By Roger Stephens

THE first round of the Looe and District Pool League Open Doubles competition took place on Sunday, September 6.

Pairings were split into six groups of four, with a separate venue for each.

The top two would go through to the next round with matches played as best of three frames.

Group E was held at JJ’s and the first match saw Mike Busby and partner Jamie Wright take on Social pair Ian Bassett and Colin Bell who ran out 2-0 winners.

Darrell Hidson and partner Aaron Simmons were next on and beat Thiago Bond and Aaron Rix from JJ’s on their home table.

Bond and Rix were knocked out after losing 2-1 to Busby and Wright, while match four saw the two winners collide as Hidson and Simmons proved too strong to advance.

The last match was to decide the second pairing to go through, and it was the Harbour boys (Busby and Wright) that gained revenge for their defeat earlier in the night with a 2-0 victory.

The Marquee in Duloe was the venue for Group F which saw plenty of the league’s big guns.

Brothers Elliot and Adam Keen beat Chris ‘Woodsy’ Woods and Matt Gouriet from Harbour Sharks 2-1, while match two saw Interleague captain Luke Penhaligon and partner Will Doidge encounter Lewis Penhaligon and Tristan Cooper.

This one turned out to be a 2-0 victory for the more experienced Luke and Will.

Match three pitted ‘Woodsy’ and Matt against Lewis and Tristan, before the Harbour Sharks pair emerged victorious 2-1 to knock Lewis and Tristan out.

In a battle of the winners, Penhaligon and Doidge didn’t drop a set to go through, while in the battle to join them, which was a rematch of the first game of the night, the Keens won 2-1.