Posted by Sunday, May 30th
A smaller entry than usual, due to the clash with the titles weekend and the Bank Holiday, saw 23 teams for the delayed Cobbetts Open Doubles at Burridge on Sunday, May 30th. It was great to see several new teams playing in their first competition and giving some of the more regular teams a good match. A lovely sunny day started with 6 morning leagues, one unfortunately with a bye,
From these 6 leagues there were 5 league winners undefeated on 3 wins – Steve Daykin & Phil Bradshaw, Paul and Sheila Hayward, Dave Stubbs and Richard Greeves, Mark and Karen Robertshaw and Steve and Karen Lombard. The teams were joined in the main competition by the other league winner, Leo Black and Ray Stanton, and the top 2 league runners-up, Martin Gordon & Nigel Sibbring and the new Crondall team of Paul and David Myers. All the league matches were finished by 1:15 which meant a prompt start could be made to the afternoon knock-outs at 1:45.
Top seeds for the afternoon were Steve and Phil with 3 wins +36 closely followed by the Fareham team of Paul and Sheila on +32. Both these teams won their opening games in the afternoon before Paul and Sheila fell at the semi-final stage 12-13 to home team Dave Stubbs and Richard Greeves. Meanwhile in the other semi-final, Steve and Karen Lombard beat the favourites Steve and Phil. Steve and Karen then had a fairly comfortable win over Dave and Rich in the final. The Main Consolage was won by Martin Gordon and Nigel Sibbring who defeated the Muscliff team of Leo Black and Ray Stanton in the final.
The Plate competition was won by Dave Lucas and Harrison Ash who defeated Alison Stubbs and Jason Willcocks 13-12 in an extremely tight final that could have gone either way. The Plate Consolage was won by Andy and Dawn.
The Wooden Spoon competition was won by 9 year old Axel and his dad David Franco Cruz, who beat the new Cobbetts team Vanessa and Barbara in the final. The Spoon Consolage went to another new team from the home club, Kevin and Trish Daysh.
Many thanks to Chris Barron for his morning bacon rolls, lunchtime BBQ and afternoon cakes. Also a big thank you to all the other helpers with the food, with the raffle and, of course, Rich for getting the terrain ready.
| Main Competition | |
| Winners | Steve and Karen Lombard (River Hamble) |
| Runners-up | Dave Stubbs and Richard Greeves (Cobbetts) |
| Semi-Finalists | Steve Daykin (Cobbetts) and Phil Bradshaw (Cardiff) |
| Paul Hayward and Sheila Hayward (Fareham) | |
| Main Consolage | |
| Winners | Nigel Sibbring (Handcross) and Martin Gordon (Worthing) |
| Runners-up | Leo Black and Ray Stanton (Muscliff) |
| Plate Competition | |
| Winners | Dave Lucas (Ship) and Harrison Ash (Bordon) |
| Runners-up | Alison Stubbs and Jason Willcocks (Cobbetts) |
| Semi-finalists | Peter Kidd and Dave Kelly (Handcross) |
| Bernie Miles (Cobbetts) and Allan Paice (Independent) | |
| Plate Consolage | |
| Winners | Andy Walker and Dawn Latimer |
| Runners-up | Carrie Litchfield and Sue MacAleese (Fareham) |
| Wooden Spoon | |
| Winners | David Franco Cruz and Axel Franco Llado (Cobbetts) |
| Runners-up | Vanessa Raynbird and Barbara Upton (Cobbetts) |
| Spoon Consolage | |
| Winners | Kevin Daysh and Trish Daysh (Cobbetts) |
