The Universities Competition was held this year at Highgate School; this year, the competition was only attended by Oxford and Cambridge despite best efforts, but we hope next year to involve players from other universities as well.

On a damp and gloomy day, Oxford brought six pairs, including one ladies’ pair, and Cambridge brought three pairs to the tournament. The group stage was played in the morning, and the four pairs to go through to the semi-finals were Cambridge 1 & 2 and Oxford 1 & 2. The draw for this round (best of 3 games) pitched Cambridge 1 against Oxford 1 and Cambridge 2 against Oxford 2. The Cambridge first pair of James O’ Callaghan and Mike Birkett triumphed over Peter Kennedy and Andy Erskine in an extremely hard-fought 3-game match, 6-12, 12-7, 15-14, while the Oxford second pair of Will Betts and Chris Michaels saw away the Cambridge second pair of Will Illingworth and James Womersley without too much difficulty in two games, 12-3, 12-3.

The final was played best of 5 games between Cambridge 1 and Oxford 2, and did not disappoint in terms of longevity, in the end going to 5 games. In an extremely enjoyable match to watch, both pairs displayed great skill and tenacity, and the standard of Fives was extremely high. In the end, the victors were Cambridge 1 (James O’Callaghan and Mike Birkett), coming back from a nail-biting loss in the fourth game to win 12-4, 4-12, 12-3, 14-15, 12-4.

I would like to thank Richard Barber, Mike Fenn, Nick Gill, Anthony Brunner and Highgate School for their kind help in organising the tournament.

J.G.C.B

Universities Championships: Report by Julian Black
Created 22nd April 2008 by Mike Fenn
efa@etonfives.co.uk

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