One year on from the first
T & D holiday, the second running of the Hemsby Pairs took
place on the weekend of 18th to 21st April 2008.
In a change from our previous
events this was run along the lines of a more traditional tournament,
with the pairs competing in groups of 7 teams, giving everyone
6 games, 4 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. The group winners and
top 7 runners-up would then go through to compete in the knockout
stages.
There were 63 pairs originally
taking part, although a couple of pairs were unable to join us
due to illness. In order to make up the numbers, the 5 of us
were also bowling, filling in with those who were there without
playing partners, and just to make everything above board, we
made them draw our names from a hat, when we all met up on Friday
night, to find out who they would be lucky (or unlucky) enough
to be playing with.
GROUP STAGE REPORT
Group 1
After 2 games there were 2 teams on maximum points, David &
Jennie Hambling and Mike & Judy Easy, but after the third
the latter pair were 2 points clear. And with a further round
of games played the Mike & Judy were still undefeated and
were now 2 points clear of Peter & Joyce Holbrow who had
risen to 2nd place.
However, everything changed on Sunday as the Easys lost both
their games and their lead, with the Holbrows winning to take
the group with 10 points. David & Jennie Hambling also had
2 wins to finish on 8 points, but their 47 shots was 1 short
of what would be needed to make one of the qualifying spots.
Group 2
In what was possibly the toughest group, the early leaders after
2 games were Ann & Alan Blundell and Owen Allcock & Daphne
Leggett, both on 4 points. The third set of games saw Owen &
Daphne go a point clear, despite a draw, but a loss in their
next game saw them fall back to 3rd, overtaken by Ann & Alan
Blundell and Lin & Tony Cooke, both on 6 points.
Sunday's games saw yet more chopping and changing as Owen &
Daphne were the first to finish, taking 2 wins to bring them
up to 9 points, but although Lin & Tony also won both games
to win the group with 10 points, Owen & Daphne had done enough
to also see themselves through to the knockout stages.
Group 3
George Kitchen & Rita Daniels and Betty & Lewis Claxton
jointly led the group after the first 2 games, as the only pairs
not to have lost a game. And both teams went on to win both of
their next games in what was the only group with 2 unbeaten teams
at the end of Saturday's games, heading for what looked like
a group-deciding showdown on Sunday.
As it turned out each team would have 1 win and 1 loss on Sunday,
with both ending on 10 points, although George & Rita just
edged out Betty & Lewis on shots, although both would qualify.
Group 4
Two games in and 2 teams had won both their games, Marjorie Bilton
& Paul Daniels and Roy & Viola Thorpe. After 3 games
Roy & Viola were 2 points clear as the others fell by the
wayside, but even a loss in their final of the day could not
dislodge them from the top of the group, although there was a
group of 5 teams lying just 2 points behind them.
Things carried on in much the same way on Sunday with 4 teams
in with a chance of winning the group. In the end Chris &
Joan Clark came from behind to pip the Thorpes by virtue of having
less shots against, but both teams had done enough to get through
to the next stage.
Group 5
Mervyn & Eileen Farthing and Audrey Smith & Chris Tilbrook
jointly held the lead after 2 games, each with 4 points. The
next games saw Smith & Tilbrook take the lead and stay ahead
despite losing their 100% record in Saturday's last game, with
John & Sylvia Disley moving up to second, 1 point behind
the leaders. Audrey & Chris regained their winning ways on
Sunday and took the group with 9 points. Behind them there was
a dead heat for second, between John & Sylvia Disley and
Val Game & Marjorie Brennan, unfortunately neither had enough
shots to qualify.
Group 6
With 2 games played 3 teams were tied for the top spot, each
with 4 points, Mick & Shirley Watkins, Ken Drane & John
Whiting and Beryl Rogers & Dougie Wright. But as the others
slipped up, Ken & John came through to take the top spot
for themselves after 4 games, lying on 7 points, with Beryl &
Dougie on 6 points, in what appeared to be turning into a 2 horse
race. But as Ken & John continued on in their winning ways,
the others fell away and they had done enough to win the group
without even needing to play their final game. They ended up
undefeated on 11 points, 3 clear of Josie & Alan Long who
had come through to 2nd place and do enough to qualify for the
knockout rounds.
Group 7
Clear leaders after only 2 games were Andy & Sue Gilder,
on maximum points, with everyone else in the group having dropped
at least a point. And despite a shock defeat for the Gilders
in their 3rd game, they came back to win their last game of the
day to retake the lead on shots, just ahead of Peter & Mary
Colvill. As it was Andy & Sue would finish 2 points clear
at the top of the group on 10 points with Eileen Basketter &
Janet Cockings emerging from the pack to take the runner-up spot
and secure a place in the next round of games.
Group 8
Les & Kay Buckton were already 2 points clear after 2 games,
although there was a pack of 5 teams just 2 points behind. By
the end of the day they remained undefeated, one of just 5 teams
with a perfect record at that stage, although they were still
only that same margin clear of Keith Cockings & Arnold Basketter,
looking as if the group was between those 2 pairs. The Bucktons
continued on with another 2 victories on Sunday to finish with
a perfect record in their group games and the to qualifiers,
fully 4 points clear of Keith & Arnold who just snuck in
under the wire as the final qualifiers.
Group 9
Harold & Patricia Ball and Margaret & Geoff Holland were
joint leaders with 2 games played, each on 4 points. However
a loss for the Balls left the Hollands clear, finishing the day
on maximum points with Harold & Patricia 2 behind. The Hollands
were again unbeaten on the second day and went into the next
round as one of only 2 teams with a 100% record. Meanwhile Harold
& Patricia finished with 10 points to also see their way
through.
KNOCKOUT STAGES REPORT
First Round
The draw for the knockout rounds were structured in such a way
that the qualifying teams were seeded, based on how well they
did in the round robin stages. This meant that the top qualifiers
against the bottom qualifiers, this ought to give an advantage
to those who had performed best in their group games, but as
we all know, things don't always quite work out like that.
As a prime example, the first
game matched up Les & Kay Buckton with Keith Cockings &
Arnold Basketter as first and last qualifiers, 2 pairs who, coincidentally,
had already met in the group stage. On paper the Bucktons, previously
undefeated and having already beaten their opponents once, should
have won. In practice quite the opposite happened and Keith &
Arnold took a close fought game 6-3. The same happened with the
matching of Ken Drane & John Whiting with Josie & Alan
Long with a 6-4 win to the Longs, defeating the team which had
previously beaten them.
Other matches went more to
form with Margaret & Geoff Holland beating Eileen Basketter
& Janet Cockings 9-2, Andy & Sue Gilder taking a resounding
16-1 victory over Roy & Viola Thorpe and Peter & Joyce
Holbrow overcoming Chris & Joan Clark by a comfortable 11-3
margin.
In the other games there were
wins for Harold & Patricia Ball over Betty & Lewis Claxton,
George Kitchen & Rita Daniels over Owen Allcock & Daphne
Leggett and Audrey Smith & Chris Tilbrook over Lin &
Tony Cooke.
Quarter Finals
There were further surprises to be had in the last 8 as Andy
& Sue Gilder were knocked out by Peter & Joyce Holbrow
8-4, while previously unbeaten Margaret & Geoff Holland suffered
an 11-2 defeat at the hands of George Kitchen & Rita Daniels.
Meanwhile Keith Cockings & Arnold Basketter held off Harold
& Patricia Ball to take a 7-4 victory while in the closest
of the games Josie & Alan Long took a single shot on the
last end to defeat Audrey Smith & Chris Tilbrook 6-5.
Semi Finals
Peter & Joyce Holbrow seemed to be getting stronger as the
tournament went on and this time, pitted against Keith Cockings
& Arnold Basketter they leapt out to an 8-0 lead after just
2 ends, a gap which their opponents were unable to close as the
Holbrows went on to win 10-2. The second Semi saw George Kitchen
& Rita Daniels come from behind with 4 shots on the 5th end
to take the lead for the first time in the match, eventually
hanging on to win 7-5 in a game that could have gone the other
way if it were not for one wood clinging miraculously to the
mat on the final shot of the last end.
Final
By the time of the final Peter & Joyce Holbrow were firing
on all cylinders and the last match of the weekend turned out
to be a very one-sided affair. In fact the game was all but settled
on the second end as the Holbrows took all 6 shots against George
Kitchen & Rita Daniels, finally running out 12-1 winners
having indisputably been the best team on the day.
The full results of the week's
bowling can be found here. |
And Finally
We would once again like to thank everyone joined us, helped
us to raise another £255 for
Macmillan Cancer Support and who, judging from all the
kind words, had a most enjoyable weekend.
tanddcarpetbowls@gmail.com
21st
April 2008 |