Chris Stretch won his first ever Merit after beating three time Champion Callum Wraight 21-14 in the final, virtually running out from 13 across. He beat Emmet McKinley 17 in his Semi Finalist, while Callum defeated Gary Beff 15, meaning Emmet joins Chris and Callum in qualifying for the Senior Individual Merit Finals on Saturday 26th July at Dodworth Miners Welfare.
Chris had beaten Alex Jones 14, Lee Walmsley 17 and Joe Killen 14 on his way to the Semi Finals, while Callum beat team mates Mike Beer and Adam Jones 17, and then Tom Killen 16.
Well done to Chris on his win, and to Callum and Emmet for qualifying for the Senior Individual Merit Finals.
Full scores are here.
Thank you to Mike Potter for the below pictures from the 2025 Senior Merit.
Qualifying:
Broseley
Last year’s winner Josh Bradburn will have a chance to defend his title after defeating Martin Gaut 21-18. He will be joined by 2023 runner-up Jamie King, who got past Adrian Owens 7, and his Bayley team mate Chris Worthington, who defeated Dave Evans 17 and Simon Rhodes 9. Tom Killen was the other qualifier, getting past John Doherty 11 and Liam Stevens 9.
| 1 | Thomas Killen | 21 | 9 | Liam Stevens |
| 2 | Chris Worthington | 21 | 9 | Simon Rhodes |
| 3 | Josh Bradburn | 21 | 18 | Martin Gaut |
| 4 | Jamie King | 21 | 7 | Adrian Owens |
| 1 | Liam Stevens | 21 | 6 | Steve Wright |
| 2 | Thomas Killen | 21 | 11 | John Doherty |
| 3 | Simon Rhodes | 21 | 18 | Steve Faulkner |
| 4 | Chris Worthington | 21 | 17 | Dave Evans |
Maddocks
2015 winner Rob Roden got through after beating John Lea 17 and Nick Wyer 13. Joe Killen joined his brother in getting through after beating Rob Clarke 12, while Sir John Bayley pair Michael Cooper and Stuart Rutter got through. Michael beating Ian Sturdy 11 and Josh Cotton 14, while Stuart had an incredible 21-1 win over Andrew Judson.
| 1 | Rob Roden | 21 | 13 | Nick Wyer |
| 2 | Michael Cooper | 21 | 14 | Joshua Cotton |
| 3 | Joseph Killen | 21 | 12 | Rob Clarke |
| 4 | Stuart Rutter | 21 | 1 | Andrew Judson |
| 1 | Rob Roden | 21 | 17 | John Lea |
| 2 | Nick Wyer | 21 | 15 | John Davies |
| 3 | Michael Cooper | 21 | 11 | Ian Sturdy |
| 4 | Joshua Cotton | 21 | 15 | Phil Wain |
| 5 | Rob Clarke | 21 | 10 | John Clarke |
Bayston Hill
There were two close qualifying games on a tough green at Bayston Hill as Andrew Whitman beat Adie Rowe 18 and Mark Thomas won by the same score against Adam Dovey, both having beaten James Mammone and Dan Williams respectively. Jesse James was the other qualifier beating Ron Miller 13.
| 1 | Andrew Whitman | 21 | 18 | Adrian Rowe |
| 2 | Mark Thomas | 21 | 18 | Adam Dovey |
| 3 | Jesse James | 21 | 13 | Ron Miller |
| 1 | Andrew Whitman | 21 | N/A | James Mammone |
| 2 | Adrian Rowe | 21 | N/A | Russell Pugh |
| 3 | Mark Thomas | 21 | N/A | Dan Williams |
| 4 | Adam Dovey | 21 | N/A | Gary Neal |
Castlefields
Emmet McKinley qualified for the first time after edging out Gareth Ingram 20 and Will Tyler 14. Nick Davies qualified once again by beating Wayne Phillips 17, and the in form Phil Lyttle got through by defeating Chris Dodds 18 and Derek Wright 16.
| 1 | Emmet Mckinley | 21 | 20 | Gareth Ingram |
| 2 | Phil Lyttle | 21 | 16 | Derek Wright |
| 3 | Nick Davies | 21 | 17 | Wayne Phillips |
| 1 | Gareth Ingram | 21 | 10 | Craig Wilson |
| 2 | Emmet Mckinley | 21 | 14 | Will Tyler |
| 3 | Phil Lyttle | 21 | 18 | Christopher Dodds |
Wem Sports
All seven players who qualified tonight will be looking to win this competition for the first time. Paul Latham, a former finalist, got through by beating Ed Proudlove 6 and Hayden Lewis 17. Former Staffordshire Merit winner Dan Taylor got through after defeating Ben Hinton 13 and Curtis Metcalfe 12. Will Childs and Matt Beeston were the other two qualifiers at Wem Sports, beating Martin Lloyd 18 and Jack Purcell 8.
| 1 | Matthew Beeston | 21 | 19 | Alan Purcell |
| 2 | Dan Taylor | 21 | 12 | Curtis Metcalfe |
| 3 | Will Childs | 21 | 18 | Martin Lloyd |
| 4 | Paul Latham | 21 | 17 | Hayden Lewis |
| 1 | Alan Purcell | 21 | 5 | Richard Lawson |
| 2 | Matthew Beeston | 21 | 8 | Jack Purcell |
| 3 | Dan Taylor | 21 | 13 | Ben Hinton |
| 4 | Curtis Metcalfe | 21 | 6 | Richard Proudlove |
| 5 | Will Childs | 21 | 0 | BYE |
| 6 | Martin Lloyd | 21 | 15 | Adrian Humphries |
| 7 | Hayden Lewis | 21 | 0 | BYE |
| 8 | Paul Latham | 21 | 6 | Edward Proudlove |
District
At District, Alex Jones qualified for the first time beating Rhys Jordan 14. Chris Stretch defeated Tim Jordan and Alan Boulton 14, while Gary Beff beat Mel Jenkins and Richard Lockett 18.
| 1 | Chris Stretch | 21 | 14 | Alan Boulton |
| 2 | Gary Beff | 21 | 18 | Richard Lockett |
| 3 | Alex Jones | 21 | 14 | Rhys Jordan |
| 1 | Alan Boulton | 21 | N/A | Scott Moseley |
| 2 | Chris Stretch | 21 | N/A | Tim Jordan |
| 3 | Gary Beff | 21 | N/A | Melvin Jenkins |
Wem USC
Former winners Rich Goddard and Callum Wraight qualified at Wem USC, alongside Mark Shore, who qualifies once again! Rich beat Mark Parsons 15, after being 10-3 down, and Rhys Marshall 17, after being 19-6 up, while Callum defeated Will Tarrell 10, from 9 across, and Connor Whitehall 11, from 15-0 up. Mark beat Dave Redge 12 after going 14-3 up from 3-0 down.
| 1 | Rich Goddard | 21 | 17 | Rhys Marshall |
| 2 | Callum Wraight | 21 | 11 | Connor Whitehall |
| 3 | Mark Shore | 21 | 12 | Dave Redge |
| 1 | Rhys Marshall | 21 | 16 | John Nash |
| 2 | Rich Goddard | 21 | 15 | Mark Parsons |
| 3 | Connor Whitehall | 21 | 6 | Dan Beeston |
| 4 | Callum Wraight | 21 | 10 | Will Tarrell |
Unison
At Unison, Castlefields pair Mike Beer and Adam Jones got through. Mike beat Meole pair Doug Edwards and Julian Cooke 14, while Adam got past Anthony Gray 15 and Chris Jones 12. Lee Walmsley got through to his first finals, beating Dave Nicholls 20.
| 1 | Michael Beer | 21 | 14 | Julian Cooke |
| 2 | Adam Jones | 21 | 12 | Chris Jones |
| 3 | Lee Walmsley | 21 | 20 | Dave Nicholls |
| 1 | Julian Cooke | 21 | 14 | Ashley Wellings |
| 2 | Michael Beer | 21 | 14 | Doug Edwards |
| 3 | Chris Jones | 21 | 2 | Pete Nicholls |
| 4 | Adam Jones | 21 | 15 | Anthony Gray |
Newport
Last year’s runner up Sam Millward got through after beating Pete Farmer 17, after being 13-6 up, and Craig Baugh 18, from 12-4 and 17-10 down. Former Semi Finalist Harry Church beat clubmate Jordan Millman 20 after Jordan got back to 20 across from 18-10 down, while Aaron King had a fine win over twice winner Spencer Clarke 18 from 14-11 down. Scott Harries was only 10 across with Nathan Lacey but beat him 17 to qualify, while his Bayley team mate Ayden Smith got through after defeating Gavin Bridge 13 from 9-3 down with the help of seven straight 2s.
| 1 | Sam Millward | 21 | 18 | Craig Baugh |
| 2 | Aaron King | 21 | 18 | Spencer Clarke |
| 3 | Scott Harries | 21 | 17 | Nathan Lacey |
| 4 | Harry Church | 21 | 20 | Jordan Millman |
| 5 | Ayden Smith | 21 | 13 | Gavin Bridge |
| 1 | Craig Baugh | 21 | 18 | Darren Fielding |
| 2 | Sam Millward | 21 | 17 | Peter Farmer |
