Callum Malone and Gary Thornton win the Derrick Swift Over and Under-65 Doubles at North Cliff

The format of this competition means that there are very few established pairings who can enter, writes David Muir.

A total of 31 pairs entered this year but there could have been more had some over-65s been able to find a younger partner.

Games were initially played with 3 on the card going up to 5 for the semi-finals and final because of light.

In the first round Chris Dobson (Dukes Park) & Barrie Watson (Borough) had a 21-18 win against Paul Morgan (Whitby) & Geoff Oldham (Hunmanby) and the established mother and daughter partnership of Pam & Lisa Watson (Hunmanby) beat Whitby’s Josh Emmerson & Tim Purcell 21-17. Sue Emmerson (Whitby) & Pat Germaine (North Cliff) won 21-13 against Sue’s regular partner, Kenny Wale, & Steve Dover (both Whitby).

Borough’s Lynn Gates & Tony Bland had a 21-20 win over Amanda Hagen (Alverthorpe) & Phil Todd (Hunmanby) and Ronnie Noble (Borough) & Denise Dobson (Dukes Pk) were run close, 21-18, by home duo Alan Lee & Dave Moment.

In round two the pair who had had a bye, Callum Malone (N Cliff) & Gary Thornton (Borough) opened with a 21-18 win against Hunmanby’s Jennie Allen & Deb Stallard to face Dobson & Watson who beat Sue Emmerson & Germaine 21-13.

Cliff’s Alan Landers & Ian Richardson won 21-15 against the Watsons while Lynn Gates & Bland had a 21-18 win against Lynn’s brother Kevin Gates (Dukes Pk) & Geoff Watson (Whitby).

Danny Cooper (N Cliff) & Jack Richardson (Hunmanby) won 21-19 against Barnsley’s Tom Silcock & Eric Phillips while Billy Holdsworth (Hunmanby) & Stuart Thompson (Pontefract) beat Sue Holdsworth (Hunmanby) 21-13 and last week’s winner Jo Leeman (Whitby).

The quarter-final line-up was completed when Andy Deighton (Dukes Pk) & Ed McCormack (N Cliff) cruised through 21-10 against Noble & Denise Dobson and Cliff’s Nigel Trotter & Malcolm Kay had a 21-14 win against Whitby’s Peter Harvey & Ian Hadden.

The first quarter-final saw Malone & Thornton crush Chris Dobson & Barrie Watson 21-9 to face Landers & Richardson who won nearly as comprehensive 21-11 against Lynn Gates & Bland. Cooper & Richardson scraped home 21-20 against Holdsworth & Thompson while Deighton & McCormack beat Trotter & Kay 21-11.

In the first semi Malone & Thornton had a 21-14 win against Landers & Richardson while Cooper & Richardson edged past Deighton & McCormack 21-20.

In a close final Cooper & Richardson led 12-7 after 7 ends only for Malone & Thornton to score three 2s to take the lead 13-12. Cooper & Richardson came back with a 2,1,3 sequence to lead 18-13. Malone & Thornton replied with 6 in 4 ends, 1,1,2,2, to inch ahead 19-18 only for Cooper & Richardson to score 2 but Malone & Thornton scored the 2 they needed to win 21-20.

The prizes were presented by David Hill (North Cliff President), Derrick Swift jr. (son of Derrick Swift) and Stuart Neilson from the North Riding Brew Pub.

This Sunday there will be a Two Player Team competition at Whitby. In this format players enter as pairs and are drawn against another pair but, instead of playing as teams, they each draw one of their opponents and play two singles games with the winners being decided on the aggregate scores.

If there is a tie then two of the players, one from each team, play a short decider with the number of ends won determining the winner rather than the actual scores.

Entries for all merits during the summer must be made in advance with the appropriate Competition Secretary for the host club.

The third week of the league season saw things starting to settle down although the standings in the tables will be slightly skewed due to there being an odd number of teams in each division resulting in some teams having played fewer matches than others.

This Monday in Division 2 there was another meeting of two teams from the same club when Eastfield B “hosted” Eastfield A.

In this the A team won comfortably by 155-102 winning 6 of the 8 games, a result which saw them go to the top of the table and the B team go to the bottom.

That is, however, largely explained by the fact that the B team are one that have only played two matches rather than the three played by 8 of the other teams in the division.

Bridlington Bay B won 150-125 (5-3) against Robin Hoods Bay to go second, 1 point behind Eastfield who they visit next Monday. Westgate B beat North Cliff C 153-135 (5-3) to go third while Hunmanby B, although losing 130-127 (4-4) to Whitby C, are in fourth place. In the final match Borough D had a big 147-91 (6-2) win away to Dukes Park C.

On Tuesday in Division 1 there were two intra-club matches.

In the first “visitors” Borough A beat Borough B 156-108 (6-2) to go to the top of the division.

In the other the “home” team, Dukes Park A beat their B team 163-119 (7-1) but this had no effect on the top positions in the division.

Hunmanby A had a narrow home win, 138-132 (5-3), over North Cliff A to go into second position with North Cliff in third.

Whitby A also had a close win by 147-143 (5-3) against Bridlington Bay A to stand fourth. In the final game Whitby B won 151-130 (6-2) away to Westgate A.