The fourth annual running of the Eric Winton Trophy took place in beautiful conditions on Saturday 25th April.  The sun had its hat on and there was minimal wind to inconvenience the twelve pairs.  The draw was made from two pools of players, and the pairings that resulted looked pretty even.

The usual format of 24 points, with each player serving three points in a row from each end, was adhered to, and apart from the odd bit of confusion with the score, the matches progressed smoothly, with Yvonne Dunn at the scoring station patiently jotting down all the results.

We didn't quite have time or energy for every pair to play every other pair, but we got a fair way through in the three hours, with just a ten minute break for much needed refreshments.

It was good to see 13-year old Isabella Sharp back again, this time playing with her granddad, Bill, instead of her dad, Chris.  Bill had just returned to the club after many years, so it was nice to welcome him back.

Isabella was one of nine females playing, which is an increase on previous years, so hopefully the trend continues and we have an ever more even spread between the sexes for these events in future.

Yvonne collated all the scores, and, after some double-checking to make sure that there were no errors, announced the following final leaderboard:

• 1st - Graham Fewell & Janet Robinson
• 2nd - Gary McDonnell & Steve Lloyd
• 3rd - Mike Westhorpe & Jill Taylor

So, congratulations to Graham and Janet, well done to the second and third placed pairings who pushed them hard, and thanks to everyone involved for making the tournament both competitive and fun.