The Salopian Winter 24/25

56 SCHOOL NEWSA smaller squad than inprevious years, a dozenU14 boys set about thetask of defending the U14Beginners’ National trophy.After comprehensive winsagainst both Eton andHighgate earlier in theseason, and a quarter-finalfinish in the U14 MainCompetition (mostly forpupils who have played for years), we had high hopes for ourU14s. Eight pairs of Shrewsbury boys and girl were involved.Three Shrewsbury pairs reached the quarter-finals, withConnor Perks (S) and Ollie Busby (R) bowing out 3-1 topre-tournament favourites QE Barnet 1. Shrewsbury 1 & 2then produced one of the best days of Fives in recent memory.Both pairs managed to defeat their opponents and set up anall-Salopian final, the first time this has happened since 2011.In a tightly fought match lasting over three hours, ArjanBarard (SH) and Jack Edwards (R) (pictured) defeated CallumDovaston (I) and Taisei Miyakoshi (R) 3-1 (13-11, 13-12,5-12, 12-4)U15 BoysThe U15 Boys had a superb season. After finishing runnersupin the Hughes Cup (Shrewsbury’s best ever performancein the competition), we hoped that our top pairs would bechallenging at the top end of the National scene in March.Several players made great progress throughout the season,such as Rufus Darke, Oliver Colton and Oscar Wincott.Unfortunately, injury prevented some of our players fromcompeting. After rejigging pairs, three Shrewsbury pairsreached the quarter-final stage, with Jack Lupton, TygerLeverton-Griffiths, Daniil Metelskiy and Kieran Haswellall performing superbly well. Sam Spiby (SH) and MontySharman (Rt) bowed out at the semi-final stage, succumbingto a strong QE Barnet Pair.U16 BoysAfter our U16 first pair,Michael Draper (I) andGeorge Battersby (O),helped Shrewsbury retainthe Richard Barber Cupfor the third time, we werehopeful that they would helpShrewsbury to challengeat the top end of the U16 2024 Williams Team Cup Squadscene, something we havestruggled to do in the past decade. Players such as Yee LokMak (S), Freddie Ogilby (Ch), Max Milbank (O) and DeleSamson (Ch) ensured that training was always competitiveand made great improvements throughout the season. In theNationals, Shrewsbury 1 and 2nd seeds Michael and Georgetook an unconventional approach to the tournament. Ineach of their knockout matches (last 16, quarter-finals andsemi-finals) they lost the first set! In every match the pair grewstronger and started to produce their best Fives. They overcameBerkhamsted 4, Berkhamsted 3 and Highgate 1 to reach thefinal and take on pre-tournament favourites Berkhamsted 1.Michael and George struggled to reach the form they hadshown earlier on in the day and came away with a 3-0 loss.A superb effort, as Shrewsbury reached the final of the U16tournament for the first time in ten years.U18 BoysThe 2023-24 season was a season of great promise for theU18 Boys, which unfortunately never came to fruition. Aftersecuring our first ever win in the Graham Turnbull trophy,as Jack Home and Seb Cooley (pictured) defeated Eton 12-1, and retaining the Richard Barber Cup for the 3rd time(pictured), there were encouraging signs that our SeniorBoys would be able to challenge for the U18 Open trophy.Unfortunately, injury to captain Jack Home in a fixtureversus Harrow, Theo Wylie’s inclusion in the England U19World Cup cricket squad and Oliver Parton’s and Ed Clark’sfootball commitments as they played a key role in securingShrewsbury’s first ever ESFA win meant that the season neverreally got going. That being said, Shrewsbury finished runnersupin the Williams Team Cup and there were outstandingsquad performances in matches versus Highgate, Harrowand Eton. In the Nationals, our Senior Boys struggled inwhat proved to be the most open and competitive U18 Opentournament in years! Two Shrewsbury pairs reached the last 16stage, but bowed out to seeded competition.Graham Turnbull Cup Winners (Jack Home & Seb Cooley)Overall, a season with plenty of positives, with all playersmaking great progress as they continue to ensure that SalopianFives remains at the forefront of the game nationwide.Fives captains for the 2024-2025 season are:Clemmy Sowden (G U6)Louis Hursthouse (S U6)Adam MorrisMichael Draper, George Battersby, Seb Cooley (Staff), Sam Welti (I 2007-12), Chris Hughes (SH 2005-10), Ed ClarkSenior Girls vs Cambridge University

SCHOOL NEWS57The 2024 tennis season was a fantasticterm for the tennis squads, with a recordnumber of students participating for theSchool and one of the most successfulseasons ever in terms of results.Tennisspecial mention must go to the 1stteam of Tom Daly, Hamish Griffiths,Giles Holliday, James Hudson, NickWing and Yee Lok Mak for a trulyincredible season.It was also an exceptional season for thegirls’ 1st team, who only lost once allseason, in the National Cup. The teamimproved considerably throughout theyear and was led by the outstandingPippa North. It was fantastic to seetheir performances against MalvernCollege, Cheltenham College and inthe King’s High School Tournament.A special shoutout must go to FourthFormer Willa Bowett and Third FormerSienna Earles who, whilst still beingrelatively junior at the School, haveperformed exceptionally as the 1st pairin the 1st team. Willa and Sienna alsocompeted for the School during thesummer holidays at the IndependentSchools Tennis Association (ISTA)championships held at Eton College.They performed admirably, beatingschools such as St Mary’s Ascot, NottingHill, Ealing Girls School and PriorPark, before losing to Sevenoaks in theround of 16. They should be extremelypleased with their performance in such aprestigious national competition.The boys’ U15 team improved as theseason progressed and achieved goodvictories over Malvern College, WrekinCollege and Oswestry, while the girls’U15 team successfully beat MoretonHall, Shrewsbury High School andCheltenham College.We greatly look forward to continuingthe progress of tennis at the School.Henry BennettAfter an unfortunate loss in the Lentterm for the boys’ 1st team in theNational Cup to Ellesmere College,the boys’ 1st and 2nd teams won all oftheir Summer term fixtures. This was aremarkable achievement; the last timethis happened was in 2001. There weresome fantastic victories, and it wasextremely pleasing for the team to beatEllesmere College for the first time inmany years in the summer fixture. A