The weekend past saw the first round of the 2009 Ladies Doubles Tournament. Ten pairs registered for the event which would see 4 round robins contested over the two days, culminating in the top four qualifying for the next weekend’s playoff for the State Title.
The Ladies Doubles would have to be my favourite event, and this weekend proved no different with the whole round played in a great spirit, all players clearly showing the enjoyment of the game is just as important as the outcome.
Cindy Blackmore and Nicole Welsh came in as two time defending champions, with 6 of the last 9 titles to their name. But no ladies pair has done the “threepeat” yet. Les Otuhouma found a new partner this year in Ann Peffer, as Les hoped to add to her 2006 victory, while Ann was hoping to go one better than her runner up spot last year with Cath Jones. Cath paired up with Heather Robertson, while the remaining pairs were Alison Murphy and Theresa Skipper, BJ Frost and Mel de Mestre, Ellie Amerikow and Jennifer Everett, Jacinta Snajdar and Melissa Kelly, Kat Fischer and Penny Foudolis, Lee Love and Shelly Massey and Lissi Chapelli and Olivia Ott.
Ann & Les started with strong round, knocking down 7 frames out of 9, but Cindy & Nicole were equal to task, claiming 7 for themselves. Strong rounds from Cath & Heather (6), Alison & Theresa (5) and Lee & Shelley (5) followed them closely in a tight bunch.
Round 2 saw the group tighten up, with Ann & Les and Cindy & Nicole dropping back slightly. Alison & Theresa hit a strong 7 frames to grab a share of second with Ann & Les, one frame behind the defending champs. A solid round of 6 saw BJ & Mel move into equal 4th with Cath & Heather, while Kat & Penny and Lissi & Olivia sat 2 frames behind in equal 6th.
An unfortunate bug hit Jennifer’s family which led to her and Ellie withdrawing from Sunday’s play. While they had only won 5 frames on the first day, they had defeated two pairs in both rounds, which effectively gave Kat & Penny and Lissi & Olivia a bonus as all Ellie & Jennifer’s frames were declared void. This resulted in 4 pairs tied for 4th, changing the dynamics in a significant way.
Kat & Penny seemed to run with their luck and hit a strong 6 from 8 in round 3, moving them into equal second from seemingly nowhere, as Alison & Theresa and Ann & Les struggled to 4 frames each to share the second with them. Lissi & Olivia grabbed 4 also to move into 5th, but BJ & Mel and Cath & Heather could only manage 3 to slip back to equal 6th on 11 frames. Behind them Lee & Shelley sat on 9 and Jacinta & Melissa had managed 4. But Cindy & Nicole had had their Weet Bix that morning and hit a rare perfect round of 8 to jump 5 frames clear on 19, their spot in the 4 all but locked in.
Jacinta & Melissa had played well but their 2 frames in round 4 left them in 9th place on 6 wins, with Lee & Shelley unable to grab a win in the last round and finishing 8th on 9 frames. The battle for the four was tightening up in front of them, but BJ & Mel and Cath & Heather couldn’t quite make up the gap their 3rd round created, and they finished 6th and 7th respectively on 15 and 14 frames.
Cindy & Nicole, the class of the field on the day, snared another 7 frames to finish an incredible 26 and 6, including 15 and 1 on the Sunday. Ann & Les were never really in danger either as they hit their straps early in round 4 to hit 6 wins and snare 2nd place on 20 frames. The self dubbed “Team Coco” had kept the adjudicators entertained (although Scrol did cop a well-deserved beating from Ann’s quick wit) and they easily grabbed a top four spot.
So it was left to a battle for the last 2 top four spots between three pairs, all aiming for a first go at the title. The pairs behind them had fought hard to pick off a few frames and obviously the leaders had taken a few as well, so it was no surprise that it was a tight struggle for those two spots. Kat & Penny finished first and finished well, but 4 frames gave them a total of 18 and Alison & Theresa and Lissi & Olivia still had the last frame to play. Alison & Theresa sat equal with Kat & Penny, with Lissi & Olivia just one frame behind, and a win would force a three way playoff. One of those great “everybody’s watching so it’s going to be really tight” frames ensued, with Olivia presented with a difficult shot on the black. She managed to pot a great shot, but knocked in her opponent’s ball and gave 3rd place to Alison & Theresa, with Kat & Penny also dodging the playoff bullet and finishing 4th.
So a great weekend saw a different looking top 4 emerge, once again showing the depth ACTEBA is currently enjoying. Well done to the Top 4 and good luck for next weekend.
(Match report from the Top Four will be posted tomorrow)
Click below for the full results:
http://www.acteba.com.au/downloads/2009_ladies_doubles_results.pdf
