Nineteen players registered to compete in the SPA Singles Championship on Saturday 15 July, held at Inverleith PC.  Derek Adam emerged victorious and in doing so finally completed a full set of lifelong SPA titles.  Derek and Lynn Jenkins, the highest placed female player, will be invited to represent Scotland at the 2018 European Singles Championships.

2017 Singles Results

The SPA Shooting title was also up for grabs on the Saturday, with players asked to register qualification scores in breaks between singles games.  The four best players after the qualifying rounds were entered into seeded semi finals.  Colin Stewart beat Derek Adam in Semi 1 and Kevin Johnstone beat Johnny Wilson in Semi 2.  The 3rd and 4th playoff was cut short due to poor weather, with Johhny  taking 3rd.  In the final Colin rushed into an early lead which Kevin couldn’t quite make up for in the later rounds, allowing Colin to take the title.

2017 Shooting Results

The SPA Doubles Title was contested on the Sunday, with 14 teams registering.  Robbie Stronach and Johnny Wilson thrived in the sunshine, beating all in their path to take the title.  Mags and Colin Montgomery finished second while Derek Adam and Colin Stewart took third place.

2017 Doubles Results

Many thanks to Inverleith PC for hosting the event with their usual warm hospitality.

The SPA now has its own formal umpires training and qualification structure and invited International Umpire Mike Pegg  to deliver and umpire’s course and set an exam on the weekend of 8 and 9 July at Inverleith.

Following the course and examination, the following qualifications have been awarded:

• Mags Montgomery – SPA Senior Umpire
• Colin Montgomery – SPA Umpire
• Derek Adam – SPA Umpire
• Colin Stewart – SPA Umpire

Congratulations to all of the successful candidates and commiserations to those who didn’t quite make it this time.  The qualified umpires will now form the SPA Umpires Committee which will oversee the development and improvement of umpiring in Scotland.

Once again, 18 teams registered to contest the final Grand Prix of 2017 at Troon, the results of which would determine who would win the Grand Prix Series, the eight teams which will represent Scotland at next year’s Home Nations and the twelve teams that will progress to the Scottish Masters in September.

The competition was won by Maboule who beat all in their path. The Sex Pisteols capped off a consistent GP Series with second place (4 wins) and third was claimed Triaxle (also 4 wins).

The Grand Prix Series was won by Triaxle, second were the Sex Pisteols and third place was secured by the 3 Bears.  The full final standings are shown below.  Congratulations to all all the qualifying teams and commiserations to those who missed out this time.

We’d also like to congratulate Vivien Poka who we awarded the ‘Most Improved Junior’ award for her great play during the Grand Prix Series.  And finally, a very Happy Birthday to Ernie Burden of Apolojays who played in the Grand Prix on his 90th birthday – what an inspiration.

Once again, 18 teams registered for the next instalment of the SPA Grand Prix Series, this time hosted by Perth PC on Sunday 14 May.

Play took a familiar turn, with Triaxle emerging victorious once more with a perfect 6 wins.  Pretty Vacant were second with 5 wins and the Sex Pisteols were third with 4 wins.

Grand Prix 2 Result

Grand Prix Standings After 2 Rounds

Triaxle – Grand Prix 2 Winners

Eighteen teams registered to compete in the first Grand Prix of 2017, played at Inverleith PC on Sunday 23rd April.  It is encouraging to see a number of newcomers to Grand Prix (and some veteran returners too!).  The usual six round ‘Swiss Ladder’ with time limited games format continues for Grand Prix this year.

The competition was won by Triaxle – Emma Montgomery, Paul Fletcher, Kevin Johnstone and Jimmy Johnstone – with 5 wins from 6.  Following closely behind (just one point) was the Sex Pisteols – Robbie Stronach, Derek Adam and John Wilson – 5 wins.  Third with 4 wins was the 3 Bears – Alec Davie, Gavin Hillson and Mike Watt.

The next Grand Prix is in Perth on 14 May.

Grand Prix 1 Result

Grand Prix Series Standings After 1 Round

Inverleith PC went head-to-head with Fochabers PC on Sunday 2nd April at Perth PC’s terrain to decide which club would take Scotland’s place in the 2017 EuroCup for clubs. The qualifier followed the format of one EuroCup match, with 6 Singles games, 3 Doubles and 2 Triples.  2 Match Points were awarded for a Singles win, 3 for Doubles and 5 for Triples.  The winning club would be the one who accumulated the most Match Points.

The Singles matches were shared at 3 wins each, meaning the match was tied after the first round:

Inverleith won 2 out of the 3 Doubles matches, meaning they took a 3 point lead into the Triples round:

The triples were a tense affair and, with Fochabers winning the first of the Triples games 13-6, it all came down to the final match.  The Inverleith triple of Mags, Monty and Matt overcame a strong start by Fochabers’ Lynn, Shirley and Alec to take the win 13-11.  Leaving the final score Fochabers 14 Inverleith 17.

Inverleith now wait for the draw to determine where they will travel to and who their opponents will be for the EuroCup Qualifying Round in July.  Many congratulations to Inverleith and commiserations to Fochabers for coming so close.

Inverleith PC – Scotland’s EuroCup team 2017