The first Short Mat Tournament of the season took place over the weekend of November 14-16th. As always, this was a Mixed Scotch Pairs event – men skipped the first six ends, ladies the second six – and, as is usual for in-house Lakehill tournaments, teams were assigned by a random draw on the computer.
As this is the season of mists, mellow fruitfulness – and sickness, it was not entirely surprising that two who had signed up had to pull out in the middle of the week.
However, this being Lakehill, more than enough people stepped up at very short notice to take their places.
Ten strong teams played three games each over Friday night and Saturday, with the top four teams going through to Sunday’s playoffs. On Saturday evening those top four were:
- 1st: Shona Dallison, Don Bellows
- 2nd: NaDine McDowell, Sirish Patel
- 3rd: Karen Heagle, Ted Lewall/Joe Fitzgerald
- 4th: Alana Pearce, Larry Shorter
The playoffs were organised so that the team in first place played the team in fourth, while second and third played. Subsequently the two winning teams played for 1st and 2nd place, the two runner-up teams played for 3rd and 4th. (A bit like seeding at Wimbledon).
The form book held for the first games and so the final was between Shona and Don, and NaDine and Sirish. Alas for NaDine and Sirish, the father-and-daughter team of Don and Shona maintained their unbeaten record and won their fifth game in succession. Meanwhile the runner-up game went right down to the wire: coming home tied, but at least one down in the final end, Alana’s very last bowl sneaked into the head and, as decided by a very (very) close measure – those involved estimate the difference was no more than 2mm – took the end and the game. And it was only that last bowl that rendered Sunday’s playoffs not a complete waste of time: had Alana not got the shot, the final results would have mirrored the Saturday standings exactly – which has not happened before, as far as anyone can recall. So, the final results:
1st: Shona Dallison, Don Bellows
2nd: NaDine McDowell, Sirish Patel
3rd: Alana Pearce, Larry Shorter
4th: Karen Heagle, Ted Lewall/Joe Fitzgerald
No tournament runs itself and our thanks are due to:
Kitchen Crew: Bev Scheurle, Trudy Cutfield, Mona Jensen, Alice Schellenberg, Jenny Waelt-Walters, Kay Alexander and Sue Ennis.
Computer Crew: Mike Lee, Trudy Cutfield, Linda Thompson.
Tournament Manager, Jack of All Trades (and…): Deryk Barker