National Schools' Championships Day Five: Ipswich Win The Open
20/03/26: Day Five of the 2026 National Schools' Championships in association with Advanta Wealth at Repton yesterday saw an historic win for Ipswich in the Open.
In the 97 year history of the competition, only 13 schools had previously produced winning pairs in the Open, the most recent "first-time" winners being St.Olave's in 1997. Having never previously had a pair make it past the quarter-finals, Ipswich added their names to the list yesterday as Daniel Ingram & Charlie Dinmore repeated their U16 victory of last season against Olavians Henry Etherington & Oscar Rushton. Further history was made as this was the first time anyone could remember - and quite probably the first time ever - that all four finalists have another year left at school, rasing the intriguing possibility of a repeat next year, although no doubt there will be one or two other pairs with designs on preventing that from happening.
The final itself was a fine match, marked by the mature play of all four players; this was not a crash, bang, wallop type of school match but a thoughtful, tactical battle with variation of pace, spin and placement to the fore. There was also some spectacular scrambling and retrieving at times and some sharp volleying from all four players, but it is a truism to say that any Fives match comes down in the end to the set piece and Ipswich clearly had the edge here over the course of the three games. They also made fewer errors overall, although perhaps it would be more accurate to say they forced more errors from their opponents, as unforced errors were few and far between in what was an excellent match to watch. Ipswich won the first game to 8 and then established a strong lead in the second. The best Olavian opportunity to put a dent in Ipswich hopes came at the end of the second game, where they reduced a 5-11 deficit to 10-11 but the Ipswich pair rallied just in time and after an even start in the third, made the decisive move that took them to a straight games victory and a hugely impressive tournament win without losing a game.
In a busy day at Repton yesterday, the U14 and Mixed titles were also decided. Berkhamsted won the U14s, defeating St.Olave's pairs in both the semi-final and final and finishing with their best display of the competition to score an emphatic win. The Mixed - as it has been in most recent years - was dominated by Shrewsbury, with only hosts Repton preventing a Salopian clean sweep of the semi-final places. Shrewsbury 2 won a high quality final against Shrewsbury 1 to notch up a first trophy of the week for Shrewsbury after several near misses.
Also in action yesterday were the U14 beginners, with the competition reaching the semi-final stage. The last day of competition today sees the conclusion of that competition alongside the Girls Open and the Boys and Girls Festivals.
You can keep up to date with scores by CLICKING HERE.
Mixed
Quarter-Finals
Shrewsbury 1 beat LA Zuoz 1 15-3
Repton 1 beat Shrewsbury 3 15-7
Shrewsbury 4 beat Repton 3 15-5
Shrewsbury 2 beat Shrewsbury 6 15-11
Semi-Finals
Shrewsbury 1 (M.Parry & M.Draper) beat Repton 1 (M.Rajan & T.Gilbody) 2-0 (12-7, 13-10)
Shrewsbury 2 (S.Earles & G.Battersby) beat Shrewsbury 4 (E.Clark & S.Spiby) 2-0 (12-5, 12-8)
Final
Shrewsbury 2 beat Shrewsbury 1 2-0 (12-4, 12-3)
U14 Beginners
Last Sixteen
Eton 1 beat QE Barnet 7 12-7
Shrewsbury 2 beat Harrow 2 12-2
Eton 4 beat Charterhouse 1 12-11
Shrewsbury 1 beat QE Barnet 3 12-7
QE Barnet 5 beat Eton 7 12-11
QE Barnet 1 beat KES Birmingham 1 12-4
Eton 2 beat Eton 3 12-4
Harrow 1 beat QE Barnet 6 12-1
Quarter-Finals
Shrewsbury 2 beat Eton 1 2-1 (13-10, 7-12, 12-1)
Eton 4 beat Shrewsbury 1 2-0 (12-5, 12-5)
QE Barnet 1 v QE Barnet 5
Harrow 1 beat Eton 2
U14s
Last 16
St.Olave's 1 beat Highgate 2 15-10
St.Olave's 4 beat Berkhamsted 6 15-7
Berkhamsted 1 beat St.Olave's 9 15-2
St.Olave's 3 beat St.Olave's 6 15-1
St.Olave's 2 beat Berkhamsted 4 15-8
Berkhamsted 3 beat St.Olave's 5 15-9
Harrow 1 beat Mill Hill 1 15-14
Highgate 1 beat St.Olave's 7 15-1
Quarter-Finals
St.Olave's 1 beat St.Olave's 4 2-1 (10-12, 13-10, 12-7)
Berkhamsted 1 beat St.Olave's 3 2-1 (12-5, 10-12, 12-7)
St.Olave's 2 beat Berkhamsted 3 2-1 (12-4, 9-12, 12-8)
Harrow 1 beat Highgate 1 2-0 (12-4, 12-6)
Semi-Finals
Berkhamsted 1 (T.Awdry & A.Clark) beat St.Olave's 1 (K.Okpenerho & A.Lutzow) 3-1 (2-12, 12-7, 12-6, 12-10)
St.Olave's 2 (I.Bugajev & M.Lam) beat Harrow 1 (A.Ranjan & A.Au) 3-1 (6-12, 12-9, 12-3, 12-8)
Final
Berkhamsted 1 beat St.Olave's 2 3-0 (12-2, 12-5, 12-2)
Open
Last 32
Ipswich 1 beat Charterhouse 2 12-1
Shrewsbury 5 beat QE Barnet 2 14-11
Shrewsbury 3 beat Mill Hill 1 12-5
St.Olave's 3 beat Harrow 3 12-8
Harrow 1 beat Eton 3 12-3
Charterhouse 1 beat Eton 1 12-9
Harrow 2 beat QE Barnet 3 12-5
Berkhamsted 1 beat QE Barnet 6 12-8
St.Olave's 1 beat Charterhouse 3 12-1
QE Barnet 1 beat Berkhamsted 2 13-10
Repton 1 beat Harrow 4 12-0
Shrewsbury 2 beat QE Barnet 5 12-0
St.Olave's 2 beat QE Barnet 4 12-0
Shrewsbury 4 beat Eton 2 12-6
Aldenham 1 beat St.Olave's 4 12-9
Shrewsbury 1 beat Ipswich 2 12-0
Last 16
Ipswich 1 beat Shrewsbury 5 2-0 (12-1, 12-1)
St.Olave's 3 beat Shrewsbury 3 2-0 (12-8, 12-5)
Harrow 1 beat Charterhouse 1 2-0 (12-9, 12-5)
Berkhamsted 1 beat Harrow 2 2-0 (12-3, 12-8)
St.Olave's 1 beat QE Barnet 1 2-0 (12-3, 12-3)
Shrewsbury 2 beat Repton 1 2-0 (12-8, 12-5)
St.Olave's 2 beat Shrewsbury 4 2-0 (12-7, 12-5)
Shrewsbury 1 beat Aldenham 1 2-0 (12-0, 12-1)
Quarter-Finals
Ipswich 1 beat St.Olave's 3 3-0 (12-8, 12-5, 12-3)
Harrow 1 beat Berkhamsted 1 3-0 (12-9, 12-7, 12-10)
St.Olave's 1 beat Shrewsbury 2 3-0 (12-3, 12-4, 12-5)
St.Olave's 2 beat Shrewsbury 1 3-0 (13-10, 15-11, 13-11)
Semi-Finals
Ipswich 1 (D.Ingram & C.Dinmore) beat Harrow 1 (B.Bradley & O.Filo) 3-0 (12-7, 12-4, 12-5)
St.Olave's 1 (H.Etherington & O.Rushton) beat St.Olave's 2 (L.Whitnall & K.Bhavsar) 3-0 (12-8, 12-8, 12-5)
Final
Ipswich 1 (D.Ingram & C.Dinmore) beat St.Olave's 1 (H.Etherington & O.Rushton) 3-0 (12-8, 12-10, 12-7)
U15s
Last Sixteen
Eton 1 beat QE Barnet 3 15-5
Eton 3 beat Shrewsbury 5 15-11
St.Olave's 3 beat Berkhamsted 2 15-4
Shrewsbury 2 beat Eton 7 15-3
St.Olave's 1 beat Mill Hill 1 15-3
Harrow 1 beat Shrewsbury 3 15-12
QE Barnet 2 beat Eton 2 15-12
Shrewsbury 1 beat Charterhouse 1 15-5
Quarter-Finals
Eton 1 beat Eton 3 2-0 (12-5, 12-5)
Shrewsbury 2 beat St.Olave's 3 2-0 (12-2, 12-1)
St.Olave's 1 beat Harrow 1 2-0 (13-12, 12-7)
Shrewsbury 1 beat QE Barnet 2 2-0 (12-5, 12-4)
Semi-Finals
Eton 1 (C.Cai & C.Glazebrook) beat Shrewsbury 2 (G.Athwal & R.Kundu) 3-1 (14-11, 11-14, 12-7, 12-6)
St.Olave's 1 (L.Beheshti & A.Kotni) beat Shrewsbury 1 (R.Bailey & B.Pearce) 3-2 (12-2, 12-6, 10-12, 5-12, 12-10)
Final
Eton 1 beat St.Olave's 1 3-0 (12-8, 12-11, 12-11)
U15 Girls
Quarter-Finals
Ipswich 1 beat Shrewsbury 3 15-1
Highgate 2 beat Highgate 1 15-11
Ipswich 2 beat Repton 1 15-9
Berkhamsted 1 beat Shrewsbury 2 15-3
Semi-Finals
Ipswich 1 (B.Laws & M.Hodgkinson) beat Highgate 2 (I.Williets & E.Walker) 2-0 (12-0, 12-1)
Berkhamsted 1 (I.Conde & R.Whitby) beat Ipswich 2 (A.Moore & R.Kelly) 2-0 (12-5, 12-5)
Final
Ipswich 1 beat Berkhamsted 1 2-0 (12-5, 12-1)
U16s
Last Sixteen
St.Olave's 1 beat Highgate 1 15-1
Ipswich 1 beat Charterhouse 1 15-11
Harrow 1 beat Berkhamsted 3 15-10
Harrow 2 beat Shrewsbury 2 15-14
Eton 1 beat St.Olave's 4 15-2
Shrewsbury 1 beat Aldenham 2 15-1
Harrow 3 beat Eton 2 15-8
St.Olave's 2 beat St.Olave's 3 15-9
Quarter-Finals
St.Olave's 1 beat Ipswich 1 2-0 (12-1, 12-5)
Harrow 1 beat Harrow 2 2-0 (12-4, 12-4)
Eton 1 beat Shrewsbury 1 2-1 (7-12, 12-4, 14-12)
St.Olave's 2 beat Harrow 3 2-0 (12-0, 12-6)
Semi-Finals
St.Olave's 1 (L.Whitnall & K.Bhavsar) beat Harrow 1 (I.Corn & H.Murray) 3-0 (14-11, 12-2, 12-6)
St.Olave's 2 (Y.Luo & A.Shetty) beat Eton 1 (A.Shi & A.Steel) 3-0 (12-2, 14-12, 12-5)
Final
St.Olave's 1 beat St.Olave's 2 3-0 (14-12, 12-7, 15-10)
U16 Girls
Quarter-Finals
Ipswich 1 beat Highgate 2 15-3
Shrewsbury 2 beat Highgate 3 15-3
Shrewsbury 1 beat Shrewsbury 3 15-3
Highgate 1 beat Shrewsbury 4 15-0
Semi-Finals
Ipswich 1 (B.Laws & M.Hodgkinson) beat Shrewsbury 2 (C.Tippings & M.Geary) 2-0 (12-6, 12-4)
Shrewsbury 1 (S.Earles & T.Leung) beat Highgate 1 (L.Offeringa & V.Maslovsky) 2-1 (9-12, 12-3, 12-4)
Final
Ipswich 1 beat Shrewsbury 1 2-0 (12-4, 12-1)
Pre-Main Week Results
U13 Girls
Semi-finals
Highgate 1 (A.Zampella & R.Ejiofor) beat Highgate 2 (Y.Liu & A.Sola) 2-0 (12-9, 12-8)
Prestfelde 1 (H.Moore-Barrow & G.Turney) beat Berkhamsted 1 (A.Rasul & E.Clews) 2-0 (12-6, 12-1)
Final
Prestfelde 1 beat Highgate 1 2-0 (12-4, 12-2)
U14 Girls
Semi-Finals
Highgate 1 (E.Walker & I.Williets) beat Highgate 2 (I.Grady & M.Rosel) 2-0 (12-6, 12-10)
Highgate 3 (T.Wong & Y.Liu) beat Highgate 6 (A.McDonald & A.Kodrashova) 2-0 (12-5, 12-1)
Final
Highgate 1 beat Highgate 3 2-1 (6-12, 12-10, 12-8)
U11s
Semi-Finals
Berkhamsted 1 (L.Hyde & B.Keith-Jopp) beat Ludgrove 2 (A.Radford & R.Woods) 2-0 (6-0, 8-5)
Berkhamsted 2 (S.Garrod & N.Shetty) beat Ludgrove 1 (J.Stafford & H.Goldfinch) 2-0 (8-6, 6-0)
Final
Berkhamsted 1 beat Berkhamsted 2
U12s
Semi-Finals
Ludgrove 1 (O.Toft & S.Mace) beat Berkhamsted 3 (L.Hyde & B.Keith-Jopp) 2-0 (12-5, 12-4)
Berkhamsted 5 (S.Garrod & N.Shetty) beat Berkhamsted 1 (K.Gilley & A.Matthews) 2-1 (5-12, 14-13, 6-5)
Final
Ludgrove 1 beat Berkhamsted 5 2-0 (12-5, 12-4)
U13s
Semi-Finals
St.Olave's 1 (M.Borovyy & D.Devaguptapu) beat Berkhamsted 1 (J.Barham & C.Doubal) 2-0 (12-4, 12-2)
Cranleigh Prep 1 (O.Fairburn & J.Johnson) beat St.Olave's 2 (A.Jha & A.Chaudhary) 2-0 (12-4, 12-4)
Final
St.Olave's 1 beat Cranleigh Prep 1 2-0 (12-1, 12-4)