A Thrilling Day of Winchester Fives at the Barnes Bridge

A busy day on the stunning new Winchester College Fives courts saw 52 players battle for the Barnes Bridge and various plate competitions. After over 10 hours of intense play, top seeds Dan Tristao and Dan Grant emerged victorious, overcoming third seeds Ed Kay and Dave Butler in a high-quality final.

The tournament featured countless exciting matches. Round two nearly saw two seeds fall, as Steve Coffey and Ben Hale stunned fourth seeds Julian Aquilina and James Tilston by racing to a 7-0 lead. However, Julian and James fought back to edge a 15-13 win. Meanwhile, Sam Roberts and Freddie Hammond-Giles sought revenge against Shinan Zhang and Penn Chai, who had beaten them in last year's plate final. This time, Sam and Freddie prevailed 16-14 in a sadly single-game contest.

In the quarterfinals, Julian and James again struggled early on, losing the first game 11-1 to Tom Maconie and Lewis Keates. A tense second game saw match points for Tom and Lewis, but the fourth seeds clawed through 12-11 before sealing victory 11-3. The semi-finals saw Dan and Dan overcoming Julian and James reasonably comfortably, while Ed and Dave battled second seeds Ben Beltrami and Theo Parker in a gripping encounter. The momentum swung back and forth, but despite some dazzling play from Ben and Theo, Ed and Dave edged through 16-14, 3-15, 15-12.

The opening game of the final could have gone either way, with Ed and Dave earning six game points, three of which were won by unreturnable serves from Dan Grant. The second game was more controlled by the Dans, who secured a hard-fought 16-14, 15-10 victory.

Plate Competitions

Twice defending plate champions Shinan and Penn fell to Steve Coffey and Ben Hale in a thriller (11-9, 12-10), but that left Steve and Ben spent for the final, where Winchester schoolboys Jeffrey Chan and Anthony Cloke-Brown triumphed 11-7, 11-3.

A quarter-finalists’ plate saw Simon Frase and Richard Guthrie push Tom and Lewis to three games before falling in the decider. Tom and Lewis then edged Sam and Freddie in another marathon 3 game match (11-5, 5-11, 11-9). Meanwhile, the "plate plate" (for first-round plate losers) featured an all-Cambridge showdown, where Emrys Thursfield & Savanna Leboff defeated Helena Tunks & Sarthak Garella.

A Day to Remember

This was a fantastic day of Winchester Fives in a world-class new sporting facility. Typically, pre-tournament worries revolve around sweating courts, but now the challenge is figuring out how to host a regular Winchester event while keeping the Barnes Bridge on tour!

A huge thank you to all 52 players and supporters who traveled from Scotland, Manchester, Leeds, Derby, Cambridge, London… And, a special thanks for those who made it for the post tournament curry!