<p>Over the weekend Sherborne hosted the West of England Schools&rsquo; Championship, which despite its name is a National Competition, with 64 players attending from 9 different schools.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>In the Open tournament we had seven players in the singles, with Gareth K making it through to the second round, but he then faced a strong player from Tonbridge and did not progress further in the main competition. The remaining players lost their first games so went into the plate competition where two Pools had been set up. Max F did especially well, winning all five of his Pool matches before eventually reaching the Plate final. A tiring Max lost 7-15 in a great game to his opponent from Derby Moor<strike>.</strike></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>In the U16 singles Johnny M took part in his first major competition which was an excellent experience for the future. Unfortunately he picked up an injury which stopped him taking part in the singles plate or the doubles the following day.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>In the Open doubles on Sunday, Alex U and Rudi B won their first match against Marlborough 7-11, 11-9, 11-9 and it was excellent to see that comeback after a challenging start. Sadly, they came up against the very strong Winchester 2^nd pair and lost 0-11, 4-11. Robertson and Molesworth-St Aubyn enjoyed some exciting games against various Schools having lost their first-round match to a Winchester pair.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>For many the highlight of the tournament was the Senior Doubles plate! As the afternoon went on it was clear this was going to be very close with three pairs (including the scratch pairing of Sheyns - one from Sherborne and one from Alleyn&rsquo;s!) contesting things. In the last match Derby Moor took on Sheyns. A win to Derby Moor and they won the plate, whereas a win to Sheyns by 11-9 or more would see Blundell&rsquo;s 2 or themselves as winners. The viewing platform was packed and there was much enthusiasm for each point, with real passion and determination shown throughout. After what seemed an age, Sheyns won 11-10.&nbsp; The three pairs had tied on 65 points out of 66, each having won one of their two matches against the other pairs. Further calculations ensued to see how many points each pair had conceded. Derby Moor and Blundell&rsquo;s had both conceded 35 but Sheyns had conceded only 33, and so Gareth K from Sherborne and his partner from Alleyn&rsquo;s became the plate champions by the most slender of margins. Gareth was therefore presented with a plate doubles winner medal</p>