Championship Pairs @ Oxford

Report

REDCAR clinched their second Championship Pairs title in three years as they defeated hosts Oxford in a dramatic Final at Cowley.

Danny King and Charles Wright were victorious for the Bears having held the advantage for most of the race until Wright was involved in a crash with Cheetahs captain Scott Nicholls at the end of the third lap.

The referee deemed Nicholls to be the cause of the incident meaning the Bears had won the meeting.

Earlier, holders Glasgow had topped the qualifying scores before being beaten by Redcar in the semi-final, whilst Oxford progressed to the Final by knocking out Poole.

King said: “It’s been a tough night for us and it hasn’t all gone our way. We had to work hard all night and it’s obviously great to be stood on the top step.

“It was a shame that it ended how it did, but there was some good racing and it worked in our favour, so I’m really proud.”

CHAMPIONSHIP PAIRS, Oxford
QUALIFYING SCORES:
GLASGOW 26: Anders Rowe 14, Chris Harris 12
OXFORD 24: Sam Masters 14, Scott Nicholls 10
POOLE 22: Richard Lawson 13, Ben Cook 9
REDCAR 20: Charles Wright 14, Danny King 6
SCUNTHORPE 17: Michael Palm Toft 9, Kyle Howarth 8
EDINBURGH 17: Josh Pickering 15, Paco Castagna 2
BERWICK 13: Lewis Kerr 10, Drew Kemp 3
PLYMOUTH 12: Dan Thompson 9, Ben Barker 3
WORKINGTON 11: Troy Batchelor 7, Antti Vuolas 4

SEMI-FINAL 1: Redcar beat Glasgow 7-2
SEMI-FINAL 2: Oxford beat Poole 7-2
FINAL: Redcar beat Oxford 7-2

OFFICIAL REFEREE SCORECARD
Available here

Photo credit: STEVE EDMUNDS