Jones & Bolton Win Port St Mary Cup
An entry of 17 pairs took part in this year’s Port St Mary Cup mixed doubles open competition held at Breagle Glen on Bank Holiday Monday on another fine day, with the reduced number of entries likely to be due to the road closures.
Losing out at the quarter final stage were home greeners Nicci Cain and Derek Cain 18-21 to fellow home greeners Jackie Elliott and Ben Mowle (Port Erin), Marown’s Clare Cooper and Sid Bolton lost 14-21 to South Ramsey’s Jenny Moore and James Teare. In the other half of the draw an all-South Ramsey contest resulted in Kim Hargraves and Peter Collister comfortably defeating current holders Elaine Moore and Glynn Hargraves 21-11, whilst Lyn Bolton and Peter Jones (Marown) beat Jayne Smith (Marown) and Alan Crebbin (Port Erin) 21-16 to move into the next round.
The first semi-final saw Hargraves and Collister beaten by Bolton and Jones 13-21, whilst the shock of the day played out in the other semi-final as Elliott and Mowle beat Moore and Teare 21-15, as the home pairing scored a four on their way to the final.
The final started with Bolton and Jones huge favourites, it looked like it could be over in a matter of ends as after two ends played the Marown pair led 11-6. Elliott and Mowle then settled into the game, with Mowle leading well at the front and Elliott not afraid to reach at the back, as they turned the match on its head to lead 15-13. A switch in the playing order for Bolton and Jones worked a treat as a single, a four and a three saw them finish the game strongly to run out with a 21-15 victory to win their second successive mixed doubles competition in just over a week.
The presentation was made by Port St Mary Club Competition Secretary Chris Holland, who thanked everyone at the club that helped on the day. In his speech Peter offered his commiserations to their opponents in the final, commenting on how brilliantly they had played.