Barbara Lee IOM Ladies’ Merit

The weather was not kind for the Barbara Lee IOM Ladies’ Merit which was played on Sunday 6 August at Ballaugh. There was an entry of 21 players of all ages, with several juniors taking part, many from Mooragh Park which had been Barbara’s last club.
In the preliminary round the toughest match saw Madison McMullen come through 21-20 against Tricia Bull, while in the first round Fiona Kennish edged out Lil Smith 21-19.
Three of the quarter-finals were relatively one-sided but the other saw a mother-daughter battle going all the way with Elaine Moore having the better of Jenny Moore 21-20.
Quarter-finals: Elaine Moore 21, Jenny Moore 20; Janet Monk 21, Kim Hargraves 12; Helen Martin 21, Caroline Whitehead 2; Fiona Kennish 21, Lin Ruscoe 5.
In the first semi-final Elaine made the better start, leading 12-2 after twelve ends before Janet started to slowly reel in the deficit pulling back to 15-16 after 26 ends, then levelling at 17’s..Two singles from Janet followed by a two from Elaine left them 19-19, a further two singles giving Janet the game 21-19.
If possible the second semi-final was even more tense. After eight ends Fiona had a 7-1 advantage while Helen had the better of the next few ends levelling at 10-10. Again Fiona forged ahead, leading 19-12 after 24 ends, before Helen took the next five ends and a 20-19 lead. Fiona won the next end, but could not take another, Helen going through to the final 21-20.
The outcome of the final was in doubt to the very end, with both players having winning streaks throughout. Janet started with 5 singles before Helen got on the scoreboard. She then won eleven of the next twelve ends to lead 15-7. Then it was Janet’s turn as she won the next seven ends to just edge a lead of 16-15.The ends were then shared with Janet taking the trophy 21-19, the first person to win it twice as she had been the first winner in 2009.
Association president, Rosie Winckle, thanked the Ballaugh club for the use of their facilities and their help during the afternoon.