Olavians And Westminsters Back In The Barber Final

26/01/26: The Olavians and Westminsters were both victorious in their Alan Barber Cup in association with Advanta Wealth semi-finals at Eton yesterday, setting up a third consecutive final between them in four weeks time.

In fact, the semi-finals this year were a repeat of last year's, with the Olavians winning against the Millhillians and the Westminsters against the Salopians, both 2-1.

Last season, the Millhillians were unable to raise a side in the last four; this year, riding high on the back of some strong league form, they brought their strongest line-up to take on the side who have dominated the competition for the majority of the last 25 years. The strength in depth of the Olavian team gave them a quick win at third pair, but the strength of the OM team lies in their top two pairs and both got off to positive starts. The first pair match turned into a five game epic, with Seb Cooley & Aadi Agarwal coming from 0-2 down to level at 2-2 against Sunil Tailor & Charles Plummer before Aadi began to struggle with cramp in the fifth and the Mill Hill pair regained control to win 3-2. At second pair Vishal Bhimjiyani & Hal Gibson-Leitao also started well in the first game against James Toop & Prajeeth Sathiyamoorthy, leading 6-1, but that was as good as it got for the Millhillians, as James & Prajeeth quickly seized control, came back to win the first to 9 and then moved through the next two games with relative ease.

The Westminsters and Salopians have been familiar foes at this stage of the competition in recent years and it was the Westminsters who came through as winners again this year, their top order firepower of Hugo Young & Laurie Brock at first pair and Hugo's Kinnaird-winning partner Riki Houlden alongside Ben Merrett at second pair proving too strong for their opponents, the key in both pairs being the first game, a long drawn out 12-8 win for Hugo & Laurie against Rex Worth & Tom Cox and a come from behind 13-12 for Riki & Ben over Ed Taylor & Henry Blofield. Chris Hughes & Sam Welti recorded a four game win over Sahil Shah & James Alster at third pair but neither of the top two Salopian pairs were able to come from behind and the Westminsters took their place in the final, which will be at Eton on Sunday 22nd February at 2:30pm. If it's anywhere near as good as the last two finals between these two teams have been, it will be well worth watching.

You can see the full results from this year's competition HERE

Old Olavians beat Old Millhillians 2-1:

S.Cooley & A.Agarwal lost to S.Tailor & C.Plummer 2-3 (10-13, 6-12, 12-8, 12-7, 5-12)

J.Toop & P.Sathiyamoorthy beat V.Bhimjiyani & H.Gibson-Leitao 3-0 (12-9, 12-4, 12-4)

H.Ravi & T.Gallagher beat J.Lefort & J.Weller 3-0 (12-3, 12-0, 12-4)

Old Westminsters beat Old Salopians 2-1:

H.Young & L.Brock beat T.Cox & R.Worth 3-0 (12-8, 12-4, 12-6)

R.Houlden & B.Merrett beat E.Taylor & H.Blofield 3-0 (13-12, 12-1, 12-8)

S.Shah & J.Alster lost to C.Hughes & S.Welti 1-3 (5-12, 12-9, 1-12, 4-12)