This week’s Scotch doubles saw 9 half-random pairs pile into the club:

Ali and Khan
Tash and Henri (2)
Hassan and Peter
Konstantin and Ciaran
Cip and Andy C
Spencer and Sean
Martin and Saman
Andrew P and Erwin
Martinho and Glen (1)

Hassan Mehedi impersonated So Shaw in arriving over 90 minutes late so Andrew Phan stepped in for him.

The only pre-round saw second seeds (9/4 to win) Tash and Henri smash up Ali and Khan, 5-2, banishing them to the loser’s bracket.

Quarter final of the winner’s side and pre-tournament second seeds, Tash and Henri storm to another drubbing (5-1), this time over Andrew and Peter.

Bookies favourites, coming in at 2/1 for the title, Martinho Correia and Glen Hargreaves, grilled Andrew and Erwin, 5-3, whilst Spencer and Sean feasted on the scraps left by Cip and Andy C,
toppling them 5-3.

On table 2, Martin “three foul rule” Leonar and the mighty Saman struggled against Konstantin and Ciaran, who swept past them quietly, 5-2.

In the loser’s side, Ali and Khan overcame Martin and Saman, and then Andrew P was to thwart himself (I think?) in a 5-4 tug-of-war, leaving his pairing with Ervin ready for the next round but the Pirate, Peter Hsu, dead in the water.

Ali and Khan tussled on the Brunswick to outsmart a tired and restless Cip and Andy, both unable to hit more than a good shot in three – Andy Banks dogging the last 9 ball at hill-hill. Twerp.

In the winner’s side semis, we saw the clash of the top seeds – a battle of the ages. The key game, 4-3 down, Martinho and Glen couldn’t manage to hold it together to stop Tash and Henri from sinking the final 9, winning 5-3.

Another close one saw Spencer and Sean succumb to Ciaran and Konstantin, 5-3, who were clearly communicating well by this stage - you could see it as a jolly pairing, Konstantin’s jokes keeping things light - leaving the winner’s final (actually the semi final because it’s double elimination) between Tash and Henri, and pre-tournament mid-runners (5/2), Konstantin and Ciaran.

The loser’s side continued with Martinho and Glen taking down Ali and Khan 5-2, Glen playing especially well, as Spencer and Sean zinged past Andrew and Erwin, 5-1.

Table 4 was set for the loser’s semi between the favourites, and Spencer and Sean, and it wasn’t going to disappoint…Martinho and Glen anyway. The two of them worked well together, expecting perfection of themselves - as Martinho always does - and delivering, hopscotching over Spencer and Sean 5-0, setting up the clash of the titans.

Martinho and Glen dug in and marred Tash and Henri’s hopes of a final against the sneaky Konstantin and crafty Ciaran, in their re-match, nailing Tash and Henri by the scoreline of the day: 5-3.

Revenge by double-elim sword. Cutting.

War-torn and bedraggled from the marathon against their top rivals, Martinho and Glen stumbled confidently into the iron curtain of Konstantin and Ciaran, who summoned their inner demons to cast aside Correia the Jordie’s best strikes and take the title, by, yes, 5 frames to 3.

That’s two consecutive finals in a row for Martinho Correia, who we could expect to see up with ‘the big four’ (Ram; Tash; Rod; Daniel) in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.

Well done Konstantin you ninja duck! Nicely sliced, Ciaran - wouldn’t want to be in your group on Wednesdays.

Until next time.

Additional notes: Please be aware that ranking points do not count for "special" weeks like the Scotch Doubles events.  Therefore, there are no changes to ranking points and positions. 

And finally, any mistakes made over the past few weeks are entirely of Andy Curzon's doing.  Please direct all social media abuse at him.