Ladies Championships: Fourteen In A Row For Hird & Cooley

30/03/26: Karen Hird & Charlotta Cooley once again proved themselves to be head and shoulders above the rest with a 3-0 win over Ashley Lumbard & Emily Scoones at Berkhamsted yesterday.

Since winning their first title in 2013 in a come from behind five game thriller, Karen & Charlotta have dominated the Ladies Championships, conceding only five games in total in the subsequent thirteen finals, all to Ashley Lumbard & Emily Scoones, who were once again their final opponents for the ninth time in the last ten years. The first game was a comfortable 12-4 win for the defending champions and when they established a large lead in the second. it looked as though the match might be over in double quick time. Emily & Ashley fought back well at this point, finding some cut returns and capitalising with a run of points to level at 8-8; a chance was then spurned to go 9-8 up and against opponents as ruthless as Karen & Charlotta, that was the one small glimmer of an opportunity gone. 8-8 was swiftly turned into 12-8 and normal service was then resumed at the start of the third, the champions on top in the set piece and as clinical as ever in and around the buttress.

It is a hugely impressive record, maintaining that standard over such a long period of time and this fourteenth win establishes a new record for consecutive titles across both the Ladies Championships or the Kinnaird. As always there are some talented younger players coming through, with first time semi-final appearances from Charlotte Barr and Betsy Laws this year, but the gap between good school players and the top pair(s) remains as wide as ever. We are still waiting for someone to grasp the nettle and push on into the adult game with the same level of dedication to play regular tournament and league Fives alongside the best players in the men's game that these two pairs have shown over the years. Until that happens and while injury stays away and the competitive fire still burns, it is hard to see a different outcome any time soon to the one that we have seen on repeat for the last decade and a half. No doubt that day will come eventually, but for now we should appreciate the level of Fives that these four players - and especially of course the now fourteen time champions - are producing and to which the next generation are hopefully aspiring.

Our thanks go to Berkhamsted School for hosting the final and to Advanta Wealth for their sponsorship.

K.Hird & C.Cooley beat A.Lumbard & E.Scoones 3-0 (12-4, 12-8, 12-5)