On Saturday 9th February 2013, five schools – Christ’s Hospital, Eastbourne, St Dunstan’s, Tonbridge and Whitgift – gathered at Christ’s Hospital for the second South East Regional Schools Fives Tournament. St Dunstan’s were a welcome new participant and we hope to include Sutton Valence in future years, as well as eagerly awaiting the prospect of a London Regional tournament.
In the U16 Singles the standard of play was particularly high in terms of both retrieval and tactical awareness. In the singles two of the favourites Hutt (Tonbridge) and Ahmed (CH) managed to top their groups, although not without difficulty. Muscat (Tonbridge) also did well to top his group but perhaps the surprise was Owen (St Dunstan’s) placing first in his group in a typically close win against Horner (Whitgift).
Hutt looked calm and assured in a comfortable semi-final victory against teammate Muscat. The other semi-final was anything but comfortable, as Owen took on Ahmed (at that time the N/national U14 Singles Champion). A close win in the first game for Owen was followed by a quick and brutal fightback in the second by Ahmed. As the match ebbed and flowed, Owen’s superior stamina and confidence eventually told as he won an epic three-gamer lasting around an hour.
The final between Owen and Hutt was of similar quality, but despite or perhaps because of Owen giving everything to the point of physical exhaustion, a fightback by Hutt to win the second game was not quite enough to gain a firm foothold, and Owen came through comfortably in the third as a worthy champion. The plate was won by Horner.
In the U16 Doubles there was again some excellent play, but Whitgift were dominant, topping both groups, although their second pair only by the narrowest of margins against Tonbridge’s first pair. The final between the Whitgift pairs saw a close first game but the first pair of Horner & Raison ran out comfortable winners in the second. The Tonbridge pair of Hutt & Segun gained some compensation with a decisive victory in the plate.
The U18s was the Eastbourne show. The singles was more fast-paced, as perhaps to be expected, and although at times lacking the subtlety of the colts was excellent from a spectator’s perspective. The top seeds and last year’s finalists Gemade (CH) and Kent (Eastbourne) came through their groups as expected without difficulty. The other groups were much tighter and Tickle (Eastbourne), a last minute entry, did particularly well to squeeze his way out of a very tough group. Similarly Teterin (Eastbourne) accomplished the same feat, creating three Eastbourne semi-finalists.
The top seeds again came through this stage without too much difficulty, and a replay of the 2012 final began. The pattern of the games was the same, with a narrow win for Kent in the first followed by a clearer win for Gemade in the second. However Gemade failed to impose himself on the decider, and Kent’s very physical pace and style eventually told for him to emerge as champion 12-11. Strutt-Clare (St Dunstan’s) won several tough games to take the plate.
In the U18 Doubles Kent & Barnes (Eastbourne) made magisterial progress through their group, dropping only one point. They were joined by Jones & Martyn (Tonbridge), who won much tighter games against Christ’s Hospital & the Eastbourne 2nd pair. Given these respective scorelines, the final was a very close affair, Kent & Barnes coming out as champions 11-7, 12-11. Gemade & Eastwood had compensation by winning the plate against Whitgift.
RESULTS
U16 Singles Champion – Tom Owen (St Dunstan’s)
U16 Singles Plate – Oli Horner (Whitgift)
U16 Doubles Champions – Horner & Raison (Whitgift)
U16 Doubles Plate – Hutt & Segun (Tonbridge)
U18 Singles Champion – Chay Kent (Eastbourne)
U18 Singles Plate – Conor Strutt-Clare (St Dunstan’s)
U18 Doubles Champions – Kent & Barnes (Eastbourne)
U18 Doubles Plate – Gemade & Eastwood (Christ’s Hospital)