The 2017 Eastern Counties Champion
of Champions was hosted by Hertfordshire on 14th May.
FOURS - Sue & Steve Isles and Jim & Sally
Goodrich
After a big opening defeat of 15-3 at the hands of Cambridgeshire
the team recovered with a 10-3 win over Essex. Hertfordshire
were the only team to have won both of their games.
Things got even better against
Bedfordshire as Suffolk recorded the biggest win of the day with
a massive 20-3 victory putting them into a clear second place
overall.
They then picked up their 3rd
win with an 8-5 victory over Norfolk, keeping them just 2 points
back from Herts who had still not dropped a point.
Their final opponents would
be Herts and holding a shot advantage, any win for Suffolk would
be enough to take the title, sadly it was not to be as Hertfordshire
won the game 14-8 to finish unbeaten. Suffolk's defeat dropped
them down to a third place finish, a few shots behind runners-up
Cambridgeshire.
TRIPLES - Tom
Runnacles, Sam Runnacles & Clint Watling
The opening game against Cambridgeshire
was close but it just went Suffolk's way 9-8. And they made it
2 out of 2 with a 9-6 victory over Essex. With everyone else
having lost at least once Suffolk already had a 2 point lead.
It was another win for Suffolk
against Bedfordshire 11-4 in their third game, keeping them 2
points clear of Herts and Norfolk.
Next up were Norfolk and it
was another comfortable win, 15-3, although Herts were still
just 2 points behind overall.
A draw would be enough for
Suffolk to win but they did better, beating closest rivals Herts
12-7 to finish with a perfect record, four points clear of Hertfordshire
and Norfolk.
PAIRS - David Ford & Steven Cain
The opening game against Befordshire
went down to the wire but Suffolk held on for an 8-7 win which
they followed up with a more comfortable 11-3 victory over Norfolk.
That put Suffolk equal top with Cambridgeshire.
Herts were their next opponents
and it was a comfortable 10-1 win, keeping them tied for the
lead.
Unfortunately their winning
run stopped against their title rivals Cambridgeshire as they
lost 10-7, dropping Suffolk down to second.
Still, taking the title was
not out of the question, they Suffolk would need to win and Cambs
would have to lose. Cambridgeshire did their bit by losing to
Norfolk, but unfortunately Suffolk also lost, 10-5 to Essex.
Suffolk finished second, the best of 3 teams on 6 points, all
of them 2 adrift of winners Cambridgeshire.
SINGLES - Mick Watkins
Mick began well with a 9-7
win over Bedfordshire but had that same score reversed on him
against Norfolk. Hertfordshire were leading the way having won
both games.
In a low scoring game Mick
fell to a 6-4 defeat at the hands of Herts in his third game
and sadly it was another narrow defeat in his fourth, 9-8 against
Cambridgeshire.
Mick's final game against Essex
was yet another close one although this time he salvaged a point
in an 8-8 draw. That left him fourth overall with Cambridgeshire
taking the win.
TEAM
With everyone having played twice it was clear that this was
going to be a straight fight between Herts, who were on 14 points
and Suffolk who were just 2 behind, while none of the other counties
could do better than 6 points.
Unfortunately as the day went
on Suffolk were dropping points here and there while Hertfordshire
stayed consistent and with everyone having one game each left
to play Herts now had a handy 6 point advantage.
In the end Hertfordshire took
the overall win with 30 points, leaving Suffolk as runners-up
again, with 25 points.
Full Set of Results |