Andy Deighton and Kevin Gates earn Robin Hood's Bay Open Doubles victory

There was a full entry of 32 pairs and, because the weather meant that the green got drier, quicker and trickier leading to longer games, initially there was 3 on the card, increased to 4 for the second round, to 5 for the quarter finals and then to 6 for the semi-finals and final, writes David Muir.

Highlights of the first round included Joy Harland & Tommy Robert (both Whitby) won 21-18 against ta North Cliff pair, Allison Roe & Alan Lee, while the Eastfield pairing of Ashley-Brunton Douglas & David Muir won by the same margin against a Borough pairing of Pauline Allison & Brian Dalby.

Even closer were the 21-20 wins by the Cliff pairing of Adam Chilvers & Callum Malone against Chris & Denise Dobson (Dukes Park), Lisa & Pam Watson (Hunmanby) against Jo Leeman (Whitby) & Sue Holdsworth (Hunmanby) and Dukes Park’s pair of Andy Deighton & Kevin Gates against Whitby’s Paul Morgan & Geoff Watson.

The first game of the second round saw Harland & Roberts facing another, and rather stronger, North Cliff pairing of Alan Landers & Ian Richardson and they went down 21-12 whereas Binton-Douglas & Muir facing another Borough pair, and also probably a stronger one, won 21-13.

Chilvers & Malone had another close game but this time came out on the losing end against Stuart Thompson (Pontefract) & Andy Webb (Alverthorpe) 21-19 and in the final game of the top half Hunmanby’s Phil Todd & Geoff Oldham won 21-11 against Tony Bland (Borough) & Larry Dixon (Westgate).

In the bottom half Danny Cooper (North Cliff) & Andy Adamson (Borough) won 21-17 against Whitby’s Sue Emmerson & Kenny Wale to face Tommy Silcock (Barnsley) & Jim Norris (Sheffield) who won 21-158 against Robert Child (North Cliff) & Billy Holdsworth (Hunmanby).

The quarter final line-up was completed when Deighton & Gates won 21-18 against the Watson pairing and the North Cliff duo of Nigel Trotter & Scott Wardman had a 21-16 win against father and son Emmo & Josh Emmerson (Whitby).

In the quarter finals Landers & Richardson won comfortably, 21-11, against Brunton-Douglas & Muir to face Thompson & Webb who ended the rune of Todd & Oldham 21-16. In the other half of the draw Cooper & Adamson crushed Silcock & Norris 21-6 while Deighton & Gates were taken far closer by Trotter & Wardman before winning 21-17.

The first semi-final saw Thompson & Webb eliminate Landers & Richardson 21-17 while Deighton & Gates won 21-11 against Cooper & Adamson.

The final saw Deighton & Gates race out to a 14-6 lead after just 4 ends before Thompson & Webb won 4 of the next 6 ends, one with a maximum 4, to pull back to 16-14 down the Dukes Park pair then scored 3 and 2 to win 21-14.

This Friday there will be an Over-60s singles merit at Robin Hoods Bay while on Sunday, as it is the Yorkshire Ladies’ Inter-District in Huddersfield District, there is the inaugural Remembrance Cup Drawn Triples at Hunmanby.

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