Foreword
This Tournament has now run for eight years. It has been well subscribed every year and has seen a very wide representation from all Fives-playing schools across all three codes. The tournament is not bound to one code of fives. The Rossall courts have three walls like Eton Fives, a Winchester style buttress and the Rugby Fives rules and low ledge.

Over the years we have had entries from: St Olaves, Westway, Emanuel, Highgate, Oakham, Uppingham, Shrewsbury, KES Birmingham, Lancing and Aldenham - these are Eton fives schools. St Dunstans, Abingdon, Stoke Newington, Christ’s Hospital, Giggleswick, Edinburgh Academy and Blundles, have all entered from the rugby fives schools. Malvern has been a regular participant from Winchester Fives. We have been delighted to have regular entries in the past from both Welsh and Irish Handballers – many of whom have excelled at this form of Fives and indeed the title has been won several times by the Irish players.

Everyone plays the same amount of Fives in the Tournament! The Rossall courts make for a simply brilliant game, and what a superb setting - Rossall School is a most beautiful school, set on the seafront, just a couple of miles along the coast from the centre of Blackpool. We are very grateful to the Headmaster at Rossall for hosting these championships and for the wonderful food that the catering staff always provides.

Entries
Thirty-one singles entries and sixteen double entries from nine schools ensured that the 2005 event was well supported for the eighth year in a row. Abingdon School must be congratulated for sending their top three players, representing their school in this event for the first time - a fantastic effort and display of commitment from those individuals.

Reception
Most of the participants arrived on Saturday in time for an early evening reception, and for a night at the Pleasure Beach. Practice on the unique courts at Rossall quickly followed. There are eight Rossall Fives courts. They are the only facility that exists on which Rugby, Eton and Winchester Fives players can come together on equal terms. The courts are a hybrid between all three codes of Fives and there was a real sense of excitement during the friendly evening play as different styles came together to familiarize themselves with these different courts.

Singles
Saturday evening and Sunday morning and afternoon are packed with Fives and with all the players thrown together many new friends are always made. The Fives practice on Saturday evening showed how unique and draining this game can be. This year’s competition was as strong as ever with ten players displaying a particularly high standard.

Each pool consisted of four or five players which were allocated two courts each. The top two players in each group progressed through to a quarter-final. In the group stages there was some magnificent play and back court rallies from the Olavians and with the Abingdon boys taking us by storm with all of them playing some great fives.

The quarter-finals went very smoothly, with Sandy Fedorec (St Olave's) defeating fellow Olavian, Jack Williams 11-7 with brilliant back-court play. Rahul Desai also another pupil at St. Olave’s beat Will Gilbert (Malvern) with excellent serving returns and back court smashes. Westway’s Ryan Perrie just managed to grab a win against Sid Mason-Malik (Stoke Newington). The semi –finals were both great matches. Sandy Fedorec and William Betts progressed into the final. The final was to be one game to eleven points. William Betts playing in his second final in a row, displayed great flair and determination but eventually fell victim to the faultless and experienced all-round play from Sandy whose concentration and commitment to win each point never faded. Sandy won 11-5. The match was considerably closer than the score-line suggests.

Quarter-Final Results:
Sandy Fedorec (St Olave's) beat Jack Williams (St Olave's) 11-7
Rahul Desai (St Olave's) beat Will Gilbert (Malvern) 11-5
William Betts (Lancing) beat Charlie Cough (Lancing) 11-9
Ryan Perrie (Westway) beat Sid Mason-Malik (Stoke Newington) 11-10

Semi-finals:

Sandy Fedorec (St Olave's) beat Rahul Desai (St Olave's) 11-7
William Betts (Lancing) beat Ryan Perrie (Westway) 11-4

Final:
Sandy Fedorec (St Olave's) beat William Betts (Lancing) 11-5

Doubles
This year’s doubles entry offered a healthy mix of ages and experience that was well spread across the four pools. Each pool consisted of four or five pairs which were allocated two courts each. The top two pairs in each group qualified through to a quarter-final. In the group stages there was some magnificent play and back court rallies from the Emanuel pair Rohan and Rahul, and with the Westway mixed pair of Ryan Perrie and Lia Redmond with their great team work and reliable technique.

St. Olave’s Dave Smith & Rahul Desai played a very good and eventful semi-final with hard hitting and great volleying but narrowly missed out on a place in the final losing 11-8 to the outstanding Malvern pair of Mike King & John Brierly. The other semi-final was a great contest with the very strong Lancing pair of William Betts and Charlie Gough against the Abingdon pair Ralph Morgan & Chris Hornsey. The game was very hard-fought, but the Lancing’s greater experience resulted in most points going their way.

This years’ final was one game to fifteen. The final was one of the best we have had in years, with Lancing v Malvern. There was great serving and returning along with great power and spin shots making full use of the various angles and buttresses. The Malvern pair snatched victory 15-10.

Quarter-Final Results:
Mike King & John Brierly (Malvern 1) beat Andrew Joyce & Jeremy O'Neil (Berkhamsted) 11-1
Dave Smith & Rahul Desai (St Olave's) beat Matt Andrews & Sid Malik-Mason (Berkhamsted & Stoke Newington) 11-9
William Betts & Charlie Gough (Lancing) beat Ryan Perrie & Lia Redmond (Westway) 11-2
Ralph Morgan & Chris Hornsey (Abingdon) beat V Sandy Fedorec & Anna Shelly (St.Olave's) 11-9

Semi-finals:
Mike King & John Brierly (Malvern 1) beat Dave Smith & Rahul Desai (St Olave's) 11-8
William Betts & Charlie Gough (Lancing) beat Ralph Morgan & Chris Hornsey (Abingdon) 11-0

Final:
Mike King & John Brierly (Malvern 1) beat William Betts & Charlie Gough (Lancing) 15-10

Plate
Doubles Plate
Semi-finals:
Sam McKenny & Dave Emmerson (Abingdon) beat Matt Tavner & Jack Williams (St Olave's) 11-9
Will Gilbert & George Wrigley (Malvern 2) beat Rohan Warren & Lucy Webb (Lancing) 11-8

Final:
Matt Taverner & Jack Williams (St Olave's) beat Will Gilbert & George Wrigley (Malvern 2) 15-0

Overall, a very successful weekend. Well played to all the youngsters and we hope to see you again next year!

D.E.A.R.

Rossall Schools International 2005-2006 by Dominique Redmond
Created 19th January 2006 by Mike Fenn
efa@etonfives.co.uk

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