2022 National Schools' Championships

No Eton Fives tournament has suffered more from the pandemic than the National Schools' Championships in association with Advanta Wealth.

Both the 2020 and 2021 editions were more or less wiped out by the pandemic so it was wonderful to have a full run of qualifying tournaments followed by a sun-filled week of full competitions back at Eton this year, run as always by the inimitable Mark Williams and his team of helpers.

The headlines this year were wins in the senior tournaments for Harrow (boys) and Berkhamsted (girls), with successes in some of the younger age groups for regular contenders St.Olave's, Highgate, Berkhamsted, Shrewsbury and Sunningdale.

There were notable wins for three other schools, with Repton winning their first trophy for several decades with a win in the Boys Festival - a great start to ened the first full year of the Repton revival under David Exley and Charles Plummer. There were also first ever wins at national level for QE Barnet in the U14 beginners and for Cranleigh in the U16 girls, both tremendous results and testament to the enthusiasm, dedication and excellent coaching of Olley O'Gorman and Mark Halstead respectively.

Competition winners

Boys

Open

Harrow 1 (P.Ashworth & J.Barley) beat Shrewsbury 1 (D.Taylor-West & R.MacDonald-O’Brien) 3-1 (12-9, 13-11, 14-15, 12-7)

U16

St.Olave’s 1 (A.Anoop & T.Farmer) beat Highgate 1 (F.Lee & B.Womack) 3-1 (7-12, 12-7, 12-7, 12-10)

U15

Berkhamsted 1 (B.Spooner & N.Head) beat St.Olave’s 1 (F.Adenugba & A.Agarwal) 3-0 (12-8, 12-1, 12-2)

U14

Berkhamsted 1 (T.Aston & E.Horsley) beat Highgate 1 (M.Wijeyeratne & B.Musikant) 3-0 (13-11, 15-12, 12-2)

U14 Beginners

QEB 1 (Z.Phoplankar & Y.Kedia) beat Shrewsbury 1 (N.Draper & G.Battersby) 3-0 (12-4, 12-10, 12-9)

U13

Sunningdale 1 (S.Dare & A.Logue) beat Berkhamsted 1 (A.Seddon & L.Clark) 2-0 (12-7, 12-5)

U12

Berkhamsted 1 (M.Brodie & F.Senior)  beat Sunningdale 1 (A.Logue & A.Boyo) 3-1 (12-8, 9-12, 12-5, 12-5)

U11

Sunningdale 1 (C.Roberts & L.Guest) beat Berkhamsted 2 (H.Sleater & O.Boteju) 2-0 (12-5, 12-7)

Festival

Repton 1 (N Shaikh & H Barton Smith) won on a round robin basis

Girls

Open

Berkhamsted 1 (B.Miles & L.Hannah) beat Highgate 1 (C.Vos & L.Valensise) 3-1 (4-12, 12-5, 12-11, 12-8)

U16

Cranleigh 1 (E.Syvret & C.Barr) beat Highgate 1 (E.Anderson & A.Gournay) 3-0 (12-7, 12-3, 12-3)

U15

Highgate 1 (M.Roxburgh & Z.Kirstein) beat Shrewsbury 1 (O.Millar & J.Wong) 3-0 (12-3, 12-8, 12-4)

U14

Highgate 1 (M.Roxburgh & Z.Kirstein) beat Berkhamsted 1 (B.Spooner & A.Diaz-Stevens) 2-0 (12-2, 12-0)

U13

Highgate 1 (M.Roxburgh & Z.Kirstein) beat Cranleigh Prep 1 (C.Nebbett & L.Walker) 2-0 (12-0, 12-0)

Festival

Shrewsbury 1 (A.Cox & A.Pegge) beat Shrewsbury 3 (I.Dee & J.Dee) 3-0 (12-5, 12-5, 12-11)

Mixed

Shrewsbury 1 (H.Shuker & R.MacDonald-O’Brien) beat Shrewsbury 2 (I.Morris & D.Taylor-West) 2-0 (12-7, 12-11)

For further details CLICK HERE. Individual tournament reports will appear here in due course.