Another good turnout of 32 members took advantage of a rare sunny day to take part in the Club’s latest event, The President’s Cup. It was particularly pleasing to see five members entering their first club competition.
In the top half of the draw, Club Secretary George Hitchmough was in impressive form, reaching the semi-finals with wins against Gill Atkinson (21-17), Joe Parker (21-13) and Bill Nowell (21-18). George’s semi-final opponent was last year’s winner Sue Andersen, who overcame new member Alex Rimmer (21-10), Dave White (21-6) and Brian Jones (21-20). The semi-final between George and Sue was expected to be a close encounter but it was George who established a 12-7 lead with three 2s in the first 8 ends. Sue was not going to give up her hold on The President’s Cup easily, fighting back to close the gap to 14-13, but George was able to reclaim the jack to run out a 21-13 winner.
In the bottom half of the draw, Tony Wellard reached the semi-finals with victories against Alan Bond (21-20), Jim Finnimore (21-14) and Pat Jones (21-20). Tony’s semi-final opponent was to be the winner of the quarter-final between the two rivals from Crossens, Margaret Langley and Mike Dunlop. As with the other quarter-finals, this game could have gone either way, but it was Margaret who edged into the semi-final with a 21-19 win, having had wins against Pat Higgins (21-13) and Irene Nowell (21-15) in the earlier rounds. Despite having to concede a handicap of two against Tony in the semi-final, Magaret was able to claim five 2s to win through to yet another Hesketh Arms final, the winning margin being 21-14.
This was Margaret’s third consecutive final at the Hesketh this season, having been runner-up in the Rose Bowl and a winner (partnering Eileen Rawcliffe) in the Spring Pairs.
It was George, however, who continued the form he had been showing all afternoon and was able run out a comfortable 21-8 winner to claim his first competition win at the Hesketh Arms, having been runner-up in the Championship Cup in 2010
