The 2025 Senior Merit takes place tomorrow at Tilstock with only 4 former winners in the field. Callum Wraight starts as favourite, but has a very tough opener against Castlefields team mate Mike Beer, a repeat of the 2017 Champion of Champions final which Mike won, two years after Callum had won it in 2015. Rich Goddard has won this twice before, and has Lee Walmsley, qualifying for the first time. Josh Bradburn is defending champion, and will look to defend it for the first time since Spencer Clarke did it in 2019, at Tilstock! He has Aaron King first game, a former Junior Merit Champion. The other former winner is Rob Roden from 2015, and plays Chris Worthington first game. Former runner up Jamie King hopes to go one better and has veteran Mark Thomas first game, with Paul Latham another finalist playing another veteran in Nick Davies. Team mates collide as Stuart Rutter plays former Staffordshire Merit winner Dan Taylor, with the winner potentially playing Bayley team mate and Newport Open winner Scott Harries, but he has Mark Shore first round. Another two Bayley team mates meet as Michael Cooper takes on Ayden Smith, and two Wrockwardine Wood team mates play each as Will Childs and Tom Killen meet, with Tom’s brother Joe at the opposite end of the draw as he plays Jesse James, another former Junior Merit winner in the field. Harry Church reached the Semi Finals in 2023, and won the Mid Shropshire Merit last month, and has Gary Beff first game. Emmet McKinley reached the County Handicap Semi Finals last year, and has qualified for this for the first time, and plays Matt Beeston. Dennis Lewis Open winner Sam Millward takes on Adam Jones, while Andrew Whitman has qualified for the first time and plays Phil Lyttle. Chris Stretch is a former Under 25 Merit winner in the Whitchurch League and plays Alex Jones from Church.
The two finalists, along with the highest scoring semi finalist, will qualify for the Senior Individual Merit on Saturday 26th July at Dodworth Miners Welfare.
The full draw is below with odds.
Good luck to all 32 players.
| No | Odds | Player | Score | Score | Player | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | Sam Millward | Adam Jones | 16 | ||
| 2 | 7 | Michael Beer | Callum Wraight | 2 | ||
| 3 | 25 | Will Childs | Thomas Killen | 12 | ||
| 4 | 12 | Josh Bradburn | Aaron King | 20 | ||
| 5 | 12 | Stuart Rutter | Dan Taylor | 16 | ||
| 6 | 10 | Scott Harries | Mark Shore | 25 | ||
| 7 | 33 | Andrew Whitman | Phil Lyttle | 33 | ||
| 8 | 20 | Gary Beff | Harry Church | 14 | ||
| 9 | 33 | Matthew Beeston | Emmet Mckinley | 25 | ||
| 10 | 25 | Michael Cooper | Ayden Smith | 16 | ||
| 11 | 25 | Nick Davies | Paul Latham | 20 | ||
| 12 | 18 | Mark Thomas | Jamie King | 6 | ||
| 13 | 8 | Rich Goddard | Lee Walmsley | 33 | ||
| 14 | 50 | Alex Jones | Chris Stretch | 16 | ||
| 15 | 16 | Chris Worthington | Rob Roden | 16 | ||
| 16 | 25 | Jesse James | Joseph Killen | 12 |
