Mellor retained the Bath Eights men’s trophy after defeating Loughborough University Alumni 5-4 in the 2024 final on Saturday while Cheltenham Cougars picked up their first women’s title with a 2-1 victory over hosts Bath, maintaining the incredible record of no team having won the trophy more than once.
The 5-4 final win for Mellor means the Greater Manchester side have now claimed four Bath Eights men’s titles and sit third in the all-time list of winners after Cheadle and Wilmslow (both on six titles) and Sheffield and Timperley (both on five titles).
In the women’s competition, Cheltenham Cougars picked up their first title in the seventh edition of the tournament after a close 2-1 final victory over Bath.
That result means that no team has retained the Bath Eights women’s title or even won the trophy more than once since its inception in 2017.
By reaching the final, Bath’s women’s team became the first Bath team (men or women) in the history of the Bath Eights tournament to progress past the quarter-final stage; they reached the final by defeating 2023 winners Cirencester with a sudden-death over-time win after a 4-4 draw in regular time in the semi-final.
A total of 58 teams took part across the men’s and women’s competitions this year, making it one of the biggest editions of the event in its 37 year history.
