Northern Championships – how did we fare?
After many years at the Teesdale Center in Barnard Castle, the Northern Championships were once again held at their new home in York for the 3rd consecutive year (11/12 January). Following on from the SMPT British Open last week, 16 mats had been left on loan. The competition format remained as it always has with 32 qualifiers from across the 7 northern counties taking part in each of the 4 main disciplines. The event was organized and run by the NESMBA Competition Secretary, Andy Miles and his wife Barbara who are now retiring and took the opportunity to hand over the reins to a new team from Humberside (Rhonda Barnes Simon Smith Graham Stubbs).
The NYSMBA was represented by 4 Singles, 4 Pairs, 4 Triples and 7 Fours – a contingent of 52, who had all qualified for their places via our own County Championships.
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FOURS
1 – Joseph, Danielle & Jill Newsome and James Clark
2 – David Newsome, LIlly & Steve Duffin, Daniel Agar
3 – Matthew Jackson, Les Lambert, Paul Whitcombe, Allan Meek
4 – Roger & Diane Ellis, Andy Eccles, Sam Stacey
5 – Robert Mumford, Tom & Shirley Wakefield, Pat Jones
6 – Arthur Jackson, Dennis Jarvis, Mike Carter, Sue Pittham
7 – Chris Prendergast, Lawrence & Chantal Ireland, Judith Fearns
Since the start of these Championships in 1993, records show that North Yorkshire teams have historically done well in the Fours having figured in 16 finals and produced 8 winners, more than any other county. Hopes are therefore always high that we can do well and this year only 2 of our 7 teams failed to make it through into the last 16.
Of the other 5, Chris Prendergast then went out 3-9 to West Yorkshire who went on to knockout Matthew Jackson’s rink 9-3 in the QFinals. Arthur Jackson failed against Joseph Newsome and Co. by 4-6 who then met the eventual Fours winners and were beaten 6-8 in their QFinal match. David Newsome’s rink lost to Humberside 3-4.
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SINGLES
1 Matthew Jackson 2 David Newsome 3 Rod Dawson 4 Steve Duffin
The North has produced some fine Singles players over the years and these include 6 winners and 5 runners-up from North Yorkshire. It remains the most challenging competition to excel at requiring not only skill across the full range of shots but the mental application to persevere when the going gets tough and you have no-one to help you.
3 of our 4 started well and reached the last 16 although Steve then ended his day 7-12 to West Yorkshire. Both David and Matthew reached the QFinals where David put up a great show against the eventual Champion Peter Roberts losing by 7-11. In the other, Matthew won against West Yorkshire but could not match Staffordshire’s Adam Lamb in the SFinals and went down 3-12. Stockport’s Peter Roberts (currently World No5 in the SMPT rankings) went on to beat Adam Lamb in the Final to take the title for the second year running.
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PAIRS
1 Steve Duffin, Daniel Agar 2 James Clark (sub) & Danielle Newsome 3 Joseph & Jill Newsome 4 Rod & Jonathan Dawson
We have never excelled in the Pairs, although North Yorkshire names do appear twice on the trophy and we have been beaten in the Final in 6 other years. This year it was only Joseph and Jill Newsome who reached the final 16 only to come up against Peter Roberts and his father and were on the receiving end of a 4-11 defeat.
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TRIPLES
1 Pete Sayer Richard Lochman Ken Taylor 2 Roger & Diane Ellis Sam Stacey
3 Pat Jones Robert Mumford (sub) Jean Jones (sub) 4 Matthew Jackson Les Lambert Caroline Harris
In the last 11 years, the triples have been dominated by West Yorkshire with 7 wins and Stockport with 3. We have only ever had one win (2018). This year 2 of our teams were eliminated after the round robin and then Pete’s trio lost 7-9 to Stockport (the eventual winners) in their first knockout match as did Matthew who lost to West Yorkshire 3-7. (scores corrected 15/1)
COUNTY SHIELD
Points are allocated per discipline (top 4 qualifiers from each county only). Winner=4 R-up=3 Losing SF=2 Losing QF=1
West Yorkshire were the winners with 17 points with Staffordshire as the runners up with 16 and then Stockport 14, N Yorks 5, Humberside 4. Durham and Derbyshire did not score. We have only ever won this trophy twice although we have been runners up 9 times.
