The semi-finals and final of the 2022/23 Triples Championships were completed on Saturday July 9 and Sunday July 10 in less than perfect conditions with cold, windy conditions challenging all players. However, it was the same for everyone and the matches were completed.
In one semi-final the experienced side of Peter Macdonald, Noel Downie and John Monks proved far too strong for Des Jackson, Col Fletcher and Marcel Kors. The first half of the game was quite close with Monks managing to hold a slender 13 – 10 advantage after 13 ends. This advantage gradually increased so that after 19 ends the lead was 21 – 13. A big haul of 5 shots on the next end virtually ended the contest with Monks well on the way to another final. His side followed this up with another 7 shots on the next three ends to cruise to a 33 – 13 victory.
The other semi-final was a much closer affair. Mick Challice, Alan McLeod and Bruce Lidbury started well in their clash with Doug Williams, Allan Etheredge and John Wagstaff and moved to a 9 – 1 lead before Wagstaff struck back to reduce the margin to 1 sot at 10 – 9. Lidbury quickly made up for this stutter and by the 18th end he led 21 – 14. Wagstaff fought back again and by the 22 end the score was 21 – 19. Lidbury picked up 3 shots on the next end to make Wagstaff’s task that much harder. Lidbury was able to hold on to win the game 26 – 21.
The players returned on Sunday to play what promised to be a close final. However, Challice and McLeod had other ideas. They were in great form and quickly set up a 10 – 1 lead after 5 ends. Despite picking up 4 shots on the 6th end, Monks was unable to make the game competitive. His team could not reproduce the form they had displayed in the semi-finals.
Lidbury moved to an advantage of 16 – 11 after 11 ends before winning the next 5 ends and picking up 11 shots. The lead of 27 – 11 proved too much for Monks and his side. Although they won 4 of the next 6 ends they could not pick up the big scores needed to give themselves a chance. Lidbury’s side proved to be worthy Champions with a strong 34 – 16 win.
The 2022/23 Women’s Major Pairs Championship has also been decided with the 2021 Champions, Irene Macdonald and Denise Lidbury, successful in defending their title. They proved to be too strong for the other sides in the competition. The runners up were Di Newell and Rose Farrington who also combined well to win their way into the final.
The real positive of this event was the number of the newer members of the club who entered. Congratulations to all of the players who took part - especially given the challenging weather they had to deal with!
