The end-of-season Juan Kelly Cup competition was hosted by Marown Bowling Club recently, with 62 pairs participating, writes Glynn Hargraves.

Now in its fourth year it proved more popular than ever, with some interesting pairings making use of the handicap system.

The event was played over three qualifying nights, with two pairs qualifying on Sunday evening and three more pairs qualifying on Monday and Tuesday evening to reach the quarter-finals.

The format was any combination doubles, played over 15 ends with ends five, 10 and 15 played as ’power’ ends with the points scored counting double.

The pairs were given a handicap based on their rankings in the men’s and women’s game. If scores were tied after 15 ends a one-bowl shootout took place to decide the winners.

On the Sunday evening 16 pairs played their qualifier, followed by 23 more on both the Monday and Tuesday evenings.

The finals were held on the Wednesday evening, with a re-draw taking place to determine who the pairings would play on the night. The venue’s floodlights came into good use for the entire duration of the competition.

Losing quarter-finalists were home greeners Colin Kelly and Juan Killip, who were comfortably beaten 15-24 by clubmates Walter McCarthy and Darren Kerruish.

Kim Hargraves and Austin Hart (South Ramsey) lost heavily 11-29 to Sue Gawne (Onchan) and Brian Kelly (Marown).

In the other half of the draw, Ryan and Glynn Hargraves (South Ramsey) cruelly lost out on the last end 17-18 to Phil Kerruish (Onchan) and Andy Foster (Douglas), while Philippa Taylor (Marown) and Alec Taylor (Peel) lost 16-18 to Derek Allen (Port Erin) and Bernie McPhee (Onchan).

The semi-finals proved comfortable for both pairings that reached the final with Gawne and Kelly winning 25-7 over McCarthy and Kerruish, while Kerruish and Foster claimed a 20-13 victory over Allen and McPhee.

The final was well-contested with both pairings off the same handicap of four. There was little to choose between the teams.

Kerruish and Foster worked hard to build up a four-point lead (18-14) with 14 ends played. With Gawne and Kelly lying one on the last end, only another counting bowl would do to tie the match.

Kelly played a wonder bowl to count for two, which doubled up to four points with the last end being a ’power’ end. This tied the match at 18-18 with the final going to its first ever one-bowl shootout.

Kelly/Gawne won the toss and Kelly sent the jack into the corner with his first bowl more than a yard away.

Kerruish fell short of beating it in a thrilling conclusion to the final, resulting in Sue and Brian claiming their first open competition success as a pairing.

At the conclusion of play the presentation was made by Phil Kelly, who thanked Juan Kelly for once again sponsoring the competition, the women for providing and serving the refreshments over the four nights, the players for entering, and all those who came along to support.