Cooley & Etherington Win The Midlands
03/11/25: This year's Midlands Tournament in association with Advanta Wealth at Repton was won by Seb Cooley & Henry Etherington.
This year's tournament attracted a strong entry of 32 pairs to the twelve courts at Repton with a good local school and club contingent joined by players from a wide cross-section of Fives-playing centres.
Day One saw four large groups of eight pairs play each other to sort out the order of play for Sunday, with the top four pairs from each group heading into the Main and the others into the Festival. There were no major shocks but certainly one or two close calls, notably in Group D where Ipswich School pair Dan Ingram & Charlie Dinmore (last year's U16 school champions) came within a point of defeating 2024 runners-up Gwydion Wiseman & Joey Prior. Also impressing were the scratch pairing of Westway's Adam Field and Olavian Caleb Boy, who won Group B convincingly, including a win over the fancied pair of Alex Abrahams and 2023 winner Archie Cameron-Blackie, who recovered well to qualify in second place. Last year's winners Aadi Agarwal & Tanish Arjaria (with Howard Wiseman subbing in temporarily for Tanish) just held off the challenge of 2017 winner Andrew Rennie & Edwin Gosnell for top spot in Group A and four time former champion Seb Cooley guided his Olavian schoolboy partner Henry Etherington to first place in Group C ahead of Emily Scoones & another former champion Abhishek Bhattacharya.
The battle for the other main tournament qualifying spots was pretty fierce, with the home Repton contingent performing strongly, Karen Hird & Bri Hansen-Hoare and Tom Gilbody & Freddie Tibbs both making it through. Brad Simpson (alongside EFA CEO Alex Knight on the Saturday) ensured there would be some St.Bees representation in the main tournament knockouts, the experienced pairings of Pete Scholey & Tim Gregory and Newbury's Will Thomas & Paul Holland made it through comfortably and they were joined in the last sixteen by young Olavians Luke Whitnall & Krivi Bhavsar, recent Ipswichians from Nottingham University Elliot Caldwell & Sam Cook and another scratch pairing in Hugo Tobias & Edmund Phillips. Elsewhere in the group stages, there was a tight match (15-13) between Jake Shelley & Max Williams and Matt Davis & Armand Healey which provided a taste of things to come on the Sunday...
Sunday morning saw the switch to knockout Fives, with every pair starting with a match that would take them into the quarter-finals of their competition or see them heading into another lengthy round robin in the plate. In the main tournament, the top two finishers from the Saturday groups all made it through into the quarter-finals but only just in a couple of cases, as Ingram & Dinmore found themselves having to come from a long way behind to sneak past Thomas & Holland, while Cooley & Etherington successfully walked the tightrope without falling off against the tenacious Repton school pair of Gilbody & Tebbs. The losing pairs headed into an eight pair plate group, which tested both skill and endurance and was eventually won by Pete Scholey & Tim Gregory who gave their (mainly) much younger opponents a lesson in both.
The quarter-finals switched to best of three matches; Field & Boy again impressed, Adam's sharp top step reflexes and Caleb's unorthodox but effective left-hand howitzers proving too much for Cholmeleians Bhattacharya & Scoones while Cooley & Etherington gave themselves a bit more of a margin this time against Ingram & Dinmore. Abrahams & Cameron-Blackie played their best Fives of the weekend to go 9-4 up in the first game against Agarwal & Arjaria but couldn't close the first game out and found themselves bowing out at the hands of last year's winners. The fourth quarter-final was a real topsy-turvy match between Rennie & Gosnell and Wiseman & Prior; Andrew & Edwin had the better of the first game, winning 12-5, but were on the receiving end in game two, losing by the same scoreline. It was anyone's game at the start of the third but there was one further shift in monentum, Andrew & Edwin regaining control and racing out to a large early lead, which was enough to see them into the semis.
Andrew & Edwin next found themselves up against Seb & Henry, who were once again not inclined to let their opponents get too close if they could help it after their Last Sixteen scare. Andrew & Edwin fought hard in the first game to get to 8 but then ran out of steam in the second as Seb & Henry took their place in the final. The other semi-final was closer, with Aadi & Tanish having to find a way to deal with the tricky challenges posed by Adam & Caleb, something that had been beyond anyone else so far during the course of the weekend. Last year's winners are made of stern stuff, however, and were always just ahead and just about in control, despite both games being pretty close all the way through.
Having been on opposite sides last weekend in the Universities final, Aadi & Tanish were clearly enjoying being back in their more familiar partnership, but could they find a way past Seb & Henry to retain their title, something no pair has managed to do in the Midlands Tournament since the original incarnation of the competition at KES Birmingham and the likes of Matthews & Reynolds, Firth & Keeling/May, Hampton & Courtenay and Hughes & Campbell. There was some history to be made by Seb & Henry as well, with Henry looking to become the tournament's youngest ever winner and Seb looking for a fifth title with a fifth different partner and a first for over a decade. The final was a tremendous match with all four players producing some excellent Fives. Seb played some sartorial mind games, removing multiple layers one at a time to eventually reveal a florid blue number, while Henry more than played his part, despite not getting the memo and merely opting for some no frills black. Tanish & Aadi were unfazed by the range of colours being displayed and put up a strong defence of their crown but it was Seb & Henry who had the edge throughout, winning both games 12-9.
The Festival mirrored the main tournament with knockout matches and an eight pair round robin plate for thoe who fell in the last sixteen; this was won by the Repton staff/pupil combo of Alfie Pitts and David Exley, who went through the field undefeated. Looking back at the scores, this was perhaps not a surprise as they had only lost 15-12 in their first match to Ipswichians Jake Shelley & Max Williams, who then went on a run all the way to the final, where they found themselves up once again up against Lancing Old Boy Matt Davis & Olavian schoolboy Armand Healey, after their 15-13 group stage match right at the start of the tournament. The rematch more than lived up to expectations and was one of the matches of the weekend. The first game was a 15-14 thriller won by the Ipswich pair, before their opponents struck back with a 12-8 second game win. The decider was tight all the way through, and was again set at 10-10 before Jake & Max found the finish they needed to take it 15-12.
Our thanks go to Karen Hird, David Exley and everyone at Repton for hosting the tournament, to Howard Wiseman and Dominique Redmond for their organisation and to Advanta Wealth for their sponsorship.
Last Sixteen
A.Agarwal & T.Arjaria beat K.Hird & B.Hansen-Hoare 15-0
A.Abrahams & A.Cameron-Blackie beat L.Whitnall & K.Bhavsar 15-4
E.Scoones & Ab.Bhattacharya beat E.Caldwell & S.Cook 15-4
A.Field & C.Boy beat H.Tobias & E.Phillips 15-0
D.Ingram & C.Dinmore beat W.Thomas & P.Holland 15-14
S.Cooley & H.Etherington beat T.Gilbody & F.Tebbs 15-14
A.Rennie & E.Gosnell beat T.Gregory & P.Scholey 15-5
G.Wiseman & J.Prior beat B.Simpson & L.Keates 15-4
Quarter-Finals
A.Agarwal & T.Arjaria beat A.Abrahams & A.Cameron-Blackie 2-0 (12-9, 12-7)
A.Field & C.Boy beat E.Scoones & Ab.Bhattacharya 2-0 (12-5, 12-2)
S.Cooley & H.Etherington beat D.Ingram & C.Dinmore 2-0 (12-6, 12-1)
A.Rennie & E.Gosnell beat G.Wiseman & J.Prior 2-1 (12-5, 5-12, 12-5)
Semi-Finals
A.Agarwal & T.Arjaria beat A.Field & C.Boy 2-0 (12-10, 12-9)
S.Cooley & H.Etherington beat A.Rennie & E.Gosnell 2-0 (12-8, 12-2)
Final
S.Cooley & H.Etherington beat A.Agarwal & T.Arjaria 2-0 (12-9, 12-9)
Quarter-Finalists Plate
A.Abrahams & A.Cameron-Blackie beat D.Ingram & C.Dinmore 15-10
Plate A (Round Robin)
1. T.Gregory & P.Scholey
2. W.Thomas & P.Holland
3. L.Whitnall & K.Bhavsar
4. T.Gilbody & F.Tebbs
=5. E.Caldwell & S.Cook
=5. B.Simpson & L.Keates
=5. H.Tobias & E.Phillips
8. K.Hird & B.Hansen-Hoare
Festival
Last Sixteen
M.Davis & A.Healey beat S.Mansur & R.Shuttleworth 15-2
Ed & M.Bowman beat S.Kirby & B.Kirk 15-10
H.Barton-Smith & C.Yates beat Bobby & Bowen 15-4
K.Soni & E.Siouw beat Alex & Alex 15-10
P.Imbert & M.Danylenko beat T.Stubbs & Abbie 15-2
C.Cooley & A.Moore beat Jack & Richard
J.Shelley & M.Williams beat D.Exley & A.Pitts 15-12
B.Laws & M.Hodgkinson beat P.Boughton & R.Christie 15-14
Quarter-Finals
M.Davis & A.Healey beat Ed & M.Bowman 2-0 (13-10, 12-8)
H.Barton-Smith & C.Yates beat K.Soni & E.Siouw 2-0 (12-11, 12-8)
P.Imbert & M.Danylenko beat C.Cooley & A.Moore 2-0 (12-6, 12-2)
J.Shelley & M.Williams beat B.Laws & M.Hodgkinson 2-0
Semi-Finals
M.Davis & A.Healey beat H.Barton-Smith & C.Yates 2-0 (12-5, 12-4)
J.Shelley & M.Williams beat P.Imbert & M.Danylenko 2-0 (12-5, 12-5)
Final
J.Shelley & M.Williams beat M.Davis & A.Healey 2-1 (15-14, 8-12, 15-12)
3rd/4th
P.Imbert & M.Danylenko beat H.Barton-Smith & C.Yates 15-9
Festival Quarter-Finalists Plate (Round Robin)
1. C.Cooley & A.Moore
2. B.Laws & M.Hodgkinson
3. K.Soni & E.Siouw
4. Ed & M.Bowman
Festival Plate A (Round Robin)
1. D.Exley & A.Pitts
2. Jack & Richard
3. P.Boughton & R.Christie
4. S.Mansur & R.Shuttleworth
5. S.Kirby & B.Kirk
6. Bobby & Bowen
7. Alex & Alex
8. T.Stubbs & Abbie
