Sean Doherty won the AC All-England

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Sean Doherty (Ealing) holding the All-England Cup with the other finalists.

The final of the All-England AC handicap competition was contested at Blewbury over the weekend of 21-22 September 2024. The weather forecast was ominous - thunderbolts and lightning (very, very frightening) - but in the end we had some rain that did not stop play at any point.

Eight players had made it through the first round and the area finals. They are:

Brian Jamieson, Blewbury (10)

Charles Briggs, Caversham (14)

Colin Carver, Enfield (22)

David Graham, Ealing (11)

Diana Wilson, Roehampton (2.5)

Margaret Murray, Kingston Langley (11)

Peter Rothwell, Wrest Park (3.5)

Sean Doherty, Ealing (12)

The tournament was played as a five-round Swiss. There were plenty of close games with exciting finishes and once the tussles were over, three players emerged on four out of five wins. These were Colin Carver, Margaret Murray, and Sean Doherty. Inevitably, who beat whom did not break the tie, so the next step was to look at the 'quality of wins'. This eliminated Colin, and since Sean had beaten Margaret, Sean was the winner. This is all the more creditable since Sean forgot to bring his mallet on Sunday and played with a mallet borrowed from Carol Jamieson.