Fives: A season of unprecedented success
The St. Olave’s Fives Team has enjoyed possibly its most successful season ever. Over one hundred Olavians represented the School in a wide range of fixtures and tournaments, achieving remarkable victories. The team won all of its school fixtures, including matches against Harrow, Eton, Shrewsbury, Highgate, Westminster, Charterhouse, Mill Hill, Queen Elizabeth Barnet, and many more.
The team also enjoyed fantastic success in various national tournaments. The first notable achievement of the season was at the adult Midlands Championships, where Captains Tanish and Aadi became the first school pair to ever win a major adult tournament—a truly fantastic accomplishment.
In the three-pair team events, St. Olave’s won both the National Championships for U15s (for the second year in a row) and the U18s Championship (for the third year in succession). This is an outstanding and very rare achievement. Krivi, Luke, Armand, Caelan, Ayaan, and Johann played brilliantly to win every match and secure an emphatic title win of the Hughes Cup. The Senior team of Aadi, Bomi, Tanish, Alex, Henry, and Oscar also dominated their equivalent, the William’s Cup. St. Olave’s is one of very few schools to have ever won this three times in a row, and Aadi is the only player to have ever been in three winning teams at this level.
Aadi and Tanish also made history recently by becoming the first pair of school players to feature in the Men’s National three-pair Championships Final. They played a crucial part in winning this prestigious title with the Old Olavians. Congratulations to them!
The season’s hard work culminated with the National Schools’ Championships, which involved over one thousand girls and boys from all over the country. Every Olavian year group played extremely well, matching or surpassing expectations. There were many notable performances and achievements, with three pairs reaching National Finals. In the U13s, Kenzo and Aksel played brilliantly to surpass their seeding, losing to a more experienced pair from Highgate in the Final. In the U16s, Henry and Oscar were involved in arguably the best and closest contest of the Nationals, losing by the narrowest of margins in a brilliant five-set match against a very talented pair from Ipswich School. Congratulations to them for their outstanding season.
Aadi and Tanish reached the Open Final without dropping a set, barely losing a point. They faced an exceptionally talented pair from Berkhamsted School, one of whom had won this title last year. It was a perfect performance from Aadi and Tanish, who recorded the most emphatic win ever in an Open Final, losing just a handful of points across three perfectly executed sets. This performance crowned what has been an amazing school Fives career for not only Aadi and Tanish but also for Bomi and Alex, who have played such an important part in raising the standard so high. Both are National champions at U14 and U21 levels respectively. It is noteworthy that Alex and Bomi defeated Tanish and Aadi in a mini grudge-match played minutes after the Open Final!
It is important to highlight that Aadi has become the only Olavian to have won all three main age categories: U14s, U16s, and Open. Congratulations again to both Aadi and Tanish for their exceptional achievements.
St. Olave’s School is immensely proud of the Fives Team’s accomplishments this season and looks forward to continued success in the future.
