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The fifth running of the
Hemsby Pairs took place over the weekend of 15th to 18th April,
2011.
As usual our April event at
Hemsby is run along the lines of a traditional tournament. This
year's 49 entries gave us 7 groups of 7 teams, which meant that
everyone would get 6 round robin games over the weekend, 4 on
Saturday and 2 on Sunday.
From the groups, the winners
and runners-up would automatically qualify for the Knockout Stages,
along with the 2 best third place finishers. Those 16 teams would
then play down to final on Sunday afternoon.
FOURS
But before, and during, the main event we also had a small Fours
tournament for those who wanted to play in the evenings.
So on Friday and Saturday nights
each team had 2 games, with the winners decided by their combined
results over the 2 nights.
And just to add a little extra
interest to the proceedings the teams were seeded, although they
didn't know it. Their results on Friday night determined who
they would play on Saturday. The better they did, the better
their opposition would be.
In the end 2 teams emerged
undefeated. The team of Martin & Marilyn Bennet and Peter
& Diane Orrin got a total of 35 shots from their 4 wins.
However Colin & Jean Love and Joe & Irene Woodward
bettered that tally by 8 shots to win the event.
THE PAIRS
Group 1
George Kitchen & Mike Walker
already had a 2 point lead after only 2 games had been played.
They had won both of their opening games, while the 5 closest
teams had lost one each.
That state of affairs did not
last long as George & Mike then proceeded to lose their next
2 games and therefore the lead of the group. With 4 games played
they were down to 3rd, along with 2 other teams who were on 4
points. Ahead of them Janet Squares & Linda Cornell
were on 5 points, while out in the lead were Lin & Tony
Cooke who had won 3 and lost 1 game, they therefore led by
a point in what was the closest fought group at this stage.
However it was Rob &
Jean Cook that suddenly popped up out of nowhere, winning
both their Sunday games to finish on 8 points and become the
first team to qualify from the group, while the others were left
to scrabble around for the other qualifying spot.
As it was, Lin & Tony
Cooke won their last game which was enough to secure them
the group win, with 8 points and superior shots.
Group 2
There was a 2-way tie for the lead of the group with everyone
having played twice. Peter & Diane Orrin lead with
4 points and 24 shots, while Les Buckton & Chris Tilbrook
were 10 shots back, on the same number of points.
The fourth set of games finally
saw clear leaders emerge. The top 2 teams of Les Buckton &
Chris Tilbrook and Peter & Diane Orrin faced one
another and in a close game the Orrins emerged on top to see
them finish Saturday on maximum points. Meanwhile Brian &
Sheila Foreman won their 3rd game of the day to see them
come through into second place, ahead of Les & Chris by virtue
of their superior shots.
The Orrins made it five wins
out of five, giving them enough points to win the group, and
then drew their last game to finish on 11 points, one point ahead
of Les Buckton & Chris Tilbrook who won their last
2 games.
Group 3
Martin & Marilyn Bennet
were the early leaders with 2 wins out of 2, the same as Dougie
Wright & Beryl Rogers, however the Bennets had a shot
advantage, thanks to a massive 22-1 win in their second game.
By the close of Saturday's
play the group looked set to the the most intriguing one of all,
with 2 unexpected leaders having emerged ahead of more fancied
opposition. Dougie Wright & Beryl Rogers topped the
group with a maximum 8 points, 2 ahead of Dave & Sylvia
Cask. Meanwhile no one else in the group had managed better
than 2 wins.
The group turned out to be
the most interesting of the lot as Dougie & Beryl lost their
penultimate game, opening the way for the others to come back
at them.
And it was Roy & Viola
Thorpe who were the ones to profit most as they came through
to finish on 8 points and win the group by a single shot over
Dougie & Beryl whose 4 wins on Saturday were enough to still
get them through. Meanwhile Dave & Sylvia Cask were
the third team in the group to finish on 8 points and while they
missed out on automatic qualification, their points tally was
enough to see them through as one of the 2 best 3rd placed teams.
Group 4
Mike Rogers & Keith Cockings
led after 2 games, although their 4 point tally was matched by
Neil & Carol West.
Those two teams stayed together
until Saturday's final round of games in which they had to face
one another. Predictably it was a very close game, coming down
to the last end and a single shot victory for Mike & Keith
who finished the day unbeaten. Despite losing, the Wests would
still finish the day 2 points clear of their nearest rivals.
Mike and Keith took a win in
their 5th game to maintain their perfect record and guarantee
qualification. They then went on to win their 6th game and finish
with a perfect record. With them comfortably winning the group
it all became about who would finish second. And that came down
to the final game between Gordon Bloomfield & John Whiting
and Neil & Carol West. Whoever won would go through.
And it was the Wests came through
with a narrow victory to finish on 8 points.
Group 5
Ann & Alan Blundell
began with 2 wins out of 2 and had enough shots to keep just
ahead of Kay & Peter Masters who also had a perfect
record. Meanwhile Janet Cockings & Di Rogers had begun
with a win and a draw to stay just 1 point off the lead.
In terms of the fight for winning
the group this group was closer than any other. With both teams
having won all of their first four games Ann & Alan Blundell
and Kay & Peter Masters were separated by shots alone.
The best of the rest were only on 5 points, so a single win from
their 2 remaining games would see both of through.
The crunch game came on Sunday
morning as the 2 leaders met one another. And it was the Masters'
who came out on top and guaranteed qualification. Despite that
loss the Blundells were still all but through, they would be
playing the only team that could possibly overtake them and would
only need to ensure that they did not lose by more than 18 shots.
And although the Blundells
did indeed lose that last game, it was by a narrow enough margin
that they were still able to finish second, just ahead of Pat
Chapman & Joan Fairs, whose 8 points gave them one of
the 2 best 3rd place qualifying spots.
Group 6
Trevor & Anita Swann
were the only ones in the group to win their first 2 games, they
held a 2 point lead over 5 other teams.
By the time everyone had played
4 times the Swanns were still the clear leaders of the group,
having won all of their games to date. However, behind them it
was now more clear cut as Mike Daniels & Joe Mew were
now alone in second place, having lost just one game, while the
best of the rest were on just 4 points.
Sunday's first match saw the
two leading teams take one another on and it was Trevor &
Anita Swann who took the win, taking them on to 10 points,
assuring them not only of qualification, but of winning the group.
The Swanns finished with a
perfect record, leaving them 4 points clear of Colin &
Jean Love who, after a disappointing Saturday, came through
to win both Sunday games and take a clear second place in the
group.
Group 7
Michael Cooper & Neil Tuckey
started the weekend off with 2 closely fought games, coming out
on top in both of them, and establishing a clear lead in the
group as everyone else lost at least 1 of their first 2 games.
By the end of Saturday the
group was all about who was going to capture the runner-up spot.
Michael Cooper & Neil Tuckey had won all 4 games and
were fully 4 points clear of a pack of 4 teams, all of whom had
won 2 games. The leaders would need no more than one point to
win the group and for everyone else it was about who would make
the least mistakes.
Their 5th win out of 5 saw
Michael & Neil safely through to the Knockout Stages and
they duly won the group with their 6th winning game, finishing
6 points ahead of the nearest opposition.
The rest of the group could
hardly have been closer, with the 6 other teams covered by only
2 points. Of the 3 teams who were tied on 6 points, Eugene
& Gill King had a clear shot advantage which took them
through.
KNOCKOUT ROUNDS
First Round
Having made it through this far one would expect that the teams
would be fairly evenly matched at this stage of the proceedings,
despite for the most part winners being matched up against runners-up.
However there were very few surprises and indeed some of the
margins of victory were quite substantial.
The biggest win went to Peter
& Diane Orrin. Their full house on just the second end
of the game set them up well for a 20-4 win over Pat Chapman
& Joan Fairs.
Eugene & Gill King had managed to get this far with only
3 wins in the group stage, but they had an impressive 13-3 victory
over Neil & Carol West who never recovered from dropping
6 shots on the first end.
Michael Cooper & Neil
Tuckey carried with
their good form with a 12-1 win over Dougie Wright & Beryl
Rogers.
Having had a slow start to
the weekend Colin & Jean Love were running into form
and swept past Roy & Viola Thorpe with a solid 12-3
win.
Mike Rogers & Keith
Cockings were also
big winners. Rob & Jean Cook only got onto the scoreboard
on the final end,but by that time they were already 14 shots
in arrears.
Until this stage of the proceedings
Trevor & Anita Swann had been undefeated, but they
finally met their match in Les Buckton & Chris Tilbrook
who barely gave their opponents a look-in as they won 10-1.
Ignoring the first end of their
game, the match between Kay & Peter Masters and Dave
& Sylvia Cask was a close affair. However that end had
gone the way of the Masters' to the tune of 5 shots and it held
them in good stead as they finally won 8-4.
The closest game of the round
was between Lin & Tony Cooke and Ann & Alan
Blundell. It started well for the Cookes who had a 6-2 lead
after 4 ends, but that lead had gone 2 ends later and the Blundells
went into the last end 8-6 up. They lost end that by just a single
shot and went through to the last 8 as a result.
Quarter Finals
Surprise package Eugene & Gill King continued with
their good form, taking on last years winners Colin &
Jean Love. The Kings took the lead from the first and never
relinquished it. The last end saw the Loves take 4 shots, but
by that time the game was over, the Kings winning 9-6.
Peter & Diane Orrin's game against Ann & Alan Blundell
was close, on paper up until the last couple of ends. At
that stage it was only 4-3 to the Orrins, but the Blundells had
only won one end. Those last 2 ends, though, saw the Orrins more
than double their score, to finish 9-3 winners.
Les Buckton & Chris
Tilbrook looked set
for an upset as they took on Michael Cooper & Neil Tuckey.
Les & Chris were 3-2 up after 4 ends, but the tide turned
in the final few ends, a 3 and a 5 for Michael & Neil made
them safe with an end still to go and they finally won 11-3.
The game between Mike Rogers
& Keith Cockings and Kay & Peter Master was
the best of the round. Kay & Peter were off to a good start,
taking 3 on the first end, but after 5 ends they were 7-3 down.
However they staged a magnificent comeback, leveling the game
on the 6th end and taking 3 on the last to win 10-7.
Semi-Finals
Eugene & Gill King's
good form continued in the Semi-Finals as they took on Peter
& Diane Orrin. They immediately leapt out to a 6 shot
lead within 3 ends and although the Orrins took 3 shots on the
next end, that was as close as they got. The final score 8-4
in favour of the Kings.
Kay & Peter Masters were once again involved in another
truly exciting game, this time with Michael Cooper & Neil
Tuckey.
The Masters took 2 on the first
end, which was equalled by their opponents on the next. They
took another 2 on the third and another 1 on the fourth, to lead
5-2. But Michael & Neil struck back to first level the score
on the next end and then take 2 on the 6th end. They then did
enough on the last, restricting the Masters to just the single
shot, to win 7-6.
Final
Remarkably this game was a repeat of a round robin game, since
both teams had qualified for the same group, although in quite
different ways. Michael Cooper & Neil Tuckey had finished
top of the group with a maximum 12 points, while Eugene &
Gill King had only won 3 and lost 3. Nonetheless, it doesn't
matter how you qualify because after that the previous games
count for nothing, as they had proved all the way through the
Knockout Stages.
And the King's good form continued,
at least in the early part of the game as they held a narrow
2-1 lead after 3 ends, thanks to some good saving shots. However
their opponents greater consistency finally paid dividends on
the next end as they took a very telling 5 shots that took them
into a 6-2 lead that they would never relinquish. Michael and
Neil took each end after that, knowing that they could afford
to defend if need be and they finally came through to win 9-2.
You can find all the results
here.
Once again we would like to
thank everyone for helping to contribute to a great weekend's
bowling. And for another magnificent effort in helping us to
raise £280 in aid of the Treehouse
Appeal.
tanddcarpetbowls@gmail.com
18th
April 2011 |
