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Houlden & Young Win The London

28/11/22: Old Westminsters Riki Houlden & Hugo Young won their first major tournament together with a memorable victory over seven times champions Tom Dunbar & Seb Cooley in the London Tournament final at Harrow yesterday.

Watch the final here: GAME ONE     GAME TWO     GAME THREE     GAME FOUR

The first major tournament of the 2022/23 season started off with a few changes with 2019 and 2021 champions Riki Houlden and Jonny Ho playing with new partners, Hugo Young and James Hopkins respectively and Harrow - on the Saturday at least - enjoying some unseasonably warm and dry weather. 25 pairs took to the start line of the main tournament with seven times winners Seb Cooley & Tom Dunbar back in harness and some real strength in depth in the field queuing up behind them. The first phase of the tournament saw the pairs divided into six groups, with only the group winners guaranteed a place in the quarter-finals. Top seeds Seb & Tom eased themselves comfortably into the tournament, winning Group A, although the young Harrovian pair of Oskar Denby & Fred Prickett put in a strong showing to take 6 points off them in the final round of their group having already seen off the Gore brothers, Rupert Swallow & Nick Higgins and Gwydion Wiseman & Joey Prior to claim the runners-up slot. Riki & Hugo cruised through in Group B, where the battle for second place was especially fierce, the Rydalian/Salopian pairing of Tom Cotterell & Will Sissons having to come from behind to pip Andrew Rennie & Lukas Vanhaesebroeck 15-12, having already had to work quite hard to see off Dom Robson & Marc Tavra 15-9.

Group C was fairly routine, with Olavian third seeds James Toop & Tony Barker qualifying easily ahead of Ed & Al Taylor, with the final round of group matches notable for a fine 15-7 win for ladies champions Karen Hird & Charlotta Cooley over Cholmeleians Emily Scoones & Abhishek Bhattacharya. The fourth seeded Sunil Tailor & Vishal Bhimjiyani found it much harder going in Group D, winning their fist two games comfortably but having to work hard to hold off Salopians Chris Hughes & Sam Welti, who got the score to 11-11 at one stage before Vish & Sunny found a burst of scoring just at the right time. Olavian schoolboys Genesis Nsenga & Tommy Farmer just held off Newbury pair Will Seath & Ollie Avery 15-13 in the match to decide third and fourth place in the group.

Group E saw the tournament debut of the new Cholmeleian pairing of Jonny Ho & James Hopkins (based on a detailed analysis of the surnames of Jonny's recent tournament partners, your correspondent is gearing up for a serious run at the Kinnaird in a couple of years time). They started confidently and did win the group in the end but not without a hardfought 15-10 final round win over Richard Tyler (a former London champion in the previous millenium) & Can Koksal. Ipswichians Steve Burnell & Tim Gregory came third ahead of the Mill Hill/St.Olave's pairing of Charlie Graville & Ethan Smith. The final group was won by Noah Caplin & Alex Abrahams, who got off to a flyer in the group decider with Sahil Shah & Joe Marks. Sahil & Joe briefly threatened a comeback but left themselves too much to do, although they did secure the runners-up slot despite strong showings from Oxford's Nick Choustikov & Beau Swallow and Harrow School pair Caspar Stone & Gus Stanhope.

With six quarter-final slots claimed by the group winners, the six runners-up were now split into two mini groups of three to fight for the final two coveted spots in the last eight. With players from both mini groups observing that the one they weren't in looked far easier (obviously) what then transpired were some of the best matches of the whole weekend. Hughes & Welti had looked sharp in the morning and carried that form on against the dangerous Harrovian pairing of Denby & Prickett, winning 15-10. They then elected to put their feet up while Fred & Oskar returned to Court 3, this time coming out on the right end of a 15-8 scoreline over Tyler & Koksal. Chris & Sam then returned to the fray knowing exactly what they needed to do to qualify and duly won 15-5 in impressive style to book their place in the last eight.

If that group was - relatively - straightforward, the other group was anything but. First up were the Taylor brothers against Cotterell & Sissons, with the two Salopian left-handers Taylor (E) and Sissons fighting it out in a terrific top step battle, ably supported by their partners. Will & Tom looked to be in control for most of the match and were 14-11 up; they couldn't close it out, though, and a couple of sloppy errors let the older pair back in to the match, which they won 15-14. This left Will & Tom's hopes hanging by a thread, although the one point defeat left them in with a chance of qualifying on points difference. First, though, they needed Joe Marks & Sahil Shah to beat the Taylors as a win for Ed & Al would see them through. This was another epic, with Ed and Al frequently switching places mid-rally to enable Ed to get on to the top step as much as possible and Sahil & Joe constantly working out the best ways to counter a tactic that they won't have come across very often. There was nothing between the two pairs and inevitably it went once again to 14-14. No-one was more nervous than the watching Will & Tom, but the large smiles on their faces as they came round to fetch their gloves for their final match told you everything you needed to know - Joe & Sahil had won 15-14 and the group was back in the balance. As the final game got underway and moved along one point at a time to 6-6, realisation was dawning that a 15-14 win for Will & Tom in the final match would create a perfect three way tie with the three pairs completely inseparable. With various exciting (and unrealistic in a few cases) tie break methods being suggested, Will & Tom finally seized the initiative, taking control of the match as their opponents began to tire and moving away to an ultimately convincing 15-7 win and a well-deserved place in the quarter-finals.

The two quarter-finals between group winners had already taken place, with Jonny Ho gaining revenge for his Barber Cup defeat at the hands of Sunil & Vish earlier in the season as he and the impressive James Hopkins won 5,8 and 6 in a dominant display of precise attacking Fives. Alex Abrahams has missed most of the season so far due to a broken finger and he and Noah Caplin found themselves off the pace in the first two games against Toop & Barker, although a 12-9 defeat in the third game gave a hint of more promising things to come from them. Seb & Tom and Riki & Hugo had had their feet up for a while waiting to see who came through the repechage. Sam & Chris again impressed in the first game against Seb & Tom despite losing 12-6, but the top seeds began to find a different gear in the second and the match quickly ran away from the Salopian pair. Will & Tom were just delighted to be in the quarter-finals after their tightrope walk qualification and were also clearly tired. This didn't stop them having a real go at Riki & Hugo and they earned every one of their points in a 12-2, 12-4, 12-5 defeat at the hands of the Westminster pair.

As always given the strength in depth at the London, the Plate was an excellent competition, enhanced by the addition of some further Harrow School pairs. Joey Prior & Gwydion Wiseman looked strong contenders as they won their plate group and then saw off the Millhillian duo of Vanhaesebroeck & Graville in the semis. The other semi-final looked to be going the way of Ipswichians Steve Burnell & Tim Gregory who were 9-2 ahead of Nick Choustikov & Beau Swallow before the Oxford pair staged a dramatic comeback to win 15-12. They then continued that burst of form in the final against Gwydion & Joey, establishing a significant lead themselves before Joey & Gwydion turned the tables, closing the deficit but ultimately just running out of time as Nick & Beau held on for a second successive 15-12 win.

Sunday saw some more traditional Harrow London Tournament weather with plenty of rain about and some tricker conditions underfoot in the majority of the courts. The 21 festival pairs were undeterred, however, and got on with what turned out to be a hugely enjoyable and almost textbook festival competition, featuring players aged 14-77 from a variety of schools and clubs. Four large groups in the morning sifted the field into three sections, with group winners and runners-up heading into the quarter-finals, group thirds and fourths doing battle for Plate A and everyone else into Plate B. Plate B was a classic of its kind with a five pair round robin format producing a series of excellent close matches, with an Olavian school pair and an Ipswich school pair in with the Ipswich staff pupil combination of Charlotta Cooley & Sophie Li, the Westway duo Natalie Lilienthal & Ross Gordon and North Oxford's Harry Asquith & Repton pupil Bri Hansen-Hoare. The matches were close, the improvement in the less experienced players was marked and the group was won - much to their delight - by Ipswich School's Daniel Ingram & Sam Cook.

Plate A had a couple of highlights - a terrific semi-final between Billy Briggs & Sam Barker of Mill Hill against Alex Sapozhenko & Aryan Akanda of St.Olave's, who just won it 15-12 and a losing quarter-finalists semi-final battle between George Norfolk & veteran Tony Stubbs and James Tye & uberveteran Nigel Cox which the Ipswich pair won 15-13, much to Nigel's relief. Both winners couldn't go on to win their respective finals, though, with George & Tony (Stubbs in not-winning-a-plate-shock!) losing to Ipswich's Alex Phillips & Sam Allen and Alex & Aryan going down to Arjun Jadhav & Lukas Vanhaesebroeck.

The top eight festival pairs, the usual mix of keen school players, enthusiastic club players and glory-seeking trophy-hunters, were only three matches from getting their hands on the winners' chocolate and the competition was getting fierce. UCL pair Dom Robson & Phil Wilkinson were looking strong, seeing off young Millhillians Ollie Osler & Harris Maclennan, who had played extremely well in the morning to get to this stage. Seasoned campaigners Emily Scoones & Ashley Lumbard had a bit too much nous for the McCahon father & son pairing, with Patrick McCahon donning gloves for the first time in a long time and showing enough to get us hoping we see a bit more of him in the future. Ipswich schoolboys Elliot Caldwell & Harvey Garrard had not had it all their own way in the group stages but were starting to hit form with a convincing 15-7 win over Olavians Aaditya Anoop & Rishi Nandakumar and the final semi-final slot was claimed by old hands Chris Lumbard & Ralph Morgan, 15-14 winners in a nailbiting match against Matt Chinery & Rachel Wood. 

At this point, a Lumbard v Lumbard final looked like it might be on the cards, but their opponents had other ideas. Dom & Phil had to dig deep to hold off a spirited comeback in the first game from Chris & Ralph but then accelerated away in the second to claim their place in the final, where they found themselves up against Elliot & Harvey, who continued to improve their game round by round to claim a 12-9, 12-6 win over Ashley & Emily. The first game of the final was a belter, with Dom & Phil threatening to break away but being constantly pegged back by their tenacious Ipswichian opponents. 10-10 and the game was set to 15 before finally the experience and quality of Dom & Phil asserted itself; they won the first 15-11 and then repeated what they had done in the semi-final, taking a grip on proceedings that they never lost as they dominated the second game to win it 12-3 for a well-deserved victory.

The wet Sunday morning conditions were also posing a problem to the main tournament semi-finalists, with underfoot conditions very tricky both in the court and out the back, adding a whole extra dimension - both physical and tactical - to the two matches. Jonny & James were up against Seb & Tom, with James appearing at this level for the first time. Those who rememberd seeing him as a Highgate U16 player winning the schools' U16 tournament and reaching the U18 final in the same year in 2016 were well aware of the talent he possesses and he showed more than enough in this match and during the weekend to suggest that he and Jonny have considerable potential as a pair. It will be interesting to see how that develops during the course of this season, but perhaps not surprisingly Tom & Seb were always in control of the match, winning the first two games to 6 and then the third to 0. The other semi-final initially appeared to be following a similar path as Riki & Hugo were largely untroubled in winning the first two games 12-5, 12-5 against James & Tony. No tournament report would be complete without a reference to the fighting qualities of James Toop, however, and with Tony Barker providing good support, the third game was far closer. Riki & Hugo had their noses in front, however, and were just two points from victory at 10-8 with James serving at second hand. It had the feeling of a last chance and typically James grabbed it, producing two cut returns and two points to level at 10-10. The Toop purple patch continued a little longer, in fact, as he & Tony reeled off the next five points and the first three of game four before Riki & Hugo finally managed to steady the ship. That done, however, the match returned to its earlier pattern with the Westminster pair getting back on top and the errors coming more from the Olavian pair again. Hugo & Riki made it through in the end with a 12-9 win but knew they'd been in a battle.

The final was moved to Court 4 as it was the driest underfoot; with the rain more or less stopping, the afternoon conditions were certainly a lot better than the morning ones, albeit not perfect. Seb & Tom had not particularly been tested too hard in their passage to the final, but nor had they seemed to be finding top gear; the first game of the final, though, saw them eventually move clear after a long drawn out early period of play that saw points gradually being chiselled out one by one. A 12-7 win suggested that it might be business as usual for Tom & Seb but the London tournament - despite their continued success in the Kinnaird and elsewhere - has been problematic for them in recent years, a combination of surprise defeat, pandemic and injury meaning that they hadn't won it since 2018. Riki & Hugo - to their credit - were unfazed by the loss of the first game and were determined to to get back into the match. In each of the next three games, Seb & Tom got into a lead. In the third it was 6-1 (a sudden burst of vintage Dunbar cut-returning) and in the fourth 8-2. The old ruthlessness that would have quickly turned leads like that into emphatic wins wasn't quite there this time, though. Riki & Hugo never felt - or indeed looked - out of those games and each time were able to reel Tom & Seb back in, getting on top as each game went on and forcing their opponents into uncharacteristic mistakes. Indeed it is probably not exaggerating too much to say that by the very end of each of the second, third and fourth games there was little doubt about the result of each of them, Riki & Hugo's fitness and hunger to win driving them to the winning line on each occasion. 

When Tom & Seb lost the final of this competition in 2019, the tournament report noted that "No-one would be foolish enough to write Seb & Tom's Fives obituary just yet" and "I suspect we haven't seen the last of them just yet" and these sentiments still hold true. You only have to watch the quality of some of their play to know that. However, with both of them now over 40 and the likes of Riki & Hugo stepping up their game, both know that the challenge to hold onto top spot is becoming increasingly tough. It will be interesting to see how things play out over the remainder of the season, not least when it comes to the Kinnaird, where Tom & Seb have reigned supreme since 2011.

For now, though, the moment belongs to Riki & Hugo, the first all Westminster pair to win a major and successful at their first attempt. The quality of their Fives and their will to win stood out all weekend and I have no doubt that they will be keen to be more than one hit wonders.

One final note. As EFA Chairman Chris Davies observed in his trophy presentation speech, the level of sportsmanship and the spirit in which the match was played were both of the highest standard and a fantastic example to those watching (both live and when the match recording appears on YouTube). This is a credit to all four of them and an illustration of what makes Eton Fives such a special game.

Our thanks go to Ian Hutchinson and Lukas Vanhaesebroeck at Harrow for hosting the tournament, to Advanta Wealth for their continued sponsorship, to Chris Davies for presenting the trophy and to all of those who came and played and made it such an enjoyable weekend.

 


Main Tournament

 

Quarter-Finals

S.Cooley & T.Dunbar (1) beat C.Hughes & S.Welti 3-0 (12-6, 12-0, 12-3)

J.Ho & J.Hopkins beat S.Tailor & V.Bhimjiyani (4) 3-0 (12-5, 12-8, 12-6)

J.Toop & T.Barker (3) beat N.Caplin & A.Abrahams 3-0 (12-4, 12-2, 12-9)

R.Houlden & H.Young (2) beat W.Sissons & T.Cotterell 3-0 (12-2, 12-4, 12-5)

 

Semi-Finals

S.Cooley & T.Dunbar beat J.Ho & J.Hopkins 3-0 (12-6, 12-6, 12-0)

R.Houlden & H.Young beat J.Toop & T.Barker 3-1 (12-5, 12-5, 10-15, 12-7)

 

Final

R.Houlden & H.Young beat S.Cooley & T.Dunbar 3-1 (7-12, 12-6, 12-9, 12-9)

 

Plate A

 

Semi-Finals

J.Prior & G.Wiseman beat L.Vanhaesebroeck & C.Graville 15-7

N.Choustikov & B.Swallow beat T.Gregory & S.Burnell 15-12

 

Final

N.Choustikov & B.Swallow beat J.Prior & G.Wiseman 15-12

 

Festival Tournament

 

Quarter-Finals

D.Robson & P.Wilkinson beat O.Osler & H.Maclennan 15-7

C.Lumbard & R.Morgan beat M.Chinery & R.Wood 15-14

A.Lumbard & E.Scoones beat D.McCahon & P.McCahon 15-10

H.Garrard & E.Caldwell beat R.Nandakumar & A.Anoop 15-8

 

Semi-Finals

D.Robson & P.Wilkinson beat C.Lumbard & R.Morgan 2-0 (14-11, 12-3)

H.Garrard & E.Caldwell beat A.Lumbard & E.Scoones 2-0 (12-9, 12-6)

 

Final

D.Robson & P.Wilkinson beat H.Garrard & E.Caldwell 2-0 (15-11, 12-3)

 

Quarter-Finalists Plate

R.Nandakumar & A.Anoop beat O.Osler & H.Maclennan 2-0 (12-4, 12-0)

 

Plate A

 

Quarter-Finals

B.Briggs & S.Barker beat S.Nowinski & C.Schroeder 15-4

A.Sapozhenko & A.Akanda beat A.Phillips & S.Allen 15-3

S.Shetty & M.Tsioupini beat T.Stubbs & G.Norfolk 15-8

L.Vanhaesebroeck & A.Jadhav beat N.Cox & J.Tye 15-7

 

Semi-Finals

A.Sapozhenko & A.Akanda beat B.Briggs & S.Barker 15-12

L.Vanhaesebroeck & A.Jadhav beat S.Shetty & M.Tsioupini 15-9

 

Final

L.Vanhaesebroeck & A.Jadhav beat A.Sapozhenko & A.Akanda 15-8

 

Plate A1

 

Semi-Finals

A.Phillips & S.Allen beat S.Nowinski & C.Schroeder 15-8

T.Stubbs & G.Norfolk beat N.Cox & J.Tye 15-13

 

Final

A.Phillips & S.Allen beat T.Stubbs & G.Norfolk 15-6

 

Plate B

1.D.Ingram & S.Cook

2.C.Cooley & S.Li

3.H.Asquith & B.Hansen-Hoare

4.O.Nowatschek & D.Oso

5.N.Lilienthal & R.Gordon

 

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