Fives Tournament
The 2011 National Schools Tournament competition, hosted at St Paul’s, produced some spirited play and closely fought matches.
We had three players in the semi-finals of the Open Singles, but Christ’s Hospital’s Luke Thomson stood out and it was a credit to Nick Edmonds (Year 13, Upper Eighth) that he achieved as many as 12 points against him in the final. Will Sloper (Year 13, Upper Eighth) made it to the plate final, losing in a long and gruelling battle, leaving Jacob Ader to win the second plate.
In the Open Doubles, our first pair, Nick Edmonds and Jack Malde (Year 13, Upper Eighth), beat KCS in the semis, and our second pair, Theo Parker and Sam Russell (Year 12, Lower Eighth), produced a great effort against Christ’s Hospital. In the final, Christ’s Hospital beat our first pair in straight games.
The Colts’ tournament was remarkable both for a huge entry and for a very high standard of play. Sam Wyatt-Haines, from Blundell’s, emerged as champion, but only after defeating Yul Kahn Pascual (Year 10, Fifth form) in the quarter-finals (a repeat of last year’s Under-14 final) in three games. In the semis, Matt Shaw (Year 11, Sixth form) lost to the much improved Ed Wylde from Winchester. In the Colts’ Doubles, both our first pair, Yul Kahn Pascual and Matt Shaw, and our second, Tim Edmonds and Neal Pabari (Year 11, Sixth form), made it to the last eight.
The standard of play in the Under-14 competition was also very high. Tristen McFarlane (Year 9, Fourth form) impressed in reaching the semi-finals. Sidharth Bhushan, Gabriel Keller and Matthew Nunes (Year 9, Fourth form) all won matches against good opposition. In the Doubles, our first pair, Tristen McFarlane and Gabriel Keller, had a long battle before losing to Tonbridge in the semi-finals, whilst our second pair, Sidharth Bhushan and Matthew Nunes, lost to Derby Moor in the quarter-finals.
