Seven pairs took part this year with the two visiting partnerships contesting the final. Last  years winners Simon McFarland and Clare Courtney (Ward Park)  met Chris Ganacias and Christine Duncan from Civil Service in the decider. The Civil Service pair took the title with a 6-2 win in the final. It was the second Dee Open title in four years for Christine, who also won in 2003 playing with Phillip O' Neill.

The Dee contingent composed Alan Beggs/Vicky Maguire, Brian and Pauline Mawhinney, Jonathan Rea and Lesley Crowther, Dessie Mullan/Denise Smyth, and Trevor and Alison Octave. The event was played as a round robin tournament with everyone getting at least six sets of action with the top two pairs reaching the final. Despite a turnout in pairings only half the size of last year, the weather again came up trumps on a humid sort of day. Those present enjoyed a barbecue followed by ice cream and the Council Shield was presented to the winners at 5.30pm.

Donaghadee Festival Pairs Tournament.....

These are the names on the original shield which Ards Borough Council presented the club for our annual Open Day competition (usually played in early August). In past years the event coincided with the Donaghadee town festival although this has not always been the case in more recent times. The competition has attracted as many as 25 pairings and lasts throughout the day with a round robin format giving way to semi-finals and the final itself. The matches themselves are usually  played on a basis of short sets as on one occasion- before the floodlights arrived-  darkness fell at 9.00pm while the final was still in progress!

Visitors have generally fared better in the history of the event although Eric Browett/Anne Magee and Stephen McCausland/Margaret Jardine from Donaghadee have triumphed in the latter years.

2005 Tournament...                                           Ward Park duo win the Open......

2004 Tournament...

Alan Campbell and Carol Boyd from the Boat Club won this years event beating local pair Davy Clegg/Denise Smyth 6-4 in the final. The traditional bright sunny day attracted 13 pairings from clubs as diverse as Rendezvous, the Boat Club, CIYMS and Gilnahirk but a couple of late withdrawals meant the three groups of five format was shelved in favour of two groups of seven and six pairs respectively. This meant a lot of matches which continued right through the lunchtime barbecue.

Davy Verner and possible new member Susie Adair put in an excellent showing to reach the Semi-Finals, as did Brian and Pauline Mawhinney (previous finalists in this event) who ran the eventual winners very close in their deciding match.

Group A: C Boyd/A Campbell 36, D Verner/S Adair 32, J Rea/K Humphries 31, McCausland/Magrath 30, McFarland/Moore 22, Gould/Buller 22, Moore/Noteman 12.

Group B: Clegg/Smyth 30, B&P Mawhinney 26, McGimpsey/Parke 25, Birch/Earley 17, Wilkinson/Morrison 16, Lewis/Martin 16.

Semi finals: D Clegg/D Smyth beat D Verner/S Adair 6-3,

C Boyd/A Campbell beat B and P  Mawhinney 6-4,

Final: C Boyd/A Campbell beat D Clegg/D Smyth 6-4.

The Council Shield and the winning cheques were handed over by tennis club President Mrs Yvonne Mercer.

Thanks are due to all who helped particularly Kevin (bbq master), our Club President Mrs Mercer and daughter Jan, the Committee folk Denise, Davy, Gail and Treasurer Sheila who collected the entry money.

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