he first rounds of the Pairs Competition were held at Wilmcote last Thursday. There was four preliminary matches, the stars of which were Steve Ray and Alison McMillan who set a record when they both shot mini possibles with two clean bulls for 25.2 points each which gave them an excellent win against Paul Onions and Marc Anderton. However, they came unstuck in the next round when they lost by three points to Andy Smith who was on form shooting 25.3 and Will Cemis.

Bill Gately and Steve Hodges won their preliminary match but lost when they shot against Sammy Skye Unitt and Paul Clingan who will meet Smith and Cemis in the next round.

The Clarke brothers, Adam and Jamie won their match against Chris Green and Benn Chamberlain. They went on to win again when Jamie Clarke made maximum points hitting five clean bulls for 25.5 points against Chris Reed and Michelle Dale. They will meet Paul Lowe and Steve Parrack in the next round who saw off a challenge from Bill Fleming and Sam Green.

Tim Stephens partnered Alan Brookes who hit a five dirty bull mini possible in the fourth preliminary match against Derek Powers and Roger Shaw. This was enough to take them into the next round where they met Karl McMillan and Richard Groom. This match resulted in a draw with both pairs shooting 45.3 points requiring a re-match but this was held over until the competition resumes. The winners will meet Lester Langford and Andrew Clingan who got a bye into the quarter final.

Partnered by Alan Crichton, James Wilby who was also on form, shooting a mini possible with just one dirty bull for 25.4 points, eliminated Gary Hooper and John Parrott. They will meet Ashleigh Clarke and Graham East in the next round after their win against Alan Dyer and Neil Beningfield. The competition will be played to its conclusion on 31 March.

Report by Juana Everett, to be published on 10th March 2016