The 2018 ECBA Champion of Champions
was held at Stanley, County Durham over 2nd-3rd June.
RINKS
Colin & Peter Fellingham and Sue & Graham Davey
After 2 ends against
Cambridgeshire, Suffolk found themselves 3-0 down, but they were
never behind from that point on, winning 9-6.
It was a difficult start to
their second game, against Sunderland, after 5 ends they found
themselves 6-0 down, they were unlikely to win from that point,
but they rallied to just 7-4 down. Sadly it was worse in their
next game against leaders Hertfordshire, they were always behind
and from being only 6-2 down after 7 ends, ended up losing 12-2.
A change of skip, as Colin
and Peter swapped round, meant a change of fortune as Suffolk
won 8-3. That meant that they finished the day on 4 points, tied
for 3rd, 4 points behind leaders Hertfordshire.
Unfortunately Sunday started
badly against Durham, they were destined to lose the game when
they dropped a massive 7 shots on only the 3rd end. The last
3 ends were better for them, but it was too late by then, the
final result a 14-6 loss.
After a good start against
Norfolk, Suffolk dropped half a dozen shots across ends 7 and
8, losing 9-7.
Their final game against Essex
started well with 4 on the first end and they were never challenged
after that, finishing the weekend with a 12-5 win, ending the
weekend in 6th place with Hertfordshire overall winners.
Weekend record: W-L-L-W-L-L-W
TRIPLES
Tom & Sam Runnacles and Clint Watling
A good start against
Cambridgeshire, 7-0 up after 3 ends, became 7-6 2 ends later
and at 7 ends it was 8-8, but Tom held his nerve on the last
end and drew shot with his last wood to secure a 10-8 win.
Their second game, against
Sunderland also saw them make a good start, but this time they
didn't let the opposition even get a start as they took a resounding
17-0 win to already lead the competition by a point.
After a slow start Suffolk
rocketed ahead of Hertfordshire with 10 shots scored over ends
3-5, taking them to a 12-5 win. They now lead overall by 2 points.
And it was another win to round
of Saturday's play, a comfortable 13-4 over Northumberland finishing
the day 2 points clear of Cambridgeshire at the top.
Suffolk started Sunday the
way they had finished Saturday, except more so as the ran away
to a huge 22-0 win. That now put them 2 points and 21 shots ahead
of Cambridgeshire, so one more win would probably wrap the title
up.
And win they did, handsomely
21-2 over Norfolk. With one game to go they were now 2 points
and 30 shots ahead of Cambridgeshire, which made it somewhat
unlikely that they would lose the title from this position.
And so it proved to be, although
it was close in the first half Suffolk ran away over the final
3 ends to win 12-2 and secure the title with the weekend's only
perfect record across all the disciplines.
Weekend record: W-W-W-W-W-W-W
PAIRS
John Whiting & Doug Adamson
A poor middle part
of the game which saw them drop 11 shots over 4 ends meant that
Suffolk were always struggling against Northumberland, but they
had a good last couple of ends to only finish 12-8 down.
In contrast their follow-up
game against Durham saw them off to a rocket of a start, they
were 9-1 up after 4 ends and went on to win 12-6.
They were off to a slow start
against Norfolk and dropped all 4 on the second end, the second
half of the game was better, but they still lost 10-4.
Their final game of the day
saw a second win, moving out into an early lead against Essex
and taking a 9-3 win, in fourth place and only 2 points off the
lead.
After a good start against
Cambridgeshire first thing on Sunday they fell behind in the
middle part of the game and ended up with an 8-6 loss.
And it didn't look any better
in their penultimate game as they fell 6-2 behind Sunderland
after 6 ends, but they rallied to draw level and take the last
end for a 7-6 win.
Suffolk had the best of their
final game against Hertfordshire in that they won 6 of the 9
ends, but unfortunately the ends they lost were costly and they
lost the game 9-7 to finish 5th overall with Hertfordshire taking
the title.
Weekend record: L-W-L-W-L-W-L
SINGLES
Neil Jolly
Neil started well and was 5-0 up over Northumberland after 3
ends and secured an 11-4 win. His second game, against Durham,
was the exact opposite, he was down from the start and wasn't
able to get going, eventually losing 11-2.
But he was back on form for
his third game, not giving Norfolk a look in as he ran away to
a 17-0 win.
Neil's final Saturday game
came against Essex who had yet to score a point. It was close
at the halfway point, but Neil pulled away for a 9-5 win. That
left him in second place overnight (by one shot against), two
points behind Hertfordshire who he would be playing on Sunday.
Things didn't start well for
Neil on Sunday morning against Cambridgeshire, with 3 ends to
go he was 7-2 down and the game looked like it was all over,
but the 7th end saw him pick up 3 and he was in the lead with
all 4 on the next end and finished with one more for a remarkable
10-7 victory.
After a slow start against
Sunderland, Neil ran away in the middle part of the game to win
11-2 and with Hertfordshire losing it was now a three-way tie
at the top with Neil, Hertfordshire and Durham all within 5 shots
of one another.
Durham lost their final game
so it all came down to Suffolk v Hertfordshire. It was desperately
close and after 7 ends it was 3-3, but on the 8th end Neil was
one down with his last wood to play, he needed to move the jack
back, and he did, but to the back of the carpet where it hung
for a moment before falling off. A draw would still win him the
title but he couldn't make it and lost 6-3 to finish 3rd on shots.
Neil finished 3rd overall,
just edged out for second place by a couple of shots by Durham.
Weekend record: W-L-W-W-W-W-L
TEAM
With two rounds completed Suffolk were lying in second place,
one point behind Hertfordshire.
After three sessions Suffolk
were still in second, sharing it with Northumberland, but they
were both now 3 points behind Hertfordshire.
Maximum points in the final
session brought Suffolk to within one point of leaders Hertfordshire
and just as importantly 5 points clear of the next best teams.
Unfortunately Suffolk dropped
a couple of points further back in Sunday's first session, but
they were still in a comfortable second place. They caught those
2 points back up in the next session and held it at that in the
next, by which time it was only going to be one of those two
who would take the win.
And Suffolk had every chance
to get the win as they faced Hertfordshire in the Singles and
Pairs, unfortunately they both lost and although the Triple and
Rink won while Herts lost their games the title was lost by a
single point.
You can find a full copy of
the weekend's results here. |