Ryde entered two teams into the Southern Croquet Federation ‘Solstice’ Doubles Level Play Tournament, at Hamptworth last week; the combined handicap of each pair had to be six or higher.

The Ryde A pair was Debbi Hayns and Jim O’Keefe, and the Ryde B team comprised of Steve Hayns and Joan Grove. The defending champions were Jim and Joan, having won the event on home ground last year, but they decided to break the partnership to produce two strong teams with well-matched low handicaps.

On the day, 16 highly competitive teams turned out – and, like the Ryde teams, most clubs had picked their players to produce pairs with handicaps at six or seven. In the morning both Ryde pairs emerged as comfortable winners of their round-robins, thereby qualifying for the quarter-finals. In the first quarter-final, Jim and Debbi lost 7-6 to Eynsham, who eventually finished third. In their quarter-final, Steve and Joan beat Hamptworth 7-3, before restoring club pride by beating the Eynsham pair 7-5. In the final they lost out to East Dorset pair, Keith Southern and Tim Hughes, in a tense match 7-4.