The 2016 ECBA Champion of Champions was held at Stanley, County Durham on 5th-6th June.

SINGLES
Neil Jolly
Neil began with close game against Essex, but was just edged out to a 9-7 loss. However he bounced back with an emphatic 16-3 victory over Hertfordshire.

He followed that up with another good win, 11-1 over Norfolk with left him tied for third. And things got even better as he recorded another big win, this time 16-2 win over Northumberland.

Sitting out Saturday's final session meant that he finished the day on 6 points, tied for third with Cambridgeshire. Sunderland led the way on 9pts, followed by Durham on 7, although Neil had a game in hand over Sunderland.

Sunday would see Neil playing all three of his fellow contenders which would make for a challenging day but full of opportunity.

And he started Sunday in the best possible way with a huge 13-1 win over the overnight leader and previously undefeated, Sunderland. It was Bedfordshire next and it was another win, albeit only 6-4, having to fight all the way, but it pushed him up to second place, just one point behind Durham.

Unfortunately against Cambridgeshire he couldn't quite get to grips with the carpet and fell to a 9-3 loss, pretty much ruling him out of contention as he fell to fourth, albeit only 2 points off the lead.

The final game was another tough one and another loss, 10-4 to the eventual winner, Ian Clark of Durham. That left Neil finishing in fourth place on 10 points.

Weekend record: L-W-W-W-W-W-L-L

PAIRS
Colin & Peter Fellingham
It was a disappointing start for Colin & Peter as they recorded a 9-7 loss against Essex, however they were able to open their account against Hertfordshire, running out to a 14-5 win.

And they looked to be heading to another win against Norfolk, but a disappointing last couple of ends saw their opposition come back to secure a draw. But they were back on the winning trail again soon after, beating Northumberland 11-5 to finish Saturday on 5 points.

That was good enough to tie second place overnight. However they stood 3 points behind Essex. But with a game in hand over both the leaders and their nearest contenders they had they were best placed to challenge the leaders on Sunday.

Unfortunately Sunday did not begin well, Sunderland got the grips with the carpet much quicker and took an 11-2 win. And against Bedfordshire, what looked to be a win suddenly turned on the last end and they could only manage a 9-9 draw. Cambridgeshire too proved to be tough opposition and it was another loss, but only 9-8, however it meant that they had slipped to the middle of the table.

And sadly it was the same in their final game, they went into the final end level but Durham took 2 shots to win 6-4 and leave them in 7th place on 6 points. The eventual winners were Essex who beat Durham on shots.

Weekend record: L-W-D-W-L-D-L-L

TRIPLES
Jim & Margaret Southgate and Paul Daniels
After a poor start in their opening match against Sunderland, Suffolk edged their way back into the game and held on at the end to take a narrow 7-6 win. And it was a very similar story in their second game, both teams struggled on a slow carpet, but somehow Suffolk came from behind to nick the game on the final end for another 7-6 win.

Cambridgeshire, however, proved much sterner opposition, Suffolk were behind from the very start and never got to grips with the carpet, falling to a 15-5 loss.

However they finished the day on a much brighter note, taking an early lead against Durham and never allowing the opposition to get a foot hold, as they won 12-3.

They finished Saturday tied for the lead on 6 points with Northumberland and Bedfordshire, although the former had played an extra game.

Sunday began with an 8-3 win over Essex which helped to keep them in the hunt, however a closely fought game against Hertfordshire saw them lose 7-3 which they followed up with another close game against Norfolk which slipped away towards the end as they lost 10-6.

Remarkably they were still only one point off the lead, but a poor shot count and meant that they were all the way down in 6th place and out of the running.

However a decent finishing position was still in their grasp as they took on Northumberland in their final game, but despite going into the last end one shot up, they dropped 2 to lose 10-9.

That result left them with a 6th place finish on 8 points.

Weekend record: W-W-L-W-W-L-L-L

RINKS
Andy & Sue Gilder and Mick & Shirley Watkins
Suffolk's opening game against Sunderland looked to be heading towards a defeat, but Andy's final wood gave them a second shot and an unexpected draw.

Bedfordshire were next up and the game gave Suffolk their first win, 11-8. Their next game, against Cambridgeshire was low scoring, but it was another win for Suffolk, 7-3. And it was another win in their final game of the day, although it was close at the halfway point, Suffolk pulled away in the second half to win 12-7.

They finished Saturday as the leaders, but only just. They were 3 shots ahead of Sunderland and a point ahead of Hertfordshire.

Suffolk started Sunday where they had left off, beating Essex 11-9 and Hertfordshire 10-3, with Sunderland matching them win for win and shot for shot.

However Norfolk proved to be a stumbling block, on a slow carpet Norfolk were always ahead and went on to win 9-4. But Sunderland also lost, so Suffolk stayed top..... by one shot. It would all rest on the final games.

That game would see them up against Northumberland, knowing that they would need a big win to give themselves the best chance of taking the title. And they did just that, running away to their best result of the weekend, a 16-5 win.

Meanwhile a resurgent Norfolk were beating Sunderland which meant that in the end Suffolk took the title by two points and while that might not seem like much it was the biggest winning margin for any of the disciplines.

Weekend record: D-W-W-W-W-W-L-W

TEAM
Having missed the first session and with losses from the Single and Pair in their first games, it wasn't the best of starts for Suffolk, but slowly and surely they started to claw their way up the standings.

By the end of Saturday they were lying second to Sunderland, on 24 points, just one behind the leaders, but crucially they had two games in hand over everyone else and were in with a great chance of challenging for the title.

A couple of sessions into Sunday and Suffolk had drawn level on points with Sunderland and held a shot advantage, but a bad session which saw all 4 games lost meant that they slipped well away from the lead and any chance of taking the title.

In the end they came home in a respectable third place, with Sunderland just taking the title, one point ahead of Cambridgeshire.

You can find a full copy of the weekend's results here and photos here.