Sat 5th August Manager and reporter: Tim
The Clive Pearson Doubles followed the usual format: the pairs being determined by which players arrive on the day. The strongest player partners and so on. This year, the attendance was somewhat light with only seven being available. In these circumstances, Ray Mounfield ended up playing on his own (having just fallen behind Mick Haytack in the ranking system).
With the weather never being especially pleasant, four “pairs” began battle consisting of 3 rounds of 13-point games (an all-play-all block).
Arguably, the result event was decided in the first round. Jenny Biggs started with some precision shots but eventually Mike O’Brian and Julie Boulton began to find their form and came back to win the game 7-6.
From this point on, the pattern was consistent: Ray beat all-comers, while Mick and Martin Wroughton were never able to find their best form. Ray graciously withdrew his claim to the title on the basis of one player not really being able to win a doubles tournament, so Mike and Julie were winners, with the latter doing so for the second year in a row.
Results:
Round 1
Ray Mounfield beat Mick Haytack & Martin Wroughton 7-4
Mike O’Brian & Julie Boulton beat Tim King & Jenny Biggs 7-6
Round 2
Ray beat Tim & Jenny 7-2
Mike & Julie beat Mick & Martin 7-3
Round 3
Ray beat Mike & Julie 7-4
Tim & Jenny beat Mick & Martin 7-3
Final positions:
1st Mike & Julie: 2 wins, +2 hoop difference
2nd Tim & Jenny: 1, -2
3rd Mick & Martin: 0, -11
Withdrew: Ray, 3 wins, +11