The reigning Men’s and Women’s champions negotiated tricky opening games this week to progress to the quarter-finals. Dennis saw off Nathan and Karen beat Eileen; both games proved to be a great watch .. but perhaps not great for the competitors’ nerves! There’s been lots of other games played in all competitions and without any concessions which is great testimony to the enthusiasm afforded by all .. win or lose!
There were some mixed results in the Middlesex county competitions this week. The highlight was Karen coming out on top in her Women’s Champion of Champions match at Staines. She then received a walkover from Strawberry Hill in the next round to progress to the quarter-finals. Tracy & Barry enjoyed a good run in the Mixed Pairs but came out second best to an Ashford pair; as did Anita & Bob at Staines. Our last-standing Women’s Triples of Jenny, Tracy & JenB tried their best against a very experienced Ashford team.
Unfortunately, this week’s Friday Triples was postponed due to some wet weather .. it is Wimbledon after all! The matches will be played at some future date.
Next up on the green, apart from club competition games, is an SML team match with Bishop Duppas on Sunday 7th.
Just be aware that our next Club Night on Tuesday 9th coincides with a cricket function .. a T10 Exhibition Match featuring Middx & England Legends v Sunbury All Stars, starting at 5:30pm. The paddock will be open for parking.
We were blessed with yet another sunny day for the latest club competition, the Presidents Plate. An unprecedented number of entrants saw ten teams of triples play a series of four short games according to a swiss-system format. Despite some mighty close games, and numerous draws, two teams finished clear of the chasing pack and qualified for finals weekend. Hats off to Andrea who has been in fine form of late and qualified for her first final, alongside more seasoned teammates Cassie and AlanP. The second spot went to Pat, Keith & Dennis with a vital win in their last game. Thanks once again to Nikki, overcoming some particular challenges yesterday, to provide refreshments and lunch. Everyone is welcome to enter the last of our day-long competitions on Saturday 20th July, the grandly named Presidents Cup. It’s a singles 4-3-2-1 scoring format which favours those who may get close to the jack but tend to get pipped to shot wood!
Sunbury enjoyed some success in this week’s Middlesex county competitions. Anita beat the woman who Tracy lost to in the previous round and JenB beat Karen to progress to the quarter-finals of the Unbadged Singles. If both win their next games they will face each other in the semis! In the Women’s Triples there was a fine 19-16 win for Tracy, Jenny and JenB against a team from Bishop Duppas and next face a tricky visit to Ashford. Unfortunately, Karen, Nikki & Eileen lost out 21-20 at Cambridge Park.
BobH finished the day as the only unbeaten player at Sunday’s Mixed 2-wood Singles competition. Played on a blazing hot day it was Bob and JenB who won through to finals weekend with semi-final wins against other group winners/runners-up Jenny and AlanP. It was good to see some notable wins for less experienced players and even a couple of draws in the 52 games played. The day went on a little longer than anticipated but was kept in control under the guidance of Gary. Thanks are also due to Nikki and Dennis for sorting out refreshments throughout the day. Lastly, thanks to all who participated, every match was played/marked in great spirit. 
Alison’s team remain unbeaten in the Friday Triples after pipping Eileen’s team on the final end in the latest round of games; Nikki’s team continued their good form with a comfortable win against Diane’s team; Alan’s team prop up the table after a battling loss against Karen’s team! The next games continue on Friday 28th.
This week’s team matches didn’t quite go Sunbury’s way .. losing both the midweek friendly to Teddington and Saturday’s SML match to last year’s champions Fordbridge Park. Rosie the dog didn’t seem to mind though!
It’s encouraging to see so many competition games being played but here’s a reminder that the first cut-off date is fast approaching .. 30th June for the last-32 of the Open Handicap. Do let me know of any issues and we’ll see what can be done.
Sunbury visited Ashford for an SML match on Sunday afternoon and the result was a little unusual. Sunbury won on only one of the four rinks but gained a higher overall shot count of 66-64, courtesy of some close losing games and a healthy score for the winning team of Tracy, Roger & Jen. This resulted in a 6-4 win for Ashford, but leaves Sunbury in a respectable 4th place in the league for now.
We conclude a run of five consecutive team friendlies on Saturday at Cambridge Park. The following day we visit Ashford in the SML .. both teams have won 2 out of 4 games thus far so there’s everything to play for. Realistically, it’s probably 2nd place as top team Hampton look to be unstoppable after resounding wins in their first four games, the latest being a 10-0 win at Bishop Duppas.