Houlden & Young Extend Winning London Run
17/11/25: Riki Houlden & Hugo Young won the London Tournament in association with Advanta Wealth for the fourth successive year at Harrow on Sunday.
Eighteen pairs entered the main tournament and while Riki & Hugo were heavy odds on favourites with the bookies at the start of the tournament, there was a real opportunity - with one or two familiar names missing - for some of the up and coming pairs to get to a first major semi-final or even final.
With Friday's apocalyptic weather conditions thankfully having abated by Saturday morning, proceedings started with three groups of six competing for eight afternoon quarter-final places. Group A was predictably dominated by the top seeds, while below them the second qualifying spot was won by Gwydion Wiseman & Prajeeth Sathiyamoorthy, who won a decisive victory in what could easily have been a tight encounter with Millhillians Vishal Bhimjiyani & Hal Gibson-Leitao. Vishal & Hal made sure of the third qualifying spot, holding off the challenges of St.Olave's school pair Henry Etherington & Oscar Rushton and dangerous wildcards Emily Scoones & Tommy Farmer, as well as the Zuoz pair of Marc Tavra & Leon Schönleber, who had flown in from Zurich and Munich respectively that morning (and still arrived at Harrow before most of the rest of the field).
The other fancied Millhillian pair of Sunil Tailor & Charles Plummer qualified comfortably top of Group B, with the real battle the one for second place between Tom McCahon & Alex Abrahams and Under 25 champions Isaac Weaver & Fred Prickett. The winners of their game would head straight into the last eight, while the losers would have to go into a play-off against the third place pair from Group C and it was Isaac & Fred who just came out on top, 12-10 winners in one of the best games of the morning. Edwin Gosnell & Archie Cameron-Blackie weren't able to put as much pressure on the top three pairs as they would have liked and just held off Lewis Drummond & Jamie Levinson for fourth place, Ipswichians Archie Magnus & Patrick Dooley completing the group and scrapping hard for every well-earned point.
There was also plenty of interest in Group C, with Ryan Perrie & Jack Pemberton aiming to produce a tournament performance that reflected the high quality Fives they have been producing in 2025. Standing in their way was the intriguing pairing of Tom Dunbar & Daniel Ingram. With Seb Cooley unavailable and Tom's original plan to play with son Jamie scuppered due to a knee injury, an opportunity presented itself for Daniel - an U16 winner at the Schools' Championships last year and a fine prospect - to test himself at the highest level and to learn from the most successful player the sport has ever seen. Both pairs had no trouble dealing with the other pairs in their group, with Daniel settling in well, but when they met in the final round, Ryan & Jack produced a blistering and near flawless game of Fives to take top spot in the group and serve notice that they were going to take some stopping.The inimitable Bhattacharya brothers took third place and the play off spot with a tight 12-10 win over Nick Choustikov & Adam Field, with Chris Lumbard & Ralph Morgan and Al Taylor & Matt Davis joining Nick & Adam in the afternoon plate.
The Bhattacharyas bowed out in the play-off round, McCahon & Abrahams making no mistake as they assured themselves of a quarter-final spot. Their reward was a match against Riki & Hugo, which went to form, the Westminster pair winning 1,1, and 4 to book their place in the last four. There they were joined by Plummer & Tailor, 3-0 victors in the all-Millhillian clash with Bhimjiyani & Gibson-Leitao despite a good display from the lower ranked duo. After their morning performances, it was no surprise to see Perrie & Pemberton take the first game 12-6 in their quarter-final against Wiseman & Sathiyamoorthy as they looked to set up a semi-final clash with Tailor & Plummer. Things started to go wrong for them in the second game, however, with Wiseman & Sathiyamoorthy upping their game and posing more of a threat, while Jack began to struggle with a bruised hand. Gwydion & Prajeeth took the second game 12-9 to level the match at 1-1 at which point Jack decided that unfortunately the bruising was such that he couldn't continue and the match was conceded.
The fourth quarter-final was a clash between the two Ipswichian/Harrovian pairings as Dunbar & Ingram took on Weaver & Prickett in an intriguing clash. This was a close one from the start, with Ingram feeling his way into the match after his slightly chastening group game experience at the hands of Perrie & Pemberton. Weaver & Prickett got their noses in front in the first game and got to 11 first, but as so often in that situation this was simply the cue for Dunbar to do what great players do and go into overdrive, and with Ingram growing in confidence the game was levelled at 11-11 and then quickly won 14-11. This momentum was carried into the second game, which was won to 7, but Fred & Isaac regrouped impressively and hit back strongly in the third. This time it was they who turned a 9-11 deficit back into 11-11, saving a couple of match points in the process and it was clear that if Isaac & Fred could somehow win the third, there would be a real opportunity for them to take the match deep. Again, though, they were undone by Tom - well supported by his partner - producing the couple of rallies that were needed just at the right time to clinch the game 14-12 and take them into the semi-finals.
While this was going on, the remaining pairs were fighting it out in the plate competition: Etherington & Rushton struck an early blow with a fine win over Cameron-Blackie & Gosnell, who had to console themselves with a Plate B win instead, but then came unstuck in a tight semi-final against Choustikov & Field. In the other half of the draw, however, Farmer & Scoones were on a roll, defeating all comers to take the win, finishing off with a statement 12-5 victory over Adam & Nick in the final.
Sunday morning saw the semi-finals, with Plummer & Tailor taking on Wiseman & Sathiyamoorthy, both pairs looking to make it into a first ever major final. The contrast in styles was marked, and the intensity of the Wiseman/Sathiyamoorthy alliance had the initial edge over their laidback opponents, winning the first game 13-11. Sunil & Charles were - unsurprisingly - unfazed, and took control in the second game to win 12-3 and level the scores. The key phase of the match came in the third game, with the score at 9-9; Gwydion & Prajeeth really needed to find some inspiration at this point and get back in front, but it was Charles & Sunil who retook the initiative, winning 12-9 and then finishing things off with another 12-3 win in the fourth.
The second semi-final saw Daniel Ingram on court with three of the four players who have contested the last three Kinnaird Cup finals and who have a vast number of major title wins between them. Could he step up and hold his own in the most demanding of circumstances? He & Tom played well enough in the first game but lost it to 3; the second was a different story, however, as Tom began to find top gear and Daniel showed exactly what he's capable of, more than holding his own against the reigning Kinniard champions and coming out on top 14-13 at the end of a remarkable set of Fives, which saw them come from 10-5 down at one point. It was always going to be a tough ask for Tom & Daniel to replicate that, and Riki & Hugo hit back hard in the next two games, tightening things up, improving their set piece and making fewer errors to move through into the final, but this was an impressive introduction to life at the sharp end of the game for Daniel and hopefully we will see a lot more of him in the future.
The final was notable in many ways - a first ever major final appearance from players from Mill Hill and QE Barnet and with two Westminsters in the other corner, a final that featured players who went to three schools who between them have never produced a finalist in the National Schools' Championships, let alone a winner. This is testament both to the work put in by the four players themselves over the years and a credit to the well run alumni clubs (along with the more traditional Oxbridge Fives route) they play for who have provided the opportunities for them to reach this level. The final initially threatened to be a damp squib, Riki & Hugo starting as they had finished their semi-final with a 12-0 game. Charles & Sunil came back well after that, however, raising their level, making fewer errors and playing with greater precision and while they never looked as though they were going to get ahead on the scoreboard - losing both games to 7 - the Fives in the latter two games was of an extremely high standard and excellent to watch. The weekend ended as it had started, though, with Riki & Hugo in possession of the London Tournament trophy and clearly the pair to beat in the second half of the season.
Elsewhere on the Harrow courts on Sunday, the Festival was producing its usual thrills and spills. Fourteen pairs took part with a start of day favourite impossible to predict; three morning groups did the sorting out work, with eight pairs heading into the quarter-finals and the other six into a lengthy afternoon round robin plate competition, which was eventually won by Lancing's Matt Davis & Henry Steele.
The quarter-finals threw up some interesting matches: Zuozers Marc & Leon had by now got over their Saturday jet lag and were beginning to click into top gear, defeating Adam Field & Kristiana Smilovska 15-8. Ipswich schoolboys Max Williams & Jake Shelley moved one step closer to a Festival double after their win in the Midlands at Repton, with an impressive 15-10 win over Ashley Lumbard & Emily Scoones, while the Ipswich coaching duo of Peter Boughton & Tony Stubbs were unable to make much of an impression on the Charterhouse coach/pupil pairing of Tom Leach & Bertie Marshall-Rice, who were determined to go at least one better than their quarter-final defeat last year. The other quarter-final was between two scratch pairings, the Cambridge past & present alliance of Alex Knight & Jamie Lai bowing out with a 9-15 defeat at the hands of the Reptonian/Cholmeleian pairing of Henry Barton-Smith & Joel Robb.
Henry & Joel made sure that one better was all Tom & Bertie were going to manage with an impressive 12-4, 12-6 semi-final win, while Max & Jake's dreams of the double were shattered by Marc & Leon who came from behind to win the first game 14-11 before running away with the second. As is traditional in the London Festival, the final was played with just the tournament organiser left to watch after everyone else had gone home, which was a shame as it was an excellent see-saw match. Joel & Henry had the better of the first game, winning to 7 and at 4-1 up in the second seemed to be in control. Suddenly, though, one missed shot seemed to affect Henry's concentration and the wheels rather fell off for a while. Marc & Leon took advantage impressively and having stormed to a 12-7 victory in the second and then a 4-1 lead of their own in the third, it seemed that the winners' chocolates (a bit coals to Newcastle, really, with a Swiss pair involved) would be heading overseas. There was one further twist to come, though, as Henry got his head back in the game, Joel refound his set piece mojo and Marc & Leon began to falter at the end of a very long weekend for them. The last move was decisive, as Joel & Henry powered to the finish, winning 12-5 and keeping the Swiss chocolates away from Switzerland. Marc stayed around just long enough for a photo before dashing off to catch a flight back to Zurich (Leon taking the more sensible Monday morning option) while Henry & Joel congratulated each other on a job well done. Just.
My thanks go to Ian Hutchinson and to Harrow for hosting the tournament, to Advanta Wealth for their continued sponsorship and to everyone who came and played and watched and who made it such an enjoyable weekend.
Main Tournament
Play-Off Round
T.McCahon & A.Abrahams beat A.Bhattacharya & A.Bhattacharya 12-3
Quarter-Finals
R.Houlden & H.Young beat T.McCahon & A.Abrahams 3-0 (12-1, 12-1, 12-4)
T.Dunbar & D.Ingram beat I.Weaver & F.Prickett 3-0 (14-11, 12-7, 14-12)
G.Wiseman & P.Sathiyamoorthy beat R.Perrie & J.Pemberton 3-1 (6-12, 12-9 ret)
C.Plummer & S.Tailor beat V.Bhimjiyani & H.Gibson-Leitao 3-0 (12-8, 12-6, 15-10)
Semi-Finals
R.Houlden & H.Young beat T.Dunbar & D.Ingram 3-1 (12-3, 13-14, 12-4, 12-0)
C.Plummer & S.Tailor beat G.Wiseman & P.Sathiyamoorthy 3-1 (11-13, 12-3, 12-9, 12-3)
Final
R.Houlden & H.Young beat C.Plummer & S.Tailor 3-0 (12-0, 12-7, 12-7)
Plate A
Round One
M.Davis & A.Taylor beat P.Dooley & A.Magnus 12-0
C.Lumbard & R.Morgan beat M.Tavra & L.Schönleber 12-7
Quarter-Finals
C.Lumbard & R.Morgan beat A.Bhattacharya & A.Bhattacharya w/o
E.Scoones & T.Farmer beat M.Davis & A.Taylor 12-8
H.Etherington & O.Rushton beat E.Gosnell & A.Cameron-Blackie 12-4
A.Field & N.Choustikov beat L.Drummond & J.Levinson 12-3
Semi-Finals
E.Scoones & T.Farmer beat C.Lumbard & R.Morgan 12-4
A.Field & N.Choustikov beat H.Etherington & O.Rushton 12-10
Final
E.Scoones & T.Farmer beat A.Field & N.Choustikov 12-5
Plate B
1. E.Gosnell & A.Cameron-Blackie
2. L.Drummond & J.Levinson
3. M.Davis & A.Taylor
Plate C
M.Tavra & L.Schönleber beat P.Dooley & A.Magnus 2-0 (12-0, 12-2)
Festival
Quarter-Finals
M.Tavra & L.Schönleber beat A.Field & K.Smilovska 15-8
M.Williams & J.Shelley beat E.Scoones & A.Lumbard 15-10
J.Robb & H.Barton-Smith beat A.Knight & J.Lai 15-9
T.Leach & B.Marshall-Rice beat P.Boughton & T.Stubbs 15-4
Semi-Finals
M.Tavra & L.Schönleber beat M.Williams & J.Shelley 2-0 (14-11, 12-5)
J.Robb & H.Barton-Smith beat T.Leach & B.Marshall-Rice 2-0 (12-4, 12-6)
Final
J.Robb & H.Barton-Smith beat M.Tavra & L.Schönleber 2-1 (12-7, 7-12, 12-5)
Quarter-Finalists Plate
Semi-Finals
A.Knight & J.Lai beat A.Field & K.Smilovska 15-7
P.Boughton & T.Stubbs beat E.Scoones & A.Lumbard 15-14
Final
P.Boughton & T.Stubbs beat A.Knight & J.Lai 15-14
Plate A
1. M.Davis & H.Steele
2. C.Cooley & A.Moore
3. W.Thomas & N.Lilienthal
4. B.Laws & M.Hodgkinson
5. R.Bhatia & W.Whittle
6. J.Tu & L.Bland
