Peter Knowles reports:
The sixteenth Over 40s Tournament took place at Eton on Sunday 7th May. Like several other tournaments this year the entry was down on previous years, perhaps due to the timing of Easter plus the proximity to a Bank holiday. However, the small entry of seven pairs was of course very much a case of quality if not quantity!
The contestants were:
G B Bates and G D Stringer
P R Bowden and S Plummer
I A N Leeming and M Lindsay
P V Boughton and J A Caudle
M R Fenn and A R Wagg
C J Davies and P J Knowles
N J Margerison and J G M Pulsford
Martin Lindsay is now out on his own with a maximum sixteen appearances.
There were three former winners in the field and all pairs played four rounds of one game up to fifteen points, although curiously there was only one game in which the losing pair scored more than nine points.
Graham Pulsford and Neil Margerison, after a bye in the first round of games won their second round game 15-8 against Chris Davies and Peter Knowles, and then only dropped seven points in winning their other three games. Peter Boughton and John Caudle won their first two games comfortably 15-3 before just being edged out by Chris and Peter in the closest game of the day 15-13 and then losing to Graham and Neil.
Paul Bowden and Steve Plummer beat Mike Fenn and Anthony Wagg 15-9 in the final round of games to chalk up three wins out of four, equalling the record of Chris and Peter but the latter qualified in second place as a result of conceding fewer points in their four games.
Unusually, and probably because of the small entry, the two pairs with the best records had already played each other so the final result was deemed to be a win for Graham and Neil. The holders thus retained their title.
Final
Pulsford/Margerison beat Davies/Knowles 15-8.
Thanks once more to Eton College for allowing the use of their courts and facilities.
Match Wins:
1st - N Margerison and G Pulsford 4-0
2nd - C Davies and P Knowles 3-1
3rd - P Bowden and S Plummer 3-1
4th - P Boughton and J Caudle 2-2
5th - M Fenn and A Wagg 1-3
6th - I Leeming and M Lindsay 1-3
7th - G Bates and G Stringer 0-4