Inter Schools Doubles Level Championship 2018
Under 13
Final: Christchurch Cathedral School (Garson & Riehl) bt Dragon 1 (Henman & Kavenna) 5/2
This event was held once again at the Oratory School with 6 schools represented. The level of competition can be gauged by the fact that no pair managed to win all their group games, except Christchurch and all except on pair managed at least one win.
Christchurch’s predominance carried them through despite a strong challenge from the Dragon who they beat 5/2 in the final.
Under 14
Final: Radley 1 (Ed Alder & Jonty Duncan) bt Radley 2 (Magnus Garson & George Acheson-Gray) 8/4
In a slightly thinner field than last year, Wellington 1 (Cesca Sweet and Benji Barnes) were unlucky, being the only pair to take the eventual winners
to a deciding game and winning 17 games in 4 sets, but they narrowly failed to clinch any of them.
Third were Radley 3 (George O’Connor & Toby Marriott) and fourth were Will and Ollie Mordaunt, both pairs showing some real ability at times.
The two Radley pairs in the final were most impressive and displayed some excellent doubles tactics. Magnus Garson played some of the very best shots of the day and George Acheson-Gray applied himself in a thoughtful and stylish way. However from 4-all in the final, Jonty Duncan played a solid, error-free game and, in combination with Ed Alder’s superb volleying, proved too strong for their plucky opponents.
Under 16
Final: Portsmouth GS (Huw Thomas & Oliver Jameson) bt Radley 1 (Ed Crowston & Max Wetton) 8/5
With 8 schools and 12 pairs, this was an excellent days tennis at Wellington. Mayville (Jones & Medlow) bt Seaford (Sunderland & Franklin) in the
plate final, both having beaten Oratory pairs in the semi-finals.
In the main event, Wellington beat Hayling School (Flynn & Trueman) before losing to last years champions, Radley 1 1/6 in the semi-final.
Portsmouth beat Canford 1 (Anstee & Quick) then Canford 3 (Pocock & Hilton) – who had beaten Canford 2 (Hollywod & Morris) in the quarter final
By 6/1 and 6/0
In the final, Thomas & Jameson just emerged the winners from an extremely tight match at 5-5 to win 8/5. Congratulations to them.
Senior B Grade
Seaford 1 (Monty Dix & Gus James) bt Canford 2 (A.Graham & C.Eliot-Murray) 6/4
Group winners Seaford 1 met Canford 2 in an excellent B grade final, winning 6/4.
Both had won semi-finals conmfortably (Seaford 6/0 over Westminster and Canford 6/1 over Wellington 3) so were worthy finalists.
Westminster had a good day, winning two of three group matches to reach the smi-final. The plate event was won by Eton 2 (Ingles & Deakin) who beat Wycombe Abbey (Isolde Taylor & Marina Eastwood) who had improved throughout the day, beating Radley 3 in their group and then Seaford 2 in the semi-final. Taylor’s gutsy scrambling and Eastwood’s splendid volleying were their standout features.
Senior A Grade
Radley 1 Ned Batstone & Benedict Yorston (Radley) bt Freddie Bristowe & Charlie Vleck (Wellington) 6/4 2/6 6/1
A strong field contested this year’s championships, though only one pair (Radley 2 of Harry Purton & Harry Foreman seriously threatened the top two seeds, pushing both to tight 4/6 sets, Wellington 1 in the group stage and Radley1 in the semi-final, where the eventual champions were pushed to the edge.
In group A, Radley 1 cruised through, with Tonbridge (Elmitt & Atherton) claiming 2nd place by beating Eton and Wellington 2. In Group B, Wellington had a struggle with Radley 2 but were otherwise untroubled.
Eton (Duncan & Thistlethwayte) claimed 5th place by beating Canford (Galley & Fountain) 6/4, while Clifton (Chesser & van der Zwalmen) won 7th place over Wellington 2 (Offer & Innes) 6/5.
Wellington 1 beat Tonbridge comfortably in the semi-final, though Radley 1 had much more trouble with Radley 2, edging it 6/4 despite a minor hand injury to Batstone in trying to extricate a ball dropping in the corner.
The final was a fitting climax to the day, in a final of the lowest combined handicaps ever in this event (only one player, Vleck, was over 30 handicap, and he only just). Radley 1 raced to a 4/0 lead before faltering to 4/4 and just holding on to 6/4. From 2/2 in the 2nd set, Wellington won 5 successive games to lead 1/0 in the decider. Bristowe’s athletic power play at the back was supported well by Vleck who served well and used his volley well standing well up at the Door., while Yorston’s volley wavered under the constant attack.
It was much to Radley’s credit that they maintained their composure to gradually reassert themselves. Batstone kept impressive discipline and Yorston served well to hold the service end while Bristowe made a few errors in trying to force the pace. Although it continued to feel very tight – most games seemed to reach deuce – Radley eventually closed a splendid final 6/1 in the final set.