Strong performances from Salopians at Fives National Championships

The last week of the Lent Term saw over 120 Salopians compete in the Schools’ National Championships; this year held at Repton School for the first time.

I am pleased to report that across the week Shrewsbury performed strongly, reaching the Semi-Finals or further in eight of the ten National year-group competitions held as part of this year’s Nationals.

In the week leading up to the National Championships week, the U14 Girls’ tournament was held at Highgate school. Shrewsbury travelled with 8 competitive pairs, all of whom were complete beginners to the game back in January. 3 Shrewsbury pairs managed to reach the Quarter-Final Stage, with first pair Sienna E (G, III) and Fleur J (Q, III) defeating Mill Hill 1 and Highgate 1 to progress to the final. Unfortunately, they came up against a very strong Highgate 2 side, losing 12-4, 12-8.

The first day at Repton saw the U15s compete in their respective year group competitions. In the U15 Boys’ Competition, Sam S (SH, IV) and Monty Sharman (Rt, IV) bowed out at the Semi-Final stage, succumbing to a strong QE Barnet Pair. In the U15 Girls’, Sienna E once again made the final, partnering Millie P (MSH, IV). They were up against last year’s reigning champions, who defeated Shrewsbury 2-12, 3-12 in the final.

Monday was the turn of the U16 year group. In the U16 Girls’ Competition, Emily C (EDH, V) and Millie P reached the Final, losing 2-0 to the same pair that Millie had lost to earlier on in the day.  In the U16 Boys’ tournament, Shrewsbury 1 and tournament 2^nd seeds (Michael D, V & George B, V) took an unconventional approach to the tournament. In each of their knockout matches (Last 16, Quarter-Finals & Semi-Finals) they lost the first set! In every match the pair grew stronger and started to produce their best Fives. They overcame Berkhamsted 4, Berkhamsted 3 & Highgate 1 to reach the final and take on pre-tournament favourites Berkhamsted 1. Michael and George struggled to reach the form they had shown earlier on in the day and came away with a 3-0 loss. A superb effort, as Shrewsbury reached the final of the U16 tournament for the first time in 10 years.

With first pair unavailable, our U18’s struggled in what proved to be the most open and competitive U18 Open tournament in years! 2 Shrewsbury pairs reached the Last 16 stage, but bowed out to seeded competition.

Our biggest hopes in the week were in the U14 competitions. We had a small but very talented pool of U14 boys this year, and a Quarter-Final finish in the U14 Main Competition (mostly for students who have played for years) represented one of Shrewsbury’s best ever performances! The next day saw the U14 Beginners’ tournament take place, with 8 pairs of Shrewsbury boys and girls involved. 3 Shrewsbury pairs reached the Quarter-Finals, with Connor P (S,III) and Ollie B (R,III) bowing out 3-1 to pre-tournament favourites QE Barnet. Shrewsbury 1 & 2 then produced one of the best days of Fives in recent memory. Both pairs managed to defeat their opponents and set up an All-Salopian Final, the first time this has happened since 2011. In a tight fought affair lasting over 3 hours, Arjan B (SH,III) and Jack E (R,III) defeated Callum D (I, III) and Taisei M (R,III) 3-1 (13-11, 13-12, 5-12, 12-4).  

After losing her partner to injury earlier in the week, reigning U18 Champion Esther H (EDH, UVI) managed to reach the final with 5th Former Emily C. They lost 3-0 to an extremely talented Cranleigh pair, who won an U18 competition for the first time in the School’s history.  Esther would go one further in the U18 Mixed Competition as she partnered Ed C (O, UVI) and were victorious against another Shrewsbury pair in the final, Shrewsbury 8 Sam S, (SH IV) & Emily C (EDH,V) winning 2-0 (12-8, 12-10).

My thanks goes to Repton School for hosting a fantastic week, The Eton Fives Association for their organisation, the coaches for their expertise and finally the pupils who made it a National Championships that will live long in the memory.

Adam Morris

Head of Fives