The Championships returned this year to Highgate School. Our thanks are due to the organizer Mark Williams, HSBC for once again generously sponsoring the Championships and Dinner and to the Headmaster for allowing the use of the Highgate courts.

Full report to follow.

HSBC Schools Championship Finals - Highgate

UNDER 16 COMPETITION
Highgate (S.C.Little & J.A.Marks) beat Shrewsbury (R.F.Griffiths & T.Jayapani)
12-6, 12-3, 13-14, 12-4

UNDER 15 COMPETITION
Shrewsbury (R.Abrol & R.G.C.Salmon) beat Highgate (T.M.Whitehead & M.da Silva)
12-8, 12-4, 13-10

UNDER 14 COMPETITION
Highgate (C.D.Most & M.J.Kovar) beat Highgate (J.A.Curry & A.J.Pavitt)
15-14, 12-3, 12-4

UNDER 14 BEGINNERS'
Shrewsbury (N.R.Morjaria & J.Tse) beat Shrewsbury (C.D.Carr-Smith & G.H.Thomason) 12-7, 13-11, 10-12, 7-1 scr

LADIES COMPETITION
Lancing (R.E.Scott & A.C.Lumbard) beat Lancing (L.A.Bell & J.R.Lumbard)
12-1, 12-4

Schools Under 12 Competition

Twenty-six pairs from three schools entered the Under 12 Competition, which was held at Eton a week before the main Championships. Despite the usual Highgate Junior School dominance, it was pleasing to see three pairs from Summer Fields and the Cranleigh first pair in the quarter-finals. Highgate Junior 1 and Summer Fields 1 and 2 won their matches easily, but Highgate Junior 3 provided an upset in beating their second pair in a close match over three games.

In the semi-finals, Summer Fields 2 and Highgate Junior 3 made their opposite first pairs work hard, but the latter both won in two straight games. The final was a very high standard indeed. Koe and Fairhead for Summer Fields returned cut effectively and volleyed crisply at times to put Highgate under pressure at various points in all three games. However both Noble and Berriman countered with attacking play of their own, and showed just a little more consistency and determination to win when it mattered. Highgate won the first and third games 12-9, but the crucial game was the second, where Summer Fields led for a long time and had several game ball chances before Highgate caught up. Once that game was lost it was clear that there would be no way back. Congratulations to Highgate on yet another Championship at this level, but it is clear that fives at Summer Fields is steadily improving, and this year they provided two pairs who matched their Highgate compatriots stroke for stroke for much of the time.

Semi-finals:
Highgate Junior 1 (C.O.Noble & J.P.Berriman) beat Summer Fields 2 (C.J.B.Courtenay & G.F.T.Taylor)
12-6, 12-6
Summer Fields 1 (M.J.B.Koe & F.J.B.Fairhead) beat Highgate Junior 3 (B.J.Kovar & Z.M.Freud)
12-5, 12-9

Final:
Highgate Junior 1 beat Summer Fields 12-9, 14-11, 12-9

Schools Championships Report to follow
Created 4th April 2007 by Mike Fenn
efa@etonfives.co.uk

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