National Heats – Mixed Fours and Triples

9/11/24

This year we have been forced to hold separate qualifying competitions for those who wish to enter the ESMBA National Championships. This is due to objections by the ESMBA over the way our qualifiers were previously selected when our County Championships were used as the national heats.

For each discipline, ESMBA rules state that a minimum entry of 4 is required for the heat to go ahead. The entries for the Mixed Fours and the Triples was initially only 3 but this was made up late in the day when another entry for each of these was put together just before the ESMBA deadline date for entries.

In the morning the Mixed Fours went ahead and after a break for lunch the Triples was held. In both competitions all entries played a single game against the other 3 and the final placings were determined on a league basis. The winners were Steve & Lily Duffin, James Clark and Pauline Dickenson (Mixed Fours) and Joseph & Jill Newsome and Rafferty Patrick (Triples) who will now definitely qualify for a trip to the Finals in March/April to take up our guaranteed single place. The other players must now await for the official allocation of places to see if we are allocated any further places (unlikely due to the small entry).