Sunday 9th November saw 23 players from 7 clubs take part in the annual Masters tournament, competing in 2 age groups, over 40 and over 50s.  

The range of players meant that the handicappers had a tough job awarding the right points differences across all the pairs.  There were a few exceptions, but in general the games were close, with more than 50% being won by 5 or fewer points.

There were only a couple of ladies pairs, one in each category, and they played each other across a couple of games.  Both games were won by the O50 pair, Sue Saunders and Tina Baker from South Cheshire who won that trophy.  The O40 ladies event went to Lisa Hughes & Anna Chrachol from Cegelec.

Due to the number of pairs, the two age groups in the mixed category were merged to create a group of 6, all playing each other once.  The results were generally close, with no pair winning all their games.

The O40 mixed was particularly close, with two pairs finishing on 4 wins and 1 loss.  The head-to-head game was then taken into account and that had been won by Claire Griffin & Iain Owen of Welsh Row who took home the O40 trophy, the runners up being Becky Tong from Alsager & Craig Delury from The Crosses.

Congratulations to Tina Baker & Eddie Watkins from South Cheshire in the O50 mixed who narrowly beat Sue Saunders & Brian Horrocks, also from South Cheshire.  Three of Tina and Eddie's games finished 21-20 - so this was also a win for the handicappers!

The age groups were merged again for the mens pairs, this time into a group of seven.  Each pair played every other pair once, so that anyone who had entered both mens and mixed had a very busy day!

Once again the results were close, with the O50 being taken by Brian Horrocks & Eddie Watkins from South Cheshire.

In the round robin for the O40s, Iain Owen and Warren Simpson came out on top, with 6 wins and only 1 loss, and they went straight through to the final.  Then there were three pairs with 5 wins, all vying for the remaining spot in the final so, once again, the head-to-head games were taken into account. 

John Hunter & James Burnham from Remnants had narrowly beaten both other pairs - Matt Dex & Richard Jakeman (Remnants) and Carl McGregor-Ogden & Rob Evans (Canute) - coincidentally both by 21-18, so they progressed.

The result from the round robin was reversed in the final, with John & James finishing ahead of Iain & Warren and claiming the O40s mens trophy.  Was that affected by Iain also playing (and winning) the mixed?  We'll never know!

A big thanks to all the players who took part, and also to the handicapping team.