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Kinnaird Cup 2014

The 2014 Kinnaird Cup Qualifying Rounds and Festivals took place in glorious sunshine at Eton over the weekend. 30 pairs took part in the main draw, with the first two rounds played on Saturday and the quarter-finals on Sunday.

The first round saw all eight seeded pairs progress, although 8th seeds Laurie Brock and Ed Rose only made it through after a marathon five game match against Old Salopians Chris Hughes and Tom Welti. This was the pick of the first round ties and had an impact on the second round matches, as Laurie and Ed had to follow that match with another tough assignment in the afternoon, against another Salopian pair, George Thomason and Henry Lewis. The Old Westminster pair, semi-finalists in the recent Northern Tournament, had the legs to hold on in the first game and win 15-13, but as they tired, the Salopians got more and more on top and ran out 3-1 winners to reach their first quarter-final as a pair.

Elsewhere in the draw, Will and Jamie Betts had won the morning battle of the brothers against Carl and Andrew Rennie before coming up against defending champions Tom Dunbar and Seb Cooley in the afternoon. The intriguing new pairing of Ed Taylor and Howard Wiseman quickly clicked into gear, racing through their two matches in fine style to set up a quarter-final against fourth seeds David Mew and Richard Tyler, second round winners over Grant Williams and Mike Hughes, who had performed impressively in the first round to see off the dangerous pair of Sunil Tailor and Jitesh Patel in four games.

In the bottom half of the draw, number three seeds and former winners James Toop and Matthew Wiseman were in imperious form, cruising past Olavian schoolboys Max Brookes and Dom Robson in round one and Ipswichians Gareth Hoskins and Isaac Wagland in round two. Hoskins and Wagland were at least able to take some comfort in their first round win over the somewhat off-colour Bhattacharya brothers. Sixth seeds Ant Theodossi and Ryan Perrie reached their quarter-final slot with easy wins over ladies champions Karen Hird and Charlotta Cooley and then Old Millhillians Vishal Bhimjiyani and Justin Lefort.

Rob Wilson and Jamie Abbott, reigning universities and U21 champions, made short work of Spencer Chapman and Alex Yusaf in the morning, despite a good third game showing from the North Oxford pair, and then came up against seventh seeds Doug Foster and Andrew Joyce, looking to repeat last year's win over a seeded pair at this stage of the competition. After winning the second game 12-7 to level the match at 1-1, things looked promising for the Cambridge pair, but Foster and Joyce, key players in the Berkhamsted league winning team this year, found an extra gear in the next two to race through to a last eight meeting with number two seeds Peter Dunbar and George Campbell. Last year's runners-up had been made to work pretty hard themselves to see off the challenge of Cholmeleians Jonny Ho and Sam Little; it was great to see Sam and Jonny back playing at this level and their performances - including a 3-0 win over Julian Black and Riki Houlden in round one - showed great promise if they make a full return to the sport next year after finishing University.

The quarter-finals took place on Sunday afternoon and were enjoyed by a good number of spectators. Dunbar and Cooley were not at their ruthless best against Thomason and Lewis and the young Salopian pair produced some impressive Fives at times; the champions always had the match under control, however, and progressed in straight games. Toop and Wiseman continued where they had left off on the Saturday, flying out of the blocks and demolishing Theodossi and Perrie in the first two games. Ant and Ryan fought back well and played much better in the third game but it was too little, too late.

Dunbar and Campbell looked to be in control of their quarter-final against Foster and Joyce, winning the frist two games to 4 and 8. Doug and Andrew responded fantastically well in the third game, however, producing a purple patch of play and a run of points to take the game 12-5 and raise the possibility of an upset. Dunbar and Campbell regrouped in the fourth, though, and reasserted their earlier dominance to win the game 12-4 and the match 3-1, setting up the enticing prospect of a semi-final against Toop and Wiseman in a couple of weeks time.

The last quarter-final looked to be the hardest to call on paper, and so it proved on court. Ed Taylor & Howard Wiseman and Richard Tyler & David Mew produced a match that lasted five games and only a few minutes short of four hours. It was always close, sometimes rancorous, full of inventive angles and stitched together with full-blooded commitment. For all of the discussions about lets, talk about gameplans and tactics, lengthy rallies and shots around the walls, the result boiled down - as it nearly always does in a close match - to who managed to get on top in the cut and return battle. After Howard and Ed had edged a tight first game, Richard and David got on top of the set piece in games two and three and established a 2-1 lead. In the fourth, however, Howard and Ed's cutting improved and the supply of returns dried up for Richard and David. The rallies continued to be long and every point had to be eked out, but eventually it was Wiseman and Taylor who completed the semi-final line-up.

The semi-finals will take place at Eton at 2:30pm on Sunday March 30th.

The Pepperpot Trophy, as always, produced some fantastic matches. Chris Hughes and Tom Welti recovered well from the disappointment of their narrow defeat at the hands of Laurie Brock and Ed Rose, and continued their fine form to beat Rez Malik and Adam Morris and then Ralph Morgan and Alex Nice to set up a final against Julian Black and Riki Houlden. All three games in the final were close, but the Salopian pair had the edge in all three and ran out deserved winners.

Plate B for second round losers was won by Grant Williams and Adam Morris (subbing in for the exhausted Mike Hughes), who won another epic match 12-10 in the fifth against Grant's son Guy and Sam Welti.

Sunday also saw two simultaneous Festival competitions, and it was great to see a mixture of old and new faces taking part. The top end of the A Festival was a hotly contested affair and ended up in a final between North Oxford's Carl Rennie and Alex Yusaf and the Bhattacharya brothers. Aroop's Lazarus-like recovery from the depths of injury despair on Saturday was sustained only thanks to a mid-game "medical" time out (massage and MacDonald's prescribed by Dr Abhishek) but it wasn't enough to defeat the impressive Aldenhamian/Ipswichian combination and Carl and Alex took the final 14-12, 12-10.

The B Festival was won by grizzled Westway veterans Freddie Rowe and James Caplin, who emerged unbeaten and triumphant from a splendid round robin competition, which was full of close matches, just pipping runners-up Nathan and Francesca Turnbull of the Wycombe club.

Thanks to Mike Hughes and Mark Williams at Eton and to Mark for his assistance running the weekend and thanks to everyone who came along, played, watched and made it such a successful weekend.

Results:

1st Round:

T.Dunbar & S.Cooley (1) BYE

W.Betts & J.Betts beat A.Rennie & C.Rennie 3-1 (8-12, 12-7, 12-10, 14-12)

G.Thomason & H.Lewis beat T.Gallagher & K.Nwuba 3-0 (15-11, 12-3, 12-3)

L.Brock & E.Rose (8) beat C.Hughes & T.Welti 3-2 (9-12, 12-4, 12-10, 7-12, 12-9)

E.Taylor & H.Wiseman (5) beat R.Morgan & A.Nice 3-0 (12-0, 12-0, 12-0)

Guy Williams & S.Welti beat F.Colquhoun & H.Campbell 3-0 (12-1, 12-5, 12-2)

Grant Williams & M.Hughes beat J.Patel & S.Tailor 3-1 (12-9, 12-9, 11-13, 12-7)

R.Tyler & D.Mew (4) beat N.Bunyan & H.Turnbull 3-0 (12-8, 12-1, 12-2)

J.Toop & M.Wiseman (3) beat D.Robson & M.Brookes 3-0 (12-1, 12-0, 12-2)

G.Hoskins & I.Wagland beat A.Bhattacharya & A.Bhattacharya 3-0 (12-0, 12-8, 12-4)

V.Bhimjiyani & J.Lefort beat R.Malik & A.Morris 3-1 (0-12, 12-5, 12-2, 12-10)

A.Theodossi & R.Perrie (6) beat K.Hird & C.Cooley 3-0 (12-1, 12-4, 12-0)

D.Foster & A.Joyce (7) beat C.Fairbanks-Smith & M.Asquith 3-0 (12-8, 12-4, 12-4)

R.Wilson & J.Abbott beat S.Chapman & A.Yusaf 3-0 (12-1, 12-1, 12-8)

J.Ho & S.Little beat J.Black & R.Houlden 3-0 (12-1, 12-5, 12-8)

P.Dunbar & G.Campbell (2) BYE

2nd Round:

T.Dunbar & S.Cooley (1) beat W.Betts & J.Betts 3-0 (12-5, 12-0, 12-0)

G.Thomason & H.Lewis beat L.Brock & E.Rose (8) 3-1 (13-15, 12-8, 12-5, 12-7)

E.Taylor & H.Wiseman (5) beat Guy Williams & S.Welti 3-0 (12-0, 12-6, 12-3)

R.Tyler & D.Mew (4) beat Grant Williams & M.Hughes 3-0 (12-3, 12-6, 12-1)

J.Toop & M.Wiseman (3) beat G.Hoskins & I.Wagland 3-0 (12-0, 12-1, 12-2)

A.Theodossi & R.Perrie (6) beat V.Bhimjiyani & J.Lefort 3-0 (12-5, 12-2, 12-3)

D.Foster & A.Joyce (7) beat R.Wilson & J.Abbott 3-1 (12-6, 7-12, 12-1, 12-1)

P.Dunbar & G.Campbell (2) beat J.Ho & S.Little 3-0 (12-4, 12-7, 12-1)

Quarter-Finals:

T.Dunbar & S.Cooley (1) beat G.Thomason & H.Lewis 3-0 (12-8, 12-0, 12-4)

E.Taylor & H.Wiseman (5) beat R.Tyler & D.Mew (4) 3-2 (14-11, 9-12, 6-12, 12-5, 12-6)

J.Toop & M.Wiseman (3) beat A.Theodossi & R.Perrie (6) 3-0 (12-1, 12-2, 12-5)

P.Dunbar & G.Campbell (2) beat D.Foster & A.Joyce (7) 3-1 (12-4, 12-8, 5-12, 12-4)

Pepperpot Trophy (Plate A):

1st Round:

R.Houlden & J.Black beat D.Robson & M.Brookes 3-0 (12-8, 12-5, 12-3)

A.Bhattacharya & T.Stubbs beat K.Nwuba & T.Gallagher 3-0 (5-12, 5-12, 5-11 ret)

R.Malik & A.Morris beat F.Colquhoun & H.Campbell 3-1 (6-12, 12-2, 12-0, 12-4)

R.Morgan & A.Nice beat K.Hird & C.Cooley 3-0 (12-10, 12-7, 15-10)

S.Tailor & J.Patel beat C.Fairbanks-Smith & M.Asquith 3-2 (8-12, 12-5, 12-4, 3-12, 12-9)

Quarter-Finals:

R.Houlden & J.Black beat A.Bhattacharya & T.Stubbs 3-0 (12-1, 12-5, 12-5)

N.Bunyan & H.Turnbull beat S.Chapman & A.Yusaf 3-0 (11-12, 5-12, 7-11 ret)

C.Hughes & T.Welti beat R.Malik & A.Morris 3-0 (12-8, 12-6, 12-5)

R.Morgan & A.Nice beat S.Tailor & J.Patel w/o

Semi-Finals:

R.Houlden & J.Black beat N.Bunyan & H.Turnbull 3-0 (12-3, 12-5, 12-2)

C.Hughes & T.Welti beat R.Morgan & A.Nice 3-0 (12-4, 12-2, 12-3)

Final:

C.Hughes & T.Welti beat J.Black & R.Houlden 3-0 (12-8, 12-10, 13-10)

Plate B:

Grant Williams & A.Morris beat Guy Williams & S.Welti 3-2 (12-10, 5-12, 12-8, 8-12, 12-10)

Festival A:

Quarter-Finals:

A.Yusaf & C.Rennie beat T.MacCahon & E.Day-Collins 2-0 (12-0, 12-6)

A.Constantine & J.Lawrence beat T.Gallagher & J.Oxley 2-0 (13-10, 12-2)

C.Self & J.Ravi beat J.Tate & K.Swanson 2-0 (12-8, 12-6)

A.Bhattacharya & A.Bhattacharya beat M.Coombes & C.Nicholls 2-1 (8-12, 12-3, 12-2)

Semi-Finals:

A.Yusaf & C.Rennie beat A.Constantine & J.Lawrence 2-0 (12-4, 12-9)

A.Bhattacharya & A.Bhattacharya beat C.Self & J.Ravi 2-0 (12-3, 12-5)

Final:

A.Yusaf & C.Rennie beat A.Bhattacharya & A.Bhattacharya 2-0 (14-12, 12-10)

Festival A Plate:

Quarter-Finals:

A.Knight & J.Prior beat J.Mason & P.Mason 2-0 (12-3, 12-5)

M.Dight & M.Skelton beat C.Davey & M.Brocklebank 2-0 (12-2, 12--0)

Semi-Finals:

A.Knight & J.Prior beat R.Morgan & A.Nice 2-0 (12-10, 12-4)

M.Dight & M.Skelton beat F.Turnbull & N.Turnbull 2-0 (12-8, 12-2)

Final:

A.Knight & J.Prior beat M.Dight & M.Skelton 2-0 (12-4, 12-2)

Festival B Round Robin:

1st F.Rowe & J.Caplin

2nd F.Turnbull & N.Turnbull

3rd M.Goddard & B.Young

4th E.Osen & O.Prankerd Smith

5th C.Davey & M.Brocklebank

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