Fives

Unusually, things kicked off in August, at Alleyn’s, with the 2021 National Schools tournament (postponed from April). Leavers Ben Pymont, Luke Jopling and Gus Goulding dusted off their gloves and played some surprisingly good fives – given how long ago they had last been on court and how little cardiovascular training they had evidently been doing over the summer. Ben Pymont made it to the plate final, where he faced current Upper Eighth Benny Harrison – who emerged the winner 15-12. Upper Eighth Alex Ridley had an agonising 12-10, 11-9 loss in the first round, and Ben Roberts was knocked out in the QFs.

Five entered the U14 tournament: Alex Hogben, Dan Hughes, Kyle Hay, Zach Tydeman and Aarush Ranja. Alex and Dan (who had played about 30 mins of fives in his life but does not like to lose) both made it out of the group stage, with Alex losing in the QFs in two close games.

In the U16s, only the always-keen Charles Calzia entered. He won his group and his first knockout match but lost in the QF. Charles then teamed up with Zach, one of our U14s, in the doubles and lost their first match but got to the semis of the plate. At this point, Zach and his parents were actually considering altering their foreign travel plans to allow Zach to carry on, before a sub from Alleyn’s volunteered to play with Charles – and they went on to win an excellent final 12-10, 11-8 against Marlborough.

The Winchester Doubles tournament was held at Winchester, in mid-November, as usual. Winchester fives is very similar to the Rugby fives game we play at SPS, but about a third of the way from the front there is a 20cm wide buttress in the left wall, where the court narrows, creating exciting possibilities for anyone able to hit the ball onto the buttress, and, harder still, to retrieve it when it flies forwards. Upper Eighths Ben Roberts and Aiden Whitham were our first pair, with Lower Eighths Charles Calzia and Will Sauvel-Porter our second – all trying Winchester fives for the first time. SPS 1 beat a young Stamford pair, then Tonbridge, to reach the semis but lost to Alleyn’s – playing intelligently and finding the buttress more and more, but not quite often enough. Charles and Will lost in the QFs to the eventual tournament winners from Winchester – who were obviously very familiar with the courts. Everyone agreed that it was a great feeling to hit the buttress.

For the West of England tournament in Sherborne in January, our entries were restricted, so only six players took part: Upper Eighths Ben Roberts, Aiden Whitham, Benny Harrison and Alex Ridley, and Sixth Formers Fintan Delaney and Rufus Goodman.

In the U16 singles, things mostly went according to seeding – with Rufus losing out to fourth seed Milner of Alleyn’s in the first round. Fintan settled down quickly in his first match, playing a disciplined and effective game, and then he swept aside Milner in the QF with some superb retrieving and accurate serving. Drawing on his deep rowing fitness in the SF, Fintan very nearly took out the top seed from Winchester, losing 11-9 in the third game. Rufus got better ➦

The ten U14 Pauline entrants for the Fives Nationals

Upper Eighths (L-R) Ben Roberts, Aiden Whitham, Alex Ridley & Benny Harrison in Sherborne for the West of England tournament

Charles Calzia Lower Eighth – winner of the Captain’s Cup for the most improved senior player Aiden Whitham Upper Eighth – winner of the Conway Cup for Senior Singles U16s winning against Winchester (L-R) Fintan Delaney & Neil Prabhu

and better as the day went on, losing 15-13 in the plate final. Then GCSE mocks revision pulled them back to London, rather than competing in the doubles.

In the Open singles, in the second round, Alex Ridley was unfortunate to come up against a player with explosive power who should have been seeded much higher! Alex nearly took the match to a third game decider, but in the end had to settle for winning the plate. The other three seniors made it to the QFs but no farther. Aiden’s match against the tournament 4th seed from Winchester was the pick – with Aiden taking the second game with superb accuracy and range, before narrowly losing the deciding game (11-8). In the Open doubles, the early rounds created a few scares – when Tonbridge made Alex and Benny work hard for their 11-5, 12-11 win and Aiden and Ben were forced to claw their way back from 10-3 down (playing to 11) to close out their 2nd round match. The SFs were wonderfully intense affairs, with long rallies and superb retrieving, as the two St Paul’s pairs each came close to making their matches go the distance. All four Paulines produced moments of absolutely outstanding doubles play, before succumbing.

The highlights of the Spring term were: our seniors beating Tonbridge; the B Roberts & A Whitham vs S Roberts & D Whitham showdown in the match against the Old Paulines; Sixth formers Neil Prabhu and Fintan Delaney beating Winchester in the fixture; and Sol Inglis and Alex Tully never giving up (even when they were playing an away fixture on courts as slippery as an ice rink). In the 5th form, highlights included Alex Hogben’s power and accuracy increasing and Nikhil Malik showing great potential. And in the Fourth Form, highlights included Freddie Hammond Giles sticking to his game plan in the face of outrageous volleying from Berkhamsted, Eli Darko hitting the ball so cleanly (without bothering to move his feet), and Milan Bilagi, Hari Dattani and Edward Calzia never wanting to leave the fives courts.

Finally, there were the 2022 Nationals in April… With the exception of Benny Harrison’s loss in the quarter final in the U18 singles (his most complete performance of the year), Neil Prabhu’s tactical astuteness (to win the U16 singles plate), and Alex Hogben’s victory in the U16 Bowl (despite some tough games against players a year older), we underperformed – due perhaps to a lack of time on court compared to our opponents. Something to consider for next year.

Thanks to Mr. J Harrison, Mr. A Wilson, Mr. G Harrison (and Dr. Bennett) for their time coaching and overseeing the fixtures. ❚ SJR

Conway Cup Senior Singles: Aiden Whitham (Benny Harrison runner up) The ‘Captain’s Cup’ (most improved senior player): Charles Calzia The King Cup (most improved junior player): Milan Bilagi Senior Colours: Aiden Whitham, Ben Roberts, Alex Ridley, Benny Harrison, Monty Brown, Charles Calzia and Will Sauvel-Porter U16 Colours: Fintan Delaney, Neil Prabhu U15 Colours: Alex Hogben U14 Colours: Freddie Hammond Giles, Patrick Monro-Davies, Hari Dattani, Edward Calzia, Alex Twinch, Milan Bilagi, Josh Ferro, Eli Darko