Westway Win The Inaugural Vargas Salver
Dale Vargas reports:
19/09/18: This competition, played at Charterhouse on Sunday 13 September after postponement due to bad weather in March, was won by Westway. Five teams competed: Aldenham, Charterhouse, Emanuel, Holyport and Westway.
The competition in which each pair played two games against each equivalent pair in a three-pair match was decided on the highest number of games won. Aldenham (one player short), Emanuel (one pair short) forfeited their third pair matches and thus the first winners of the Vargas Salver were Westway. The best performing first pair was Aldenham.
It was notable that the winning Westway team had no players from EF-playing schools: Richard Sabisky (St Gerard’s, Bangor), James Vaughan-Hughes and Edward Vaughan-Hughes (both Latymer Upper), Jamie Levinson (Burlington Danes); Kacper Mikowski and Theo Santos (both Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School). This was a great credit to Paul Bowden and the coaching staff at Westway.
The competition was played on a beautifully sunny and warm, late summer day. The eight Charterhouse courts played well; John Troy, Master i/c at Charterhouse and Competition Organiser, made everyone very welcome and arranged the day with efficiency and great charm; Charterhouse provided drinks and a beef burger lunch at the courts. The fives was of good standard and I must mention especially the female Holyport third pair, who were short on experience but showed considerable aptitude for the game. They didn’t win many points but they made a huge advance in skill with every match. The competition was also notable for the courteous of the players both on and off court: they were a great credit to their mentors.
There is a great appeal to playing a competition like this at this time of year, especially for the spectators - although it is clearly too early in the season for some schools. The 2019 competition is planned for the same day as the Williams Cup and that date will be held. We shall see whether more schools can send teams on that date: for many, the Spring term is the fives term.
