2007/8 men's doubles
There was a decent turnout of 15 pairs for the men's doubles in the Pomona on Friday 18th January.
There were some close games in the first round, but no big surprises, and at the quarter final stage most of the top names were still there. The first quarter final was an all Merkister affair, with Jim Hamilton and Ray West overcoming the challenge of Paul Foubister and John Munson 3-1. Two Legion pairings contested the second quarter, with Erland Ritch and Sean Chalmers going through 3-2 against Keith Chalmers and Dennis Watt. In the bottom half of the draw, Lennie Clouston and Don Wilson won a close match against Chris Seator and Steven Moar 3-2, and in the best game of the evening, Francis Ballantyne and Ian Findlay just pipped Neil Croy and Mal Reid 3-2.
In the first semi final, Erland and Sean continued their good run with a 3-1 win over Jim and Ray. In the second semi, Francis and Ian proved to be too strong for Lennie and Don, winning comfortably 3-0.
The best-of-seven final was close in the early stages. Francis and Ian won the first leg, but some good finishing from Erland and Sean in the next two legs gave them a 2-1 lead. Francis and Ian won the next to level it and it looked like it might go all the way. That wasn't the way it turned out, however, as Francis and Ian upped their game to take the next two legs comfortably and win 4-2. Congratulations to them. That's a second consecutive win for Francis in the doubles, after winning it with Tammy Heddle last year, and he's now won it four times with various partners. Obviously he should now step aside and give some other folk a chance!
There were 180s from Dennis Watt, Paul Foubister and Francis Ballantyne, and a 113 checkout form Gary Aim.