April 2009 saw the third
running of the Hemsby Pairs.
Despite an unavoidable clash
with the Six Counties Championship, which prevented several players
from the Eastern Counties from attending, the event was still
very well attended, with a total of 59 pairs taking part, just
a handful down on last year's attendance.
Jumblies
As a warm-up to the
main event, we gave everyone the opportunity to take part in
a Jumblie on Friday night.
About half of those attending
opted to take part while everyone else took in the night's entertainment.
The Jumblie consisted of players
being randomly drawn into teams of 4 with whom they would stay
all night as they played against 4 other teams.
While some teams inevitably
faired much better than others, the end result was remarkably
close, with 3 teams being separated by just a single shot.
The eventual winners, with
29 shots from their 4 games, were Ailsa White, Mike Walker, Cedric
Bennett & Roy Thorpe. They were followed by Rob Cook, Pearl
Guana, Brian Foreman & Doris Dainty who scored 28 shots (conceeding
just 3), who edged out John Whiting, John Disley, Dave Cask &
Aubrey Mann who were also on 28 shots, but conceeded 11.
The Main Event
The competing teams were divided up into 9 groups of 6 or 7 teams.
Those teams who were drawn
in a group of only 6 teams would play each of the other 5 teams
in their group, plus an additional one against a team from another
group of 6 teams. This would ensure that everyone would get 6
round robin games, 4 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday.
All of the group winners would
go through, along with the 7 best runners-up, making 16 teams
who would qualify for the Knockout Stages.
Group 1
Dot White & Lily Barnes
led the way after 2 games and 2 wins. Just 1 point behind were
Brian Archer & Patricia Phillips and Harold &
Patricia Ball.
Harold & Patricia were in a clear lead by the time 4
games had been played, still undefeated, although they had dropped
one point. Close behind on 6 points and fighting for the runner-up
spot were Iris Allen & Joyce Wilson and Brian Archer
& Patricia Phillips.
Having dropped just a single
point in their 6 games Harold & Patricia Ball ran
out winners of the group with 11 points, while Brian Archer
& Patricia Phillips finished as runners-up, just 1 point
behind.
Group 2
Josie & Alan Long
and Ann & Alan Blundell were tied for the lead after
2 games, each on 4 points.
Ann & Alan Blundell were still undefeated 4 games in,
holding a 2 point lead over Josie & Alan Long and
John Soper & Rosemary Budd.
The final game was the crunch
match that would decide the group as the Blundells took on the
Longs. It was Josie & Alan Long that won the game
and the group while Ann & Alan Blundell finished as
runners-up, at the head of a pack of 3 teams who finished on
8 points.
Group 3
Rose Wortley & Michael Browne
and Peter Cousins & Toni Botting both had 4 points
after their first 2 games.
The same two teams were still
in the lead with 4 games played, although each team had lost
a game. Meanwhile Kay & Les Buckton and Ailsa White
& June Howard were both on 5 points, meaning that there
were 4 teams covered by just 1 point.
But in the end it was the same
2 teams that had led the group from the start that finished top,
both on 10 points, with Rose Wortley & Michael Browne
ahead of Peter Cousins & Toni Botting by virtue of
half a dozen shots.
Group 4
There was a 3-way tie for the lead with the teams having played
twice. Ken Drane & Kay Masters, Janet & Keith
Cockings and Carole & Bill Reeve each had 4 points.
By the time everyone had 4
games under their belts the group had clear leaders. Ken Drane
& Kay Masters had the maximum 8 points. Two points behind
were Janet & Keith Cockings and Margaret Turner
& Rita Daniels.
Having led all the way Ken
Drane & Kay Masters lost their final game to Janet
& Keith Cockings but managed to hold on and win the group
by a single shot, although it would be enough to ensure that
the Cockings would qualify as well.
Group 5
Dot & Syd Tanner
and Sylvia & John Disley were tied for the lead after
2 games, neither of them having dropped a point.
Dot & Syd Tanner were the only team left with a perfect
record after 4 games and were already very close to winning the
group since their nearest rivals were now Roy & Christine
Petts who were 3 points adrift.
However, the first game on
Sunday saw the Petts beat the Tanners, to reduce the gap to a
single point. But it was not enough to stop Dot & Syd winning
the group with 10 points from their 6 games which would win them
the group while Roy & Christine would finish second, a point
behind.
Group 6
After the first 2 games Betty & Lewis Claxton had
the early lead in the group, winning both games.
The Claxtons still had
their 100% record with 4 games played. Having lost just one game
Jean & Peter Blackley were now in a clear second place.
The game between the top 2
teams settled the group in favour of Betty & Lewis Claxton
as they beat the Blackleys and became the first team in the competition
to win their group and qualify for the next round. Audrey
Smith & Pearl Guana came through to finish in second
on & points and would be the final qualifiers.
Group 7
David & Jennie Hambling
were the only team on maximum points after 2 games, but Marjorie
Bilton & Peter Masters were just a point behind.
After everyone had played 4
times the group had tightened up considerably, David &
Jennie Hambling were now tied for the lead with Joy Kitchen
& Joy Spriggs, each on 6 points. Meanwhile there were
another pair of teams on 5 points, Marjorie Bilton & Peter
Masters and Eileen & Arnold Basketter.
The next round of games saw
a big sort out as David & Jennie Hambling won to go
1 point clear of Eileen & Arnold Basketter. And as
the rest of the results went the right way for them David &
Jennie took the group before they had played their last game.
Marjorie Bilton & Peter Masters finished on 7 points
and were runners-up, but missed out on the knockout stages by
a matter of just 3 shots.
Group 8
Shirley & John O'Sullivan
were the only team to win their first 2 games.
Four games down and there was
now a 3-way tie for the lead, Shirley & John O'Sullivan,
Gordon Bloomfield & John Whiting and Joe &
Irene Woodward had all won 3 and lost 1.
The next set of games saw the
lead go down to a tie between just Gordon Bloomfield &
John Whiting and Joe & Irene Woodward, each on
8 points from 5 games.
Group 9
Jean & Rob Cook
took the maximum points from their first 2 games.
Mike & Di Rogers had come through to lead after 4 games,
with 6 points, while Geoff & Margaret Holland were
1 point behind. A lead which went out to 2 points ahead of Mary
Tomkins & Shirley Brooks with 5 games played.
In the end Mike & Di had
the group won with a game still to play and while Geoff &
Margaret Holland finished second they only had 7 points and
didn't have quite enough shots to make it through to the next
round.
Knockout Stages
The qualifiers were
seeded according to how well they did in the group stages. The
best team would play the 16th best, the 2nd best would play the
15th best, etc.
First Round
Rose Wortley & Michael Browne
had the most comfortable win of the round with a 12-3 victory
over Brian Archer & Patricia Phillips. Despite going
3 behind early on Josie & Alan Long came back for
an 11-4 win over Betty & Lewis Claxton.
David & Jennie Hambling were a comfortable 7 shots ahead 4
ends into their game with Mike & Di Rogers, holding
on to win 8-4. While Ann & Alan Blundell started their
game against Gordon Bloomfield & John Whiting with
a near maximum 5 shots, a lead which held good until the end
as they won 10-5.
Janet & Keith Cockings and Joe & Irene Woodward
were tied 3-3 5 ends into their game, but a decisive 5 shots
on the 6th end for the Cockings' effectively gave them the game
as they won 10-3. The game between Harold & Patricia Ball
and Audrey Smith & Pearl Guana went in much the same
way, the Balls were just 4-3 up after 5 ends, but took 4 shots
on the 6th end and finished the game 9-3 winners.
Ken Drane & Kay Masters' match against Peter Cousins &
Toni Botting was another close game, Ken & Kay were only
4-3 ahead with 2 ends to go, but finally finished 7-3 up.
Finally, the closest game was
between Roy & Christine Petts and Dot & Syd
Tanner which had to go to an extra end before the Petts'
won out 6 shots to 5.
Quarter Finals
Harold & Patricia Ball took control of their game
against Janet & Keith Cockings and eventually won
8-3.
Playing each other for the
second time over the weekend Josie & Alan Long lost
the first end to Ann & Alan Blundell but were in the
lead on the second end and never looked back as they repeated
their earlier victory with a score of 9-3.
Roy & Christine Petts were already 6-0 two ends into their
game with Rose Wortley & Michael Browne and finished
9-4 ahead.
There was never much to seperate
David & Jennie Hambling and Ken Drane & Kay
Masters but Ken & Kay were never headed and went on to
win 5-3.
Semi-Finals
Roy & Christine Petts' match
against Harold & Patricia Ball could not have started
of more disasterously as they conceeded a maximum 6 shots on
the first end. a further 3 shots lost on the second end left
them 9-0 down, but they fought back to 9-6 behind with 2 ends
to go, but that was as close as it got as the Balls won the last
2 ends to win 12-6.
Josie & Alan Long were 4-1 after 2 ends against Ken
Drane & Kay Masters, back it was 5-5 after 5 ends and
Ken & Kay kept their momentum going and took the game 8-5
to make the final.
Final
The first few ends of the final went the way of Harold &
Patricia Ball, although the margins were never that great,
nonetheless it was 5 ends in before Ken Drane & Kay Masters
won an end, but by that time the opposition were already
5-0 up. Going into the final end there were 3 shots seperating
the two pairs, but it was Harold & Patricia who got three,
winning 8-2 which flattered them slightly, although they certainly
deserved their win, having gone the whole weekend without losing
a game.
This made Harold & Patricia
the eighth different winner in our eighth event and they have
now have a record 5 finishes in the last eight of one of our
competitions. And for Ken there was another record, although
one that is perhaps slightly less enviable, he has now been the
losing finalist on no less than 3 occasions.
The full results of the weekends
bowling can be found here. |
AND FINALLY
We would like to give
our usual thanks to everyone who has supported us and made it
such an enjoyable weekend and for helping us to raise another
£240
in aid of MacMillan Cancer Support and of course special thanks to all those who
kindly gave up their time over the weekend to help sell draw
tickets.
tanddcarpetbowls@gmail.com
20th
April 2009 |