21 February, 2020 Andy Rowe
The annual Masters Tournament recently took place with the competition for Mens and Mixed played on a round robin basis. Alas there were insufficient entries for the Ladies event to be run.
The Mens event was a closely contested affair with most games being settled by only a couple of points. Ringswell pair Nigel Osborne & Barry Harris (-10) set the pace and looked favourites to win after beating the Saints Leonards pair of Allister Brimble and Adrian Midmer (Scratch) 21-18, 21-19.
Defending Champions Andy Rowe (4 times winner of the event) and Andy Taylor (-2) were also in with a shout until suffering one bad game, losing to Tim Ellis and Scott Ashcroft of Exeter (+1) 21-11. They made amends in the second game, winning 21-12 but the damage was done. In the end they had to settle for a respectable 3rd place.
Last minute replacement Mike Lamboll and his partner Dave Williamson proved tough to beat off a +10 handicap. However they also lost heavily in one game to the Ashcroft/Ellis combo which put paid to their chances.
Adrian Midmer played outstandingly well and with his partner Allister Brimble providing good consistent support, they proved to be the pair to beat. They outplayed their Saints teammates Malcolm Travis and Dan Cordey (+1) in their final match 21-17, 21-14 to finish as deserving winners on the night and win the trophy for the first time.
Results
1st – Adrian Midmer/Allister Brimble (St Leonards) Scratch 205 Points
2nd – Nigel Osborne/Barry Harriss (Ringswell) - 10 202 Points
3rd – Andy Rowe (St Leonards)/Andy Taylor (Ringswell) - 2 189 points
4th - Mike Lamboll (St Leonards)/Dave Williamson (Otter Vale) + 10 187 points
5th – Dan Cordey/Malcolm Travis (St Leonards) +1 181 points
6th – Scott Ashcroft/Tim Ellis (Exeter) +1 168 points
Mixed Event
4 pairs contested the Mixed event played on a round robin basis.
Defending champions Richard Burns and Sylvia Child of Ringswell (+1) stumbled from the start, losing their first round games 21-6, 21-17 to Barry Harris and Lorna Eyles (Ringswell) (-8)
Richard and Sylvia then played Matt Whyman and Suzanne Owens of Exeter (Scratch). The Exeter pair were on top from the off and eased to a 21-9, 21-19 win.
Saints star Adrian Midmer was hoping to achieve the double, after his Mens win earlier in the week. He was partnered with Sharon May and whilst they were in contention for most games, they couldn’t quite get over the winning line. Their best result was a 21-15 win over the Harris/Eyles combo.
In the crunch game to decide the winner, Matt Whyman and Suzanne Owens prevailed 19-21, 21-11 over Barry Harris and Lorna Eyles, to take the title.
RESULTS
1ST Matt Whyman/Suzanne Owens (Exeter ) Scratch 124 points
2nd Barry Harris/Lorna Eyles (Ringswell) -8 110 points
3rd Adrian Midmer/Sharon May (St Leonards) + 3 105 points
4th Richard Burn/Sylvia Child (Ringswell) +1 94 points