National Championships-Men's Doubles

940-sets a piece from Dave English and Sean McDonnell saw the pair take the Men's Doubles gold at the National Championships on Sunday morning.

English almost made it the perfect session when he rolled eleven strikes in-a-row in game three, only to hit light on the head pin to leave the 2 and 8 pins standing for a 298 game.

A combined 470 in game one was the ideal platform for English and McDonnell to mount their challenge, although a 398 in game two did put a temporary dent in their attempts to claim gold.

However, McDonnell backed up English's 298 in game three with a 225 of his own before a classy performance in game four saw him shoot a vital 267. English finished off his set with a 227 to post a total of 941 for the four games. McDonnell's 944 saw the pair finish on a combined total of 1885 to seal the gold.

Elsewhere, a massive 989 from Alan Gibbons was only enough to see him and his teammate Graham Turner take the silver medal, witht the bronze going to the team of Stephen O'Connor and Paul Stott.

Gibbons and Turner had lead the event after two games, postin scores of 481 and 482. Despite remaining consistent in games three and four (posting scores of 450 and 436) they were ultimately unable to hold off the challenge of English and McDonnell.

However, Gibbons' 247.25 average for the four games did see him take the overall lead in the All Events. His total for the nine games so far is 2091, a 232.33 average overall. He leads Paul Stott by 35 pins in the standings, with triple-bronze medalist so far Stephen O'Connor siting in the familiar position of third, 23 pins further back from Stott.

Dave English's 941 in the doubles saw him jump  from eleventh to fourth in the All Events standings. Alan Bride sits in fifth on a total of 1967, 124 pins of the lead. The top ten is completed by Fran Puzzoli, John Wilson, Darragh McLoughlin, Tom Byrne and Graham Turner.

The cut for the top ten, which will eventually be the number who make the All Events final, curently sits at 1926, a 214 average. The nearest contender for the top ten is Nickey O'Malley, 58 pins off the cut. Keith Monahan sits just one pin further back, with the gap then widening significantly to Simon English , who sits 13th on a 199.67 average, 129 pins of the top ten cut.

The championships continue on Friday February 25th at 7.30 pm with the trios event. The Five-man event, which is the final event before the All Events final, takes place on Saturday mornig at 9 am. Overall there are six games remaining for competitors to force their way into the ten-man All Events final.

As ever Bowltalk will keep you up-to-date with all the scores and news from the championships, so make sure to log on regularly. Photos and videos from the first weekend of the tournament will be posted in mid-week, including footage from the final frame of Alan Bride's 300 game in the Men's singles.