Julie Garriock and Keith Keldie win Mixed Doubles

Mixed Doubles finalists from Left to Right;

Kyran Taylor, Dana Sutherland, Julie Garriock and Keith Keldie

On Sunday 16^th September the Annual Mixed doubles tournament took place at the standing stones hotel with 10 doubles participating in a very competitive event. The competition was a good opportunity for players to practice for both the upcoming pool league season and for Orkney players who are heading to the Islands blackball association in Falkirk later this week. The format of the event with a high number of entries was to randomly draw 2 groups of 5 to play in a round robin with the top 2 teams in each group advancing to the semi final stage.

Group A was made up of the Doubles; Rachael Sutherland and Darren Tait, Julie Garriock and Keith Keldie, Laura Harcus and Liam Harcus, Biz Seatter and Euan Brown and finally Leanne Spence and Gary Chalmers

Group B consisted of Sandra Mainland and Paul Robertson, Ann-Marie Keldie and Jamie Ross, Karen Brown and George Brown, Dana Sutherland and Kyran Taylor and finally Katherine Inkster and Brian Inkster.

In Group A last years winners Rachael Sutherland and Darren Tait topped their Group with Julie Garriock and Keith Keldie following in 2^nd place and advancing to the semi-finals.

In Group B the Battle for the top 2 was a closely fought contest with 3 teams battling it out in the final games of group B. In the end Sandra Mainland and Paul Robertson finished top of their group with Dana Sutherland and Kyran Taylor winning their final game to qualify for the semis.

In the Semi Finals Julie and Keith defeated Sandra and Paul 3-0 and booked their place in the final with some stellar performances from both players who worked very well together over the whole competition.

In the 2^nd Semi final Dana and Kyran overcame last year’s winners Rachael and Darren 3-1 in what was a nerve-racking game for both pairs.

In the Final that was a race to 4, Julie and Keith raced into a 2-0 lead quickly with some extremely good positional play in both frames. Dana and Kyran pulled the next frame back while Julie and Keith responded well to take the 4^th frame and go on the hill in the final. The next frame was well taken by Dana and Kyran to reduce the deficit to 1 and make the score line 3-2 to Julie and Keith. In the 6^th Frame both teams missed shots to take the frame however in the end Julie and Keith maintained their composure to take the frame and win the competition.

Many congratulations to Julie and Keith for winning the competition, many thanks also go to the Standing Stones hotel for use of the venue and pool tables and thank you to all the pairs who took part making a great competitive day of pool.

For those travelling away to the IBA good luck to all players and teams.