Triumphs at the West of England Schools Fives Tournament

Report written by Sam Roberts

We took 12 players to the West of England Schools Fives tournament in Sherborne over the weekend of 18 and 19 January, and came away with three of the four trophies on offer.

In the U16s, Nadim (Sixth Form) won the singles competition without losing a game. He defeated a strong opponent from Winchester in the final, whose accuracy and tactical awareness couldn’t match Nadim’s. In the U16 doubles, Nadim and his partner Alex (Fifth Form) reached the final and won the first game against Winchester 1, but ultimately lost in a long and draining match. Alex came close to claiming the U16 singles plate, and Neev (Fifth Form) and Joey (Fourth Form) narrowly lost the doubles plate final, which is impressive for a U15/U14 pair.

In the U18s, our first pair, Freddie and Josh (Lower Eighth Form), retained the trophy after a superb semi-final against our second pair, Tom and Elyas (Lower Eighth Form). Freddie and Josh’s power, accuracy, variety of shots, and superb retrieving were too much for the Alleyn’s top pair. In the singles, Freddie was in imperious form, winning the final 11-0, 11-0 against an opponent who would have been a worthy champion in any other year. Freddie’s anticipation, speed, power, and accuracy were astonishing, producing one of the finest displays of school fives in the last 30 years. The only person who managed to score any points off him in the entire tournament was his teammate, Tom, whom Freddie played in the semi-final, winning 11-0, 11-1. It is likely that Freddie is the first player ever to win any schools’ trophy by conceding only a single point.