujoodia from St Olaves who eventually prevailed to move into the final. In the second semi-final, Kameron Swanson proved too strong on the day for his team mate James Tate. Swanson continued his good form into the final and proved too steady for Ujoodia who gave all he could to provide a very creditable final.
St Olaves continued to take their good form into the Doubles competition and all of their three pairs reached the semis where they were joined by Blundells I. The final between the top two St Olaves pairs was a credit to all four players and eventually after numerous thrilling rallies James Tate and Kieran Walton overcame the two singles finalists, Kameron Swanson and Sohayl Ujoodia.
The day was a rewarding experience for all the players involved and also for the gallery packed with family and friends. All the games were played in a good and sporting spirit and it is hoped that the players obvious enthusiasm for the game will be nurtured and developed in the years ahead.
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RESULTS
Singles
Singles Pools Winners: Walton, Swanson, Ujoodia, Carew and Caine (all St Olaves) Byers (Pilgrims) other qualifiers - Tate (St Olaves) and Choi (Pilgrims)
Quarter-finals: Byers bt Caine 15-8, Ujoodia bt Walton 15-10, Swanson bt Carew 15-9, Tate bt Choi 15-11
Semi-finals: Ujoodia bt Byers 15-9, Swanson bt Tate 15-1
Final: Swanson (St Olaves) bt Ujoodia (St Olaves) 15-3
Plate: Tate(St Olaves) bt Byers (Pilgrims) 15-11
Doubles
Quarter finals: St Olaves II bt Alleyns I 11-0, St Olaves III bt Merchant Taylors I 11-1, Blundells I bt Alleyns II 11-2, St Olaves I bt St Andrews I 11-0
Semi-finals: St Olaves II bt St Olaves III 11-2, St Olaves I bt Blundells I 11-2
Final: St Olaves I (James Tate and Kieran Walton) bt St Olaves II (Kameron Swanson and Sohayl Ujoodia) 15-10
Plate: Pilgrims (Sebastian Byers and Junho Choi) bt Blundells (James Maclaurin and Henry Olsen) 15-6