The 2025 ECBA Champion of Champions was held at Stanley, County Durham over 7-8 June.

RINKS
Glen Avis, Tom & Lauren Beckett and Frank Wilkins
Suffolk started against Sunderland, they trailed early on, but were 6-6 going into the last end. But unfortunately, took the jack off to lose the game 6-8.

Against Hertfordshire, they were off to a very good start, and led 7-2 after 5 ends, however, going into the last end it was back to 7-6. But with Herts down to their last wood, Suffolk were holding several, and looked secure, but that last wood did everything that was needed of it, pushed the jack through to just about hold one, and that’s where it stayed, for a 7-7 draw.

After a close couple of games, Suffolk might have hoped for an easier time against Northumberland, but the opposite was true. They dropped 3 on the first end, and never came close to recovering, falling to a 12-2 loss.

Unfortunately, they fared no better in Saturday’s final game, against Durham. They were already 9-0 down after 3 ends, with the game ending in a 16-2 loss. They finished the day on 1 point, in 7th place.

Sunday opened against Norfolk, the only team below them in the standings, so a win was important. And that’s just what they did, they were 6-0 up after 5 ends, and stopped a potential comeback by their opposition to close out the game to win 9-3, and gain their first win of the weekend.

The next game, against Norfolk went similarly, they spent 7 ends grinding out a 7-0 lead, and finished with a 9-2 win.

The final game saw them up against Cambridgeshire, it was close throughout, and with 2 ends to go the score was 5-5, but, crucially Cambs took 2 on the penultimate end, and Suffolk could do no better than take one on the final end, losing 6-7.

In the end, they finished 6th overall, on 5 points (and just one shot behind Cambridgeshire), which was a huge improvement from where they sat on Saturday night, and it could have been even better if not for a couple of narrow losses. Hertfordshire were winners, on 12 points.

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

TRIPLES
Steve & Sue Isles and Sally Goodrish
After 5 ends against Sunderland, Suffolk were only a shot behind, but the second half belonged to the opposition, who came out 10-4 winners.

The next game, against Hertfordshire, looked like another tough one, but they won the first end, and never looked back, taking a dominant 14-4 victory.

Northumberland looked like easier opposition, on paper, and 8-4 up after 5 ends, Suffolk looked on for a win, but they dropped 2 on the last end, and the game finished 9-9.

Saturday finished with a game against leaders Durham, and for the first 7 ends it was close, with Suffolk holding a 4-3 lead, but the last 2 ends did not go their way, dropping a 3 and a 2, the match finished in an 8-4 loss. Three points on the day put them in 5th place.

From a 7-2 lead after 7 ends, Suffolk really should have taken a second win, playing Norfolk, but they lost that 5 shot lead over the last couple of ends, with the game ending in a 7-7 draw.

However, against Essex, having worked their way into the lead, they secured another win. A 4 on the second end held them in good stead as they took the game 11-4.

The weekend’s final game was against Cambridgeshire, and although it was close all the way through, Suffolk led from the start and kept their noses in front all the way to the end, winning 6-4.

Overall, they finished in third place, on 8 points, tied with Sunderland, who had identical shots for and against. It was Suffolk’s best showing, across all disciplines. Durham won with 12 points.

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

PAIRS
Mick Watkins & Tony Stevenson
The opening game against Sunderland was super close, with the lead switching back and forth, and Suffolk getting a single on the last end to take a 6-6 draw.

Against Herts it was close, only a shot an end for the first 5, but all of them went the way of Herts. Suffolk pulled it back to within 3 shots, but that was as close as they got, and the game ended up in 3-7 loss.

They fell behind early on against Northumberland, but pulled back to level the game 6 all with 2 ends to go, but unfortunately the game went away from them at the end, resulting in an 8-6 loss.

Undefeated Durham were Saturday’s final opponents, and it was a game where they fell behind early on, and couldn’t recover, losing 11-5. Just the one point earned, left them in 8th place overnight.

Norfolk were the opposition for Sunday’s first game. It was close for the first 5 ends, at which point Suffolk were 3-2 up, but a 3 for Suffolk on the 6th saw them get nicely ahead, and they went on to record their first win of the weekend, 8-3, and lift themselves off the bottom of the standings.

The winning streak continued with victory over Essex, in a game that was close up until the last couple of ends, when Suffolk picked up 3 on each, to win 12-4.

They finished the weekend off, against Cambridgeshire, coming back from 4-1 down, to win 10-5.

After earning just one point in 4 games on Saturday, Suffolk got all 6 on offer on Sunday, and raised themselves up from last to finish 4th, on 7 points. The winners were Durham, who won all their games.

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

SINGLES
Rita Runnacles
Rita’s game against Adam Wilson (Sunderland) pretty much rested on a tough 2nd end, which was lost to a full house. She ended up with a 6-9 loss.

Things were looking better against Pete Cook (Herts), with Rita 6-1 up after 5 ends, but the next 3 ends yielded 8 shots for Pete, and he ended up winning 9-7.

It was a similar story against David Crisp (Northumberland), Rita led 5-2 after 5 ends, and 6-4 with an end to go, but that last end did not go well, Rita dropped a full house, and lost the game 8-6.

Saturday’s final opponent was Kevin Hutchinson from Durham, and it was close all the way through, with Rita 5-4 up with an end to play, but again it all fell apart on the last, Kevin picked up a 2, and the game was lost 6-5.

Several of the games could have gone Rita’s way, but none did. Thanks to a few extra shots, Rita wasn’t quite at the foot of the standings, but she would be playing bottom-placed Cambridgeshire on Sunday.

After a close start against Matt Frost (Norfolk), 2-3 after 5 ends, Matt ran away with the game, racking up 10 shots over the last 3 ends, to win 15-2.

Rita’s game against Colin Bird from Essex, had a familiar ring to it. Having fallen behind at the start, she came back to lead 8-5 with 3 ends to go, but she lost each of those ends, and was agonisingly defeated 8-9 on a very close measure at the end.

The weekend ended against David Foulkes from Cambridgeshire. Having worked her way to a 4-2 lead after 5, she dropped a 4, was 2 down going into the last, and could only gain one shot back, losing 6-7.

Unfortunately, Rita finished the weekend with zero points on the board, but it could have been very different, of her 7 games, she lost 3 by a single shot, and two by just 2 shots.

Pete Cook from Hertfordshire won the title by 3 shots over Kevin Hutchinson (Durham).

TEAM
Not a great start for Suffolk, only picking up a single point against Sunderland in the first session.

Two sessions down, admittedly against 2 of the stronger counties, and Suffolk had just 4 points. That put them 12 points behind leaders Durham.

The third session saw Suffolk take just a single point from Northumberland, dropping them to 6th place.

Saturday ended with Durham as their opponents, and sadly they weren’t able to muster even one point this time, it was a clean sweep for Durham, which put them top, and dropped Suffolk into last place.

Sunday would see them playing Essex, Norfolk, and Cambridgeshire, the final two of which were closest to Suffolk in the standings, giving them a chance for some sort of redemption.

Sunday began with Norfolk as their opponents, and it was a relative points bonanza, as Suffolk won 2 and drew 1, to double their points to 10, and lift them up to 6th, albeit just a point above both Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.

It was even better against Essex, where they won 3 of the 4 games, taking them 7 points clear of last placed Norfolk, and 3 clear of final opponents Cambridgeshire.

That final session saw them share the points evenly with Cambridgeshire, finished 6th overall, just 1 point behind 5th placed Essex. While that might not sound like much of an achievement, from where they were on Saturday, it was a great effort. Saturday’s 16 games had yielded just 1 win and 3 draws, for a total of 5 points, whereas Sunday’s 12 games saw them win 7 and draw 1, for 15 points.

Durham were overall winners, ahead of Hertfordshire.

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