
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.