Shropshire Star

Doubles winners swap their titles over one year on

Last year’s title winners in the Tanners Shropshire League’s Team Doubles swapped places this time around.

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Castlefields, winners of the 2018 consolation final, went one better by beating Old Shrewsbury on Meole Brace No.2 to win the main competition.

And last season’s main title winners, Crescent, this time won the consolation final with victory over Prince of Wales Hotel on Meole No.1 at the same time on Saturday night.

Carl Martin & Luke Jones with a 21-9 card led the way for Castlefields, with captain Karl Jones dedicating the win to late club president Alan Rogers, who helped start up the team. The Crescent team included Rogers’ grandson, Mark Rogers, and he and Mark Harris won 21-4 in a clean sweep against the Prince.

At last, Gary Whitehall has finally got over the line in the SPS Whitchurch League Merit in first place.

The Adderley stalwart has had a love-hate relationship with the league’s top individual title, losing in last year’s final to Tim Jordan, having suffered the same fate against Phil Scott the year before and being a losing semi-finalist in 2014.

But on Sunday at Chester Road the nightmare ended – just – as Whitehall edged a 21-20 thriller of a final against Allan Bailey of Woore. And his reward was a £250 first prize from one of the county’s biggest prize funds for a league Merit, thanks to the sponsorship of Robin Blackhurst Electrical Contractors.

Whitehall, now hoping he can get Adderley over the line in the first division championship race, was in cruise control as he beat Nigel Evans 21-7 in the semi-finals and Will Childs 21-4 in the last eight on a day when 22 entered.

Bailey’s semi-final victim was another Adderley man in Tom Hardy 21-15 and the other quarter-final scores were: Bailey 21 Dan Hazeldine 15, Hardy 21 Alan Boulton 13, Evans 21 Alex Hassall 9.