The McEwan Pairs, a club men’s pairs tournament for 2025, was played on Tuesday, 15th July. As with a lot of these tournaments, the draw changes as a number of players were unable to make it that morning. Fortunately, we did have several players who filled in the gaps admirably. Many thanks to John Marston-Taylor, Ron Harmer, Dave Gillespie and a new member, Jerome Foenander who offered to be on stand-by… thank you, Jerome.
Tuesday morning started with the usual setting up of 5 rinks on the East Green; thank you for all the help in getting this going. Jennifer Harley was responsible for the registration desk, collecting fees and distributing scorecards. The real issue turned out to be the hot weather, not the attendance; everyone turned up in time. There were, however, a number of players who helped the draw by filling in where necessary. The temperature was projected to rise to 31 °C by the afternoon, and the tournament manager did offer to shorten the tournament, but like troopers, they all wanted to play the full schedule.
We had 10 teams of Men’s Pairs ready to go. Each team played three matches of 10 ends each. With tea/coffee/goodies breaks between games. We did get the outdoor misting system going for cooling down the players … much appreciated by everyone … it kept us going.
The tournament ended with only one team winning three games, and that was Chris Slade with his partner Brian Sandercock …well done, Chris. After that, three teams ended with two game wins. The second- and third-place teams were determined by point differential.
The winners were:
1st place, Chris Slade with Brian Sandercock
2nd place, Stu Fraser with Robert Game
3rd place Ian Capon with Kory Swain
As always, behind the scenes, there were a lot of helpers. Garry Anderson did a great job in the kitchen with the tea/coffee and nibbles in the morning and during the day … thank you, Garry. Ian Capon took care of the bar, ensuring we were all well-hydrated. Andrew Harley and Jennifer Harley for providing support for registration and scoring. And we must not forget Gloria Brown, who took the photos and Annette Lyon for publicity on the website. All-in-all, a great day with no calls to the ambulance service … thank goodness!
We have donated $60 to the kitchen and $40 to the club, paid out of the entry fees.
Article by Andrew Harley, Tournament Manager
Photos by Gloria Brown
