rackets Fixture

Public Schools Doubles Championships 2008

Public Schools Doubles Championships Results, Report and Photos

---

Winchester's Long, Good Friday

Winchester's Second Pair, Sean Knight and Christian Portz, became the first second pair in the Championships' history to win the Public Schools Doubles. They did so by upsetting the top seeds, Sam Northeast and Will Jones from Harrow, 4 games to 1, having secured the Second Pairs title a matter of hours earlier, beating Cheltenham 4-2. In doing so, Tim Cawston, the School's professional, can be justly proud of his hard work in harnessing the resurgence of Winchester Rackets as they take their first title for 16 years.

Knight and Portz, semi-fresh from their victory over Cheltenham earlier in the morning in the Second Pairs Competition, took the game to Harrow wherever possible. Portz was keen to get up the court and take on the hard-hitting Harrovian and Foster Cup winner, Sam Northeast. A close first game went to Winchester 15-12. Harrow responded instantly, finding better angles in the rallies and took the second game 15-8: one all. With varied serving, and a freedom of movement, Winchester took the third 15-8. With a decent run of serve from Will Jones, and crisper calling upon their part, Harrow rushed to a 10-2 lead in the fourth. Here Winchester dug deep, and Knight had his best run of serve of the match; the pressure for Harrow to secure that particular game became tangible. An edgy game went to set which saw Harrow have a game point but the motivated Wykehamists took it 16-15.The fifth game quickly went 8-3 to Winchester, before Harrow levelled at 8-8; in recapturing the form of their semi-final against their own pair, Winchester simply would not allow Harrow to build a lead and another close game ended 15-13 to Knight and Portz, and with it the title.

Early rounds in the competition produced no surprises as the four seeded pairs moved through to the last eight: indeed, all victories in the first round were 4-0 other than the lengthy tussle between Malvern and Marlborough which concluded as a 4-3 victory to Sheppard and Baldry (Malvern). At the quarter final stage, top seeds Harrow, Sam Northeast and Will Jones, dropped a game in advancing past Eton II: Etonians, Ed Morrison and Toby Higson rallied cleverly and served well before Northeast started to dominate the front of the court in games three and four the Harrovians eventually going through 4-1. Other seeds bowed out, however: the Cheltenham pairing of Sam Harney and Foster Cup runner-up Dan Shiner, seeded three, could not contain the much-fancied Winchester II pair of Knight and Portz: at 2 games all, it seemed that Winchester were more motivated, and possessed the weight of shot against a tiring Cheltenham pair. The Wykehamists emerged as victors 4-2, setting up an all Winchester semi-final against their first pair, seeded number 2: Alex Portz and Tom Stephens' place in the semi-finals being secured with a 4-0 victory over the Malvern pair. Tonbridgians, Jack Shields and Tom Spurling, unsettled their opponents, Etonians Henry Nicholls and Max Barber, in knocking out the fourth seeds, in a seven game thriller the Tonbridgians having been 0-2 down.

At semi-final stage, Northeast and Jones played some excellent Rackets in defeating Spurling and Shields of Tonbridge. Northeast's powerful hitting seemed to demoralize the Tonbridgians rather sooner than it should have done, and despite Shield, in particular, beginning to rally and hit the angles in the fourth game, Harrow reached the final of the blue riband event, 15-6, 15-4, 15-9, 15-11. The intriguing semi-final between Winchester I and II produced some of the best rackets of the day and reflects the resurgence of Winchester rackets under the watchful eye of Tim Cawston, the professional. With brothers Chrstian and Alex Portz on either side, a further dimension came into play. Winchester II secured the first game 16-13, a game that saw Stephens dominate for the Princes pair, but Knight's and the younger Portz's retrieving was more than up to it. In the second game, the longest, once again going to set, it became apparent that Christian Portz was motivated to stay up the court to dominate; not to be outdone, Alex Portz and Stephens had a run of serve from 7-12 to 13-12 before going out, and in a set to 5, the pumped second pair took it 18-16. The third game was close also, but Winchester II very much had the bit between the teeth, taking it 15-10. Despite the first pair taking the fourth in the set 16-13, the momentum stayed with Winchester II who took the fifth, 15-10, and entered the record books as the first second pair to get to the final of the Public Schools in its history.

At a slightly earlier time than planned, to allow for Winchester's heroic pairing of Knight and Portz to play two finals, the Professional Association's Cup for Second Pairs saw the Wykhamists beat Cheltenham's pairing of Jon Chitty and Charlie Wootton, 4 games to 2 early Friday morning. Having survived a mammoth battle to overcome second seeds Eton in the semi-final, 4-3, the Cheltonians raced to a 15-4, 15-8 lead with decent serving, and Wootton in particular, hitting the angles hard to keep Winchester on the back foot. The third game, a scrappy affair, was clinched by Winchester 15-10, as was the fourth 15-9. However, Cheltenham found form to go 10-2 up in the fifth, and 13-9, but nerves seemed to get the better of them, and in the set to three, Knight served two aces before hitting a winner from a tentative Cheltenham return. Wootton and Chitty seemed to sense that they had missed their chance, and Winchester, who had dispatched Harrow's Jan Brugelman and Ed Philips 4-1 in the semi-final, took the sixth game to lift the title, 4-15, 8-15, 15-10, 15-9, 16-13, 15-6.

The Eric Angus Cup for U16s saw the top two seeds, Winchester and Tonbridge, progress to the final, but not without a scare or two: against the Rugby pairing of Atkins and Mackenzie, Wyckhamists Ben Stephens and Tom Jesty emerged victors in an impressive quarter final, 3-2, having been 0-2 down. Tonbridgians Tom Elliott and Ben Ransom also came back from 0-1 to beat Charterhouse's Rozier-Pamplin and Cox, 3-1, in the semi-final. Having dispatched with St Paul's in a one-sided semi-final, Winchester looked in command against Tonbridge in the final and at 2-1 and 11-6 in the third, Stephens, especially, seemed to be in control of the rallies. However, the serving of Elliott and increasing determination of Ransom meant that Tonbridge took the fourth, 15-12. Winchester took the next 15-1 with alarming ease, and were up 9-4 in the sixth: the game went to set as a motivated Tonbridge made the most of some luck and secured it 17-14. The final game saw Tom Jesty serve to a 9-2 lead in one hand, before strong serving from Elliott took Tonbridge in two hands to 13-9. Winchester simply ran out of points, and Tonbridge won this topsy-turvy battle 7-15, 15-12, 5-15, 15-12, 1-15, 17-14, 15-12.

The top two seeds reached the final of the The Peter Gray Cup for U15s, also: it was a relatively straightforward affair in the end as the no.1 seeds of Wellington's Nick Hopcroft and James Whateley emerged victors over Haileyburians Tom Billings and Luke Frey, 18-13, 15-4, 15-12. In the close, slightly nervous first game, Haileybury were a little static in responding to the dominance of the Wellingtonian Hopcroft who straightened the ball decisively, and served to an impressive length. Billings and Frey chose set 5 but had no chance to build a score in the set. Haileybury's rhythm was disrupted in game two, as both Whateley and Hopcroft found a good length with their serve. The third game saw Haileybury, led by Billings, rush to a 12-3 lead but two crucial returns and a run of serve from Whateley ensured that Wellington secured the cup which can be added to the Jim Dear Singles cup won by Hopcroft, comfortably the best junior colt at the moment.

First Pairs

Winners : Sean Knight & Christian Portz WINCHESTER II Runners Up : Sam Northeast & Will Jones HARROW

Final Score : 15-12,8-15,15-8,16-15,15-13

---

Second Pairs for the PT Cup

Winners : Sean Knight & Christian Portz WINCHESTER Runners Up : Charlie Wootton & Jon Chitty CHELTENHAM

Final Score : 15-5,6-15,15-8,15-6,15-4

---

Colts for the Eric Angus Cup U16

Winners : Ben Ransom & Tom Elliott TONBRIDGE Runners Up : Ben Stevens & Tom Jesty WINCHESTER

Final Score : 7-15,15-12,5-15,15-11,1-15,17-14,15-12

Junior Colts for the Peter Gray Cup U15

Winners : Nick Hopcroft & James Whateley WELLINGTON Runners Up: Tom Billings & Luke Frey HAILEYBURY

Final Score : 18-13,15-4,15-12

WINCHESTER wins the Mark Faber Cup

Pictures by Tim Edwards