Championship Cup 2012

Sunday 12th August saw 26 members compete in the last Club competition of the season, The Championship Cup. Despite a shower at the starting time of 1.00pm, play got underway promptly and there were some close games in the preliminary round, the most notable of these being a narrow 21-20 win for Richard Rawcliffe against new member Steve Mann.

The top half of the draw saw Eagles player Mark Rowlinson producing the form that won him The Rose Bowl in 2010, reaching the quarter-finals with wins against team-mates Keith Jones (21-7) and captain Chris Harding (21-17). This was followed by a titanic struggle against last year’s winner Jim Finnimore, who was determined to retain the title. However, following a high quality game, it was Mark who progressed to the semi-finals, winning 21-20. In the semis Mark overcame a strong challenge from Richard Rawcliffe to win through to the final, the score being 21-18.

In the bottom half of the draw, Joe Parker was in fine form, easily overcoming Barry Coates in his first game, followed by a 21-18 success against Jayne Eustace. These wins put Joe through to the semi-final where he was to face Mike Dunlop, who had reached this stage with wins against Len Mann (21-10) and Sue Davies (21-6). Despite these comfortable wins for Mike, it was Joe Parker who was able to maintain his form to reach the final with a 21-15 victory.

In the final, Mark was having to concede a handicap of +4 to Joe and although he won five out of the first 8 ends he found it difficult to claw the 4 chalks back, trailing 13-7 after 12 ends. At this stage, Joe looked to be the favourite but Mark suddenly hit top form to win 8 successive ends, makng a break of 12 to lead 19-13. Although Joe scored a single to make it 14-19, Mark was able to score the two he needed at the next end to win the final 21-14.

Many thanks to all those members who have taken part in the Club’s competitions during 2012, all of which have been well-supported.