Shropshire Father & Son Doubles – Sat 17th July 2021 at St. Georges BC
With a very warm day forecast, a field of 21 pairings and their supporters descended on the Telford sports complex in St. Georges to contest this year’s Father & Son Doubles. With its brace of immaculate greens, all were set to enjoy the glorious unbroken sunshine throughout the day that culminated with defending champions, Phil & Jamie King successfully defending their title after getting the better of Graham & Dan Wornell.
Pre- Lims
Phil & Jamie King 21-12 John & Rob Clarke
Steve Jennings & Perry Evans 21-04 Alan & Aiden Hughes
Stuart & Alex Rutter 21-17 Graham & Simon Lane
Geoff & Josh Warner 21-13 Rich & Chris Jones
Graham & Dan Wornell 21-17 John & John Roberts
Round 1
Phil & Jamie King 21-14 Steve Jennings & Perry Evans
Stuart & Alex Rutter 21-05 Richard & Edward Proudlove
Ray & Ash Gregory 21-13 Roger & Josh Cotton
Lee & Billy Walmsley 21-20 John & Ryan Cooke
Peter & Matt Farmer 21-14 Scott Simpson & Rowan Fuller
Tony & Matthew Rhodes 21-11 Andrew & Joseph Pullen
Alan & Martin Gaut 21-12 Jon & Phil Lyttle
Graham & Dan Wornell 21-19 Geoff & Josh Warner
Quarter Finals
Phil & Jamie King 21-01 Stuart & Alex Rutter
Ray & Ash Gregory 21-06 Lee & Billy Walmsley
Tony & Matthew Rhodes 21-14 Alan & Martin Gaut
Graham & Dan Wornell 21-20 Peter & Matt Farmer
Semi Finals
Phil & Jamie King 21-07 Ray & Ash Gregory
Graham & Dan Wornell 21-15 Tony & Matthew Rhodes
Final
Phil & Jamie King 21-07 Graham & Dan Wornell
Highlights from Quarter finals
Phil & Jamie King got off to a flyer, playing the long corners to race in to a 15-0(8ends) before the luckless Stuart & Alex Rutter eventually pinched a single that saved the whitewash as the Kings rapidly finished the game 21-01(13ends). After sharing the opening ends that saw Ray & Ash Gregory take a narrow 7-6(9ends) over Lee & Billy Walmsley, the Gregory’s applied the pressure enough to force their way to run out 21-06(19ends). Tony & Matthew Rhodes encounter with Alan & Martin Gaut was evenly matched, so much so, the card showed 7-7(5ends), 10-10(10ends) until from 14-14(16ends), the Rhodes’ took control by taking a brace of 3 chalk ends and then seal the win 21-14(19ends). Graham & Dan Wornell had to fight their way from 2-8(7ends) and 9-12(13ends) down against Peter & Matt Farmer who after the scores levelled at 16-16(19ends), looked good by moving to the edge of winning only for the Wornell’s to take the last 3 ends to snatch victory 21-20(24ends).
Highlights from the Semi-finals
Phil & Jamie King were again playing their preferred long corners mark and using it to good effect to lead Ray & Ash Gregory 10-05(9ends) and following a 2 chalk end, the King’s showed their dominance by taking 8 straight ends on the bounce to reach the final in 17ends with a 21-07 winning card. Meanwhile, Graham & Dan Wornell were winning 8 of the first 9 ends to open up strong 13-01(9ends) lead before Tony & Matthew Rhodes rallied to close the gap to trail 15-10(17ends) from where neither pairing could hold the jack that saw the scores inch there way down the card, seeing the Wornell’s maintain their lead to end the game 21-15(26ends).
The Final
Having played from the competition pre-lim stage, I noted the finalists had made it to this point the hard way and had truly passed a stern test of stamina in the extreme heat of the day.The final began solidly for each pair as the scores read 3-3(5ends) before Phil & Jamie King yet again got onto their corner mark which saw them build to 10-05(12ends) and although Graham & Dan Wornell scored a couple of singles, they too, like many of the King’s opponents, could not release their hold of the jack as Phil & Jamie in 5 ends completed another run-out and win 21-07(19ends) and retain the trophy as Champions.
County Deputy President/Competition Secretary, Mike Potter congratulated host club St. Georges BC and its members for the provision of excellent greens, facilities and refreshments and thanked Louise Cotton for her valued assistance throughout the day, before the presentation of prizes to the deserving players and the Champions Trophy for 2021, again to Phil & Jamie King. Congratulations everyone concerned, another successful competition.
Mike Potter – SCGBA Comps Sec.
