A total of 28 league players split into 14 doubles pairs lined up at the NSC last Wednesday to take part in the annual Isle of Man Table Tennis Association Fun Doubles tournament.

Players were allocated their playing partners in accordance with their division and league ranking.

It’s an opportunity for the juniors and lower ranked players to play alongside, and against, higher ranked players, hopefully picking up tips and advice on how to improve their game.

All matches were competitive, but all were played in a friendly and fun manner in the spirit of this event.

Group A

In group A, Adrian Slater and Darren Shaw achieved five wins and therefore went through to the semi-finals as winners of the group, with Steve Curtis and Grant Patterson the runners-up with four wins.

In a key match, Slater and Shaw pipped Curtis and Patterson in three ends 8/11, 11/5, 11/9.

The eventual winners were pushed hardest perhaps in their match against Sonja Shaw and Jackie Gill who narrowly lost 11/9, 9/11, 12/14.

Also on four wins were Ken Mitchell and Eben Moore, but they missed out on the runners-up spot as they lost to Curtis and Patterson.

Mark Webster-Smith and Geoff Burchill finished in fourth place with three wins, with Malcolm Lambert and Liav Lanin, Shaw and Gill, plus Kevin Drewry and Luke Begley all providing tough competition.

Group B

Group B was equally hard fought, with Sasha Thomas and Bob Borland eventually emerging as group winners with five wins out of six games.

Also on five wins were Geoff Ball and Lisa Lord, but they finished as runners-up as a result of the fact that they lost out to Thomas and Borland 10/12, 8-11.

Malc Lewis and Margaret Forsyth achieved four wins but it was not quite enough to get them through.

Their match against Thomas and Borland was particularly close, with the group winners narrowly taking it 13/11, 4/11, 16/14. This match was pivotal to the eventual placings.

Neil Quane and Pat Halliwell, Darren Smethurst and Anil Paul, Neil Ronan and Maurice Campbell, plus Maggie Mulhern and Keith Herrington were the other pairings in this group who all ensured each match was hard-fought.

Semi-finals

In the group A runners-up event, Ramsey team-mates Ball and Lord summoned up all their experience to edge past Slater and Shaw (also of Ramsey Table Tennis Club) 12/10 in the first end, before Slater and Shaw stormed back 11/7 in the second end.

The third end was very close, with Ball’s backhand appearing to be a decisive factor and they emerged as winners with a scoreline of 12/10.

In the second semi-final match, Thomas and Borland ‘lost their mojo’ somewhat, after being ground down by the determined and experienced pairing of Curtis and Patterson - the scoreline being 14/16, 6/11.

Final

Ball and Lord were dominant in the final against Curtis and Patterson who were unable to repeat their heroics from the semi-final and could not gain a foothold in the match. They eventually fell to a triumphant Ball and Lord 5/11, 7/11.

The winning pairing combined cautious play with some well-executed attacking shots to great effect.

Their success demonstrates just how much experience and knowledge of one’s partner’s game is key to success at doubles - and great credit goes to Ball and Lord for this magnificent win.

KEN MITCHELL