National Finals 2020 – S, P, T, F and U18s

The S, P T and F were held at Melton Mowbray IBC between Sept 16-19 and the U18s were held at Solihull IBC on Sept 11 There were 64 qualifiers in each of the main disciplines usually initially played in 16 groups of 4. For varied reasons there were many drop-outs for these particular Finals which had been postponed from April 2020 due to the  pandemic.
SINGLES: The entry was reduced to 49, played as 10 groups of 4 and 3 groups of 3.
Our 3 qualifiers were David Newsome, Lee Toleman and Bronagh Toleman.
In the round robin, Lee and David were both in a group of 3 which they topped after their 2 games whilst Bronagh won 2 of her games and lost the other to come second in her group. In the knockouts. the Tolemans won their first 2 games, only to meet each other in the Q finals in which Bronagh just pipped Lee (9-8) to reach the S final.  David meanwhile had an initial bye then won 2 games to also reach the S Final where he met and beat Bronagh (11-7).  In the Final he came up against Matty Worden (Cheshire) – the 2019 Pairs champion. This exciting game concluded when David secured the 2 shots he needed with his last wood to win 11-10 and become North Yorkshire’s first ever Singles Champion.
PAIRS: The entry was reduced to 36, played as 9 groups of 4.
Our 2 qualifiers were Francis Boatman/Steve Duffin and David & Joseph Newsome. Francis and David were unable to play, so with no substitutes allowed the competition took place with no North Yorkshire representation.
TRIPLES: The entry was reduced to 44, played as 8 groups of 4 and 4 groups of 3.
Our qualifiers were Lee & Bronagh Toleman/Lawrence Moffat, Danny Langdon/James Clark/Daniel Agar and Robert Mumford/Derek & Pat Beardsley. All were drawn in a group of 4 so had no byes. Although Danny’s team lost their first game (5-9), 2 good wins (13-3, 21-4) saw them through to the knockouts. Lee’s trio ended top of their group after 3 wins (17-8, 18-2 and 7-6). Robert and Co. had a win and 2 losses (6-12, 9-5, 7-9)  so progressed no further. In the knockouts, both Danny (12-0, 8-7, 7-4, ?) and Lee (bye, 12-5, 12-2, ?) remained undefeated to set up an all North Yorkshire Final. The game could have gone either way but in the end it was the experience of the England trio that overcame the talent of the “youngsters” by 7-4.

FOURS: The entry was reduced to 44, played as 8 groups of 4 and 4 groups of 3. Our qualifiers were Lee & Bronagh Toleman/Lawrence Moffat/Danny Langdon, Joseph & Jill Newsome/Daniel Agar/James Clark, Francis Boatman/Neil Flynn/Jane Rudd/David Newsome. The best result for North Yorkshire was by Lee’s foursome who ended top of their group winning all games (10-5, 11-3, 10-5). In the knockouts a bye was followed by 2 more wins (11-5, 8-7) to reach the S Final where they were just beaten (5-6). Joseph’s four won two and lost one (13-5, 11-4, 2-17) to reach the next round where their day came to an end (5-7). Francis’s team did not take part.
U18 SINGLES: . The entry was reduced to 10 players who were placed in 2 groups of 5 giving all entrants 4 games. Our qualifiers were Daniel Agar and Aaron Kaya, (although the latter could not take part). Daniel won 3 of his 4 games (10-4, 13-4, 6-9, 9-8) to reach the S Finals where he succumbed to the 2018 winner James Kley.