Sixteen hardy souls arrived by 10.00am to take part in this event where partnerships are determined by the drawing of names out of a hat. Formed into 2 blocks each pairing was required to play 3 games with the number of wins deciding the winner and runner-up of each block with hoop difference a factor should number of wins be equal. Play went very much to form with Paul Bridgman and Sheila Harris from Block A and Tony Frewin and Deb Clarke from Block B winning all 3 games with hoop differences of +7 and +9 respectively. The runners-up in Block A was a less clear cut business as the remaining 3 pairs had all won 1 game but Anne Skuse and Joan Black just took the spoils with a hoop difference of -1 compared with -3 by the other pairs. In Block B Peter Wilkinson and Betty Craig with 2 wins took the second runner-up spot. The first semi-final resulted in a 4-0 win over Anne and Joan by Tony and Deb whilst the second was much closer with Paul and Sheila just edging their way past Peter and Betty by 4 hoops to 3. With the weather threatening to advance from cold and bleak to wet and miserable the 13 hoop final was watched by a large number as Tony and Deb rather overwhelmed Paul and Sheila. Three individual shots stood out : Tony’s angled jump shot at hoop 5, Deb’s successful running of hoop 8 from the vicinity of hoop 7 and Paul’s running of hoop 9 from close to the boundary (photo attached). At 6-2 down this shot ensured the match came down to the 10th by the clubhouse where, after a great approach, Deb settled matters (photo attached) by closing out the game 7-3. Trophies were presented to Tony and Deb – Doubles Champions 2017 – Congratulations!