SCPA Winter Doubles Final 2019/20
After a delay of seven months, the winter doubles final at last took place at Burridge on Sunday, October 18th. Sadly under the current circumstances bacon sarnies, lunch time food and afternoon cake were all ruled out. But there were teas and coffees available, and the bar with waiter service!
From an entry of 18 teams, representing 12 clubs from around the region, the following eight teams qualified for the Winter Doubles final:
- Dave Lucas (Ship) & Steve Lombard (River Hamble) : 12 wins +52
- Graham Elcome (Adur) & Jamie Brooks (Adur) : 11 wins +80
- Martin Ware (Fareham) & Nicole Ware (Fareham) : 11 wins +40
- Dave Stubbs (Cobbetts) & Richard Greeves (Cobbetts) : 10 wins +56
- Danny Corp (Shedfield) & Jackie Corp (Shedfield) : 9 wins +15
- Mark Duncan (River Hamble) & Will Read (River Hamble) : 8 wins +4
- Clifton Gonsolves (Muscliff) & Stuart Brown (Muscliff) : 8 wins +1
- Peter Missen (Southsea) & Maureen Lee (Southsea) : 8 wins -11
Two other teams had qualified, but unfortunately were unavailable for play in the finals:
- Bill Mackrell (Handcross) & John Bailey (Handcross) : 10 wins +32
- Michael Moore (Clymping) & Diana Hollis (Clymping) : 8 wins -2
A very pleasant day saw some close hard fought games. The top two teams after the qualifiers, Dave & Steve and Jamie & Graham, justified their top seeding by winning all three games in the morning leagues and both had emphatic wins in their semi-finals. Graham & Jamie beat Maureen & Peter, who as 8th seeds did brilliantly to wins two games in League 1. While Dave & Steve beat Mark and Will, who came out top of the three teams all on 1 win in League 2.
In the final Graham & Jamie took a 10-5 lead before a fightback from Dave & Steve. The Adur team held on to take the title with a 13-10 win.
Peter & Maureen defeated Mark & Will 13-6 in the play-off for 3rd place while another very close game saw Dave & Rich beat Clifton & Stuart 13-11 to take 5th place. Martin & Nicole finished 7th after a 13-3 win over Danny & Jackie.
It was great to see two of our junior players, Jamie and Will, finish in the top four. Sadly, Jamie will not be defending his title due to college commitments, but Will is amongst the entry of around 30 teams for the 2020/21 Winter Doubles as is another junior, Sam Rattue from Muscliff.
Dave Stubbs
Final 2019/20 placings:
- Winners: Graham Elcome (Adur) & Jamie Brooks (Adur)
- Runners-up: Dave Lucas (Ship) & Steve Lombard (River Hamble)
- 3rd: Peter Missen (Southsea) & Maureen Lee (Southsea)
- 4th: Mark Duncan (River Hamble) & Will Read (River Hamble)
- 5th: Dave Stubbs (Cobbetts) & Richard Greeves (Cobbetts)
- 6th: Clifton Gonsolves (Muscliff) & Stuart Brown (Muscliff)
- 7th: Martin Ware (Fareham) & Nicole Ware (Fareham)
- 8th: Danny Corp (Shedfield) & Jackie Corp (Shedfield)
