It was a busy weekend of pairs in Norfolk as the Norfolk County Pairs/National Qualifier was held at Hingham on Sunday while the previous day the Over 55’s National Qualifier was also held at the same venue. Morgan Warnes & Gary Best of Bob Carter reached the County Pairs final displaying excellent form all day. After qualifying from their group they defeated Jenny Walker of Thorpe Marriott and Sheila Bragg of Connaught 11-6. The quarter-finals saw an all Bob Carter affair as Warnes & Best faced Nigel Willard & Melvin Woods with a close encounter finishing 8-7 in favour of Warnes & Best. The semi-final saw them up against Jason Woods of Carter and David Lamb of Halvergate but the close game expected did not happen as Morgan Warnes & Gary Best romped to a 15-1 win with their opponents conceding with two ends left to play. Kerry Greenacre of Hempnall and Selwyn Goldsmith of Hevingham struggled to qualify from the group stages and needed a big win in their last game to secure the runner-up spot in group F. The first knock-out round saw them face Owen Cranston of County Council and Chris Mann of Wymondham with Mann looking to be the first player to win the title three years in a row. This was not to be though as Greenacre & Goldsmith scored a convincing 12-4 win. In the quarter-finals they played Halvergate’s father and son duo Ray & Robbie Lamb and beat them by 11-3 with the last end not played. The semi-finals saw Greenacre and Goldsmith playing Simon Warnes of Horsford BC and Keith Cooke of Halvergate. After a close game Goldsmith’s pair led by two shots going into the final end and with Cooke’s pair only taking a single they secured a 6-5 win in a low scoring game. In the final Morgan Warnes and Gary Best, who finished runners-up last season in their first Norfolk County Pairs Final, were looking for their first County pairs title. Kerry Greenacre and Selwyn Goldsmith had won the title together in 2015/16 and Goldsmith had previously won the title in 1997/98, 2003/04 & 2004/05 with Teresa Goldsmith. Warnes & Best took their superb form from the semi-final and picked up where they had left off eventually winning the final by 10-4 with the last end not played. The play-off for third place was won by Simon Warnes and Keith Cooke who beat Jason Woods and David Lamb by 13-5. The trophies were presented to the winners and runners-up by NCSMBA Vice-President Bob Oatway.
Gary Best & Morgan Warnes - Norfolk County Pairs Champions
Selwyn Goldsmith & Kerry Greenacre - Runners-up