NATIONALS WEEKEND REPORT
The second week of April saw the Big Four weekend for the ESMA with four out of the seven of its national finals (Singles, Pairs, Fours & Triples) taking place between Thursday the 9th and Sunday the 10th. North Yorkshire had teams in three of the disciplines, missing out on the fours this year, and although none of them got to the closing rounds of the finals, they put up a great showing.
Singles Thursday 9th
The weekend started with the Singles being played on the Thursday with North Yorkshire being represented in the Round Robins by David Newsome in Group 9 and Steve Duffin in Group 12.
David won all his games in the group against Wiltshire 1, Devon 2, & Essex 4, taking the top slot with 6 Points and a plus 24 shots.
Meanwhile in Group 12, Steve beat Hertfordshire 2 and Humberside 2, but was lost to Northamptonshire’s Andrew Smith, who although on the same points as Steve, beat him to the second qualifying place by three shots. Steve finished 3rd with 4 points and plus 7 shots.
In the knockouts, David went out in round 2, losing to East Sussex player Glen Harvey by one shot (7-8)
Pairs Friday 10th
The Round Robins saw our only entrants David Newsome and Danny Langton, again finishing top of their group, beating Hertfordshire 2, Dorset 1 and Humberside 1, going through to the knockouts with 6 Points and plus 13 shots.
In Round 2 (the first KO round) the pair beat Humberside’s Ian & Christine Bratton 9-4 but went out in the following round to Kent’s Jody Frampton and Richard Stagg 6-10.
Triples Sunday 10th
The north Yorkshire representatives in the trips were the team of Jill, David & Joe Newsome.
In customary Newsome style, Jill and the lads dominated their group stage, beating Grater Manchester 2 14-6, Gloucestershire 2 8-5 & Humberside 4 17-1. Such was their dominance, they were the only team in the group to finish with a plus shots total, finishing in first place with 6 points and plus 27 shots.
In the knockouts however, they exited in the first KO round, being beaten by the West Sussex trio of Christopher Hatch, Sonia Burden & Dave Osman 5-7.
The last final, the Under 18s takes place next weekend. The report will follow as soon as we get the results.
Pete Arthur
