The Rossall Open Championship
Season 2001-2002

(Held at Rossall School, Lancashire on 15th/16th September 2001)

Foreword

The second Rossall Open Tournament was held on the 15th and 16th of September at Rossall school in Fleetwood, Lancashire. The turnout was excellent despite minimal recruitment, showing I think how much people who have been to this tournament before enjoy it. Play started on the Saturday afternoon, after lunch at the school, with the pools of the singles tournament. There were some fantastic matches throughout and the weather, although uniquely changeable, was not nearly as inclement as it can be. Three of the courts are now fully enclosed, and the rest have enough run-off covered that rain does not affect play.

Singles

The singles pools were quickly played and the quarter-finals embarked upon. Here the highlight of the day's play occurred, when doubles partners Billy Powell and Robin Nagy were drawn against each other. After a very close match, Robin eventually won 15-12. Each semi final saw players of the two different codes of fives play against each other. Robin lost to first seed James Toop in straight games while Seb Cooley overcame Dave Hebden in the other half.

By the end of the day, only the final remained to be played when the competitors retired to the hotel for showers and dinner. Dinner at the hotel was preceded and followed by drinks, with much of the group continuing to a second venue where a cabaret was playing. The locals didn’t seem to have the faintest idea what had hit them, while the Rossall old boys in the group displayed their entertainment value, Andrew Eastham taking the biscuit when he took Howard on a waltz around the dance floor. After a significant number of bottles of port, most made their way back to our own hotel, Sanjaya detouring via the boating lake to take a birthday dip, then walking straight into the bar to order another drink.

The final of the singles was after lunch on the Sunday between former partners James Toop and Seb Cooley. The match contained a number of long rallies but James showed slightly greater consistency and patience to win 11-9, 11-7.

Doubles

On Sunday play started at 9:30 after an excellent cooked breakfast. We were joined for the doubles by two pairs from Derby Mercia Rugby Fives Club, who as a result of this tournament have re-established links with the Rossall Old Boys and now have a regular fixture against them. All of the previous days players also made it back to the courts to resume battle, beginning with the doubles pools. Some very close matches were played during the pools stages, often with three pairs all looking to qualify at the top of their group.

From the quarter finals onwards Robin Nagy and Billy Powell continued to display a propensity for tight matches, this round playing to the deciding game against Matt Barter and Ed Rose, with the game scores interestingly not close: 4-11, 11-1, 11-6. Their semi final also went to a third game, in which Dave Mew and James Toop were overcome 9-11, 11-7, 11-9. These long, tiring games may have been their undoing. In the final, they played another rugby / eton fives pairing, Howard Wiseman and Dave Hebden. Howard and Dave ran out winners in straight games, in a match where mistakes were tremendously costly since there were few outright "winners" played.

Summary

Overall, the tournament was a very sociable, friendly affair. Even when all play had finished apart from the doubles semi-finals and final, many people were still playing friendly matches on the free courts. Certainly all who were present on Saturay night are looking forward to next year. A great bonus of this event is that there is no pressure on any players as it is not their normal code of fives, except for the Rossall old boys, who I'm not certain would be capable of playing a match in anything but the most jovial spirit. The Rossall old boys also play the doubles game very effectively with one player front and the other back-court, where even Eton fives players drift to left or right. A lesson for us? This is a great weekend which I would recommend to any players to take part in. It will be held biannually, in rotation with the successful Marlborough tournament.

Results

Singles

Doubles

S.K.P.C.

Constructed by Mike Fenn
8th October 2001
efa@etonfives.co.uk

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