88 pairs contested the Open Pairs Knock Out held at the Queens Hotel Bournmouth. Major shock in the second round was the elimination of previous winners Kevin Tunstall and Tony Martin Oxfordshire, beaten by Tony Walsh Berkshire and Kent’s Mike Lingham. Tunstall and Martin proved to strong for all the players who contested the plate as they went on to win the Queens Hotel Plate for the first time.

Walsh and Lingham slipped to defeat in the next round going down to another Oxfordshire pair in Pete Lee and Pete Welch, Jersey couple Harry and Jill Barbet lost out to last years wining pair Mark James and Jim Millward Sussex.  Bar Billiards statistician Pete Farrelly and teammate Steve Biggs from the Bricklayers Arms Oxford lost out to Kent’s Chris Saville and Greek exile Les Green they lost out in the Quarter Finals to Sussex’s, Richard Dewdney and Gareth Lloyd. At either end of the draw making steady progress was Bernie McCluskey and Paul Sainsbury  from Berkshire, they put out former winners in 1997 Bill Trinder and Mark Sawyer Berkshire no other problems before the forth round saw them come from behind to beat another Berkshire pair Geoff Pitt and Paul Dorgan 17,600 to 14,060. The Oxfordshire pair of Pete Phillips and Steven Sheard failed to halt the run to the final as they lost out in the Semi Final 26,450 to 17,370. At the other end of the draw High Wycombe’s Dino Clark and Andy Haines made steady progress, seeing of James and Millward,  Dewdney and Lloyd lost out to them in the semi final by just 1,100.

The final saw Paul Sainsbury in commanding form with 18,750 Clark hit back with 17,880 and McCluskey  then coming into his own with 18,920. Andy Haines was always going to be up against it and when he broke down at 3,560 it signalled the end as another 3,420 saw the Buckinghamshire men conceding defeat to the men from Berkshire.

 

RESULTS:-

                        Winners Paul Sainsbury & Bernie McCluskey Berkshire £75 each and a weekend break for two at the Queen Hotel Bournmouth.

                        Runners up Dino Clark & Andy Haines Buckinghamshire £75 each

                        Losing Semi finalist’s Steven Sheard & Pete Phillips Oxforshire

& Richard Dewdney & Gareth Lloyd Sussex £25 each.

Queens Hotel Plate Winners Kevin Tunstall & Tony Martin Oxfordshire £25 each

Runners Up Jon Coe & Damien Coates Northamptonshire

1^st & 2^nd Round Highest losing score Kevin Tunstall & Tony Martin 14,220

3^rd Round P.Wing Hampshire & Lorin Clough Scotland 11,810

4^th Round Paul Dorgan & Geoff Pitt Berkshire 14,060