The island's premier doubles bowls competition, the Association Doubles Championship, was held at Marown Bowling Club on Sunday.

The competition was played 21-up off a handicap of +3 for all competitors. The event was well supported, with 26 pairs entering in a bid to win the coveted title.

At the quarter-final stage, the home pairing of Matthew Keggen and Paul Kelly eased to a 21-11 win over Noble’s pair Jim Callister and Alex Yates.

Another home pairing - Colin Kelly and Peter Jones - won by a bigger margin, 21-6 against Breagle Glen pair Wayne Roberts and Trevor Quayle who had just put out the current holders Glynn Hargraves and Jamie Box (South Ramsey/Marown) in the previous round.

In the other half of the draw it was an all-South Ramsey affair, with John Kennish and Bradford up against Tony Hart and Lee Dawson, as the former pair went on to win 21-14.

Having trailed 9-12, Kennish and Bradford scored four threes in five ends to secure a 21-14 win.

The closest tie of the quarter-finals was between Jordan Cain and Matthew Quirk (South Ramsey/Onchan), who were up against Marown pair Paul Dunn and Neil Withers.

The home pairing led 17-11 after 13 ends, only for their opponents to close the deficit to two chalks at 18-20. Dunn and Withers went on to pick up the one chalk needed to secure a 21-18 win to advance to the next round.

In the semi-finals an all-home tie took place, with Matthew Keggen and Paul Kelly facing Colin Kelly and Peter Jones, the latter pair securing their second consecutive single-figure win as they cruised to a 21-9 victory to book their spot in the final.

In the second semi-final, Kennish and Bradford had a tougher game but were always in control against Dunn and Withers as they eased their way to a 21-12 win.

The final got underway with Kennish and Bradford - having won the title for the first four years - looking to get their fifth win to match Withers and Dunn.

This while Kelly and Jones were looking to pick up their maiden win in this competition, with only three different pairs winning the title over the first 10 years the competition has been played.

With the rain getting heavier, conditions worsened throughout the final in what was a low scoring match, with only five doubles scored during the entire match and the rest of the scoring ends being singles.

Kelly and Jones favoured the corners, while Kennish and Bradford preferred a shorter length. After five ends the South Ramsey pair had built up a four-chalk lead to put the score at 9-5.

The Marown men responded to win seven of the following nine ends in their favoured corners to lead 13-11.

Getting back in on the following end, with Kennish put up good lead bowls to keep the pressure on, the South Ramsey pair went on to win nine of the last 11 ends.

Therefore they claimed a 21-15 win to secure the title for the first time since 2019, deservedly picking up title number five in this competition.

The presentation was made by competition committee member Brian Kelly who thanked Marown Bowling Club for providing refreshments throughout the day, everyone who had helped with the smooth running of the competition and those who had entered.

GLYNN HARGRAVES