Elli Hullis reports:
Drizzling rain did not deter nine pairs from universities across the country coming to compete in the inaugural Universities Mixed Eton Fives Championships on Sunday 13th March 2011.
The prize was hotly contested by the high standard of pairs from a number of London Universities, Bath, Bristol, and Cambridge. The highlight of the pool stages was the match up between Archie Cameron Blackie and Emily Scoones (Bath) and Alfred Jackson and Annabel Griffiths (Cambridge), which proved to be a thriller, with the Bath pair leading at step for a significant period, only for Cambridge to claw their way back to take the game 15-14. Both pairs managed to beat the strong London pair of Juliet Browning and Jonathan Fagan to qualify for the semi-finals.
Both semi-finals were tough games, with Charlotta Cooley's fantastic cut-returning ability proving difficult for Cambridge 2 to cope with and Alun Meredith providing solid support. Cambridge 1 (Eli Hullis and Laurie Brock) were pushed hard by Bath in the other semi-final, but came through to face Cooley and Meredith in the final. Despite Gareth's hints at a best of 5 final the pairs decided on best of 3, and it took Cambridge 1 two long sets to finally take the trophy, but with the London pair nearly taking advantage of opportunities to move the game into a third game.
I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who made this day possible, both in terms of organising the courts and recruiting pairs. This was a very successful day, and a confident start in ensuring this tournament becomes a permanent fixture in the fives calendar!
Results
Semi-finals
Cambridge (E.Hullis & L.Brock) beat Bath (E.Scoones & A.Cameron-Blackie) 2-0
London (C.Cooley & A.Meredith) beat Cambridge (A.Griffiths & A.Jackson) 2-0
Final
Cambridge beat London 2-0
Plate Winners
Cambridge (J.Toynton & A.Crawford)