The semi-finals have finished & the finalists are just eating their lunch. As usual, the catering is excellent at The Ripon Spa Hotel.

The Manager had correctly identified the top four seeds. They played final games in their blocks on Saturday evening, deciding their positions in the knockout draw and then won their respective quarter-finals on Sunday morning, although Ryan & Richard and Jacob & Mike had some scares in theirs before each won to 8 hoops. Sue & Lionel were comfortable 10-4 winners; Freda & Tim also had few difficulties in being victorious 10-5.

In the lower semi-final, Freda & Tim started slightly nervously and were soon 1-3 down. From that point on, everything was relatively close with Richard being very accurate on length and Tim running hoops cleanly. Nothing much went for Freda & Tim and Ryan & Richard kept playing steadily, winning the first game 7-4 and the second 7-5.

The upper semi-final had far more twists and turns. Sue & Lionel were relatively comfortable in taking the first 7-5. Jacob had been somewhat over-anxious at hoops, not running them at his smooth best. But in the second game, Jacob & Mike played better and eventually won 7-6. The deciding game had further ebb and flow. Jacob went for a 5-yard jump shot at 2, peeled Sue through and soon Sue & Lionel went 3-0 up. They went 5-2 up with steady, good play. But Jacob then engineered a peeling opportunity at hoop 8, got his ball in the vicinity of hoop 9 and this was strong enough for Mike to eventually get into the jaws, which lead to them winning hoop 10 and levelling the scores. However, Sue & Lionel took hoop 11, before a battle lead to another levelling of the scores at 12. Sue then made the killer blow with an approach to 1 yard in front of 13 and when Mike straightened her shot up, Jacob was left with no way of stopping her running the hoop to win the match.

The final has started. Ryan is blue (Be), Lionel red (Rd), Richard black (Bk), Sue yellow (Yw).

Early exchanges leave Ryan with no option but to try a 7-yard hoop attempt from the south boundary. He hits the outside of the hoop. And three shots later Sue takes the first point. 1-0.

Ryan puts in a good approach to hoop 2. He than fails to stay in the jaws with a gentle attempt at the hoop. But Lionel misses a 5-yard clearance. Richard clears Sue to 20 yards. She hits Ryan from that position!

Richard is left with a 4-yard shot at 20 degrees. He plays for the jaws and is successful. Sue nudges him out. Ryan nestles against Lionel.

Richard runs from two feet. 1-1.

Sue approaches to deep angle. Ryan is very close having been sent across to onside position by Lionel but he only just grazes the Yw.

Richard fails to block Sue's shot at the hoop. She adds a 4-yard hoop to her storming start. 2-1.

After the approaches to hoop 4, Ryan only just grazes another clearance and Rd & Yw hold control of the hoop with both in front.

Richard manages to clear Yw onto Be, which was 12 yards away and adds another five yards to the shot! Ryan still hits Rd though. But this time the unluck is that the hoop keeps Rd in close vicinity. Lionel finds a wired position at two feet.

Richard gets into the jaws from 50 degrees and 4 yards away! Yw does not attempt the jump.

Lionel has the jump but only manages to kick Bk back to one yard. Richard runs. 2-2.

Sue puts Yw to 2 foot in front of hoop 5. Be has no approach, so comes off Rd to 6 yards in front, putting Rd off south boundary. Lionel plays Rd, which nestles against Yw!? Richard plays a superb Bk to a point betwen Yw and hoop. Lionel is left with little to do with Rd after Sue fails to move Yw with a delicate tap. Be approaches to good position. Freda Vitty goes on the referee ... the RoT stays commentating to keep you up to date with the result.

Lionel does a delicate roll that puts Rd where it is interfering with what Bk can do! Four balls all within two feet of the hoop!

Richard employs his usual technique which tells you he is going for the jaws. He succeeds. Sue is left with a simple clearance of Be, deciding not to attempt a close jump shot. Rd though has a very accute angle for Lionel's jump.

Ryan tries the peel from near corner 1. He flies past making no contact with any ball.

Lionel just goes for the block behind the hoop. But this fails to prevent Richard running to 2 yards dead in front of 6. 3-2.

Sue to the rescue again! She hits Bk from 14 yards with her first approach. Ryan over approaches from the east boundary penalty point.

Good approaches from Rd and Bk. So this time, Sue clears from behind hoop 6, although Bk finishes only 5 yards from the hoop. Ryan clears Lionel to 20 yards and the latter puts Rd to between Bk and the hoop!

Delicate clearance from Bk. Yw approaches to 1 yard. Be shoots at Yw from east boundary and misses by two feet. Lionel is able to clear Bk to 13 yards and put Rd two yards short of being right in front of hoop 7.

Richard takes his time and makes the clearance of Yw. Time for all balls to come back!

Yw and Be are both good approaches. Lionel misses 7-yard shot at Be, leaving Richard three-yard clearance of Yw. He makes that to the west boundary.

Freda Vitty goes to find a leaf monitor as the players are picking them up before shooting.

Sue misses. Ryan puts Be into jaws. Sue shows Lionel the half-way point and he plays Rd to there. Bk plays to promotion position. Lionel and Sue work out to shoot out at Bk but she misses from 6 yards. Be runs. 4-2.

Rd to very tight position. Bk plays the promotion. Be is three yards dead in front. Sue is playing from east boundary penalty point, only hits softly and falls short of interfering with Be. Ryan runs Be all the way to south boundary. 5-2.

Lionel fails to approach with Rd to wired position. He is three yards in front of 8. Bk shaves outside of hoop. Richard had over-hit his approach. Yw to good position.

Be misses to north boundary. Lionel blobs 8!? Rd falls to west. Bk clears Yw and keeps control at four yards. Yw back in but blocks Rd being able to clear Bk. Be also in to good position.

Lionel only can clear Be, which leaves Richard with choice of hoop or ball. He tries hoop but hits outside left leg before spinning round to the right. Yw runs. 3-5.

Ryan approaches 9 to four yards from near peg. Rd shoots at Be but misses badly. Bk in to good position. Yw misses. Ryan tries to go for jaws buts runs the hoop! 6-3.

Lionel approaches to two yards in front of 10. Bk shoots and misses. Yw approaches to 6 yards. A squirrel appears again. Be is not able to hit anything from just through the jaws of 9. Rd runs 10. 4-6.

Bk is a bit short and angled. Yw much better. Ryan attempts medium weight shot at hoop. Clangs off. Lionel misses clearance on Bk. When the sun is out, the temperature is very pleasantly warm.

Bk clears Yw, so now Yw is the first ball back in. Bk can see Yw, so Be goes to tight position. Richard suggests blocking but Ryan persuades him to attempt the clearance ... which he misses (the crowd thought it was the right choice though!).

Yw clears Be but rather hard. Be comes back to block Rd, which clears Be. Bk to 5 feet in front of hoop 11.

Yw in and fails to block Bk. Be clears Rd to north boundary, almost wiring Bk behind Yw but Lional can just see and makes controlled clearance. Bk nicks Yw, which is still in position to then run but not by much. 6-5.

Be fails to take advantage by over-approaching to 12. Lionel goes wide to the east in response. Bk to three yards. Yw to a position behind Rd from Be, which can still cut Rd away to the east boundary almost level with hoop 3.

Rd nicks Bk with approach, stopping in good position for the hoop. So Bk clears Rd and Yw clears Bk. Ryan under-approaches this time. He is not playing consistently at the moment. Rd approaches to good position. Bk is seven yards away. Yw is in position for a 45-degree shot at the hoop from 3 yards. Bk goes for position. Sue clears Bk.

Ryan fails to centre ball from 5 feet!? So Rd plays back in (from north boundary) and just over approaches. But that is two balls in the vicinity of 12 with Be and Bk at distance. Bk falls short; 1 foot from Rd!? Yw to tight position. Be manages to clear Yw, which bounces over Bk and Rd! Rd centre-balls Bk away to beside hoop 2, leaving Rd in tight position.

Richard tells the crowd he is aiming for both hoop and Rd, which are clearly apart. Not surprisingly he travels through the middle. And his decision looks poor when Rd clears Be with power. Rd back in. Bk hits Yw from 8 yards. And with good control. Yw back in. Be misses Rd and clears Bk!? No pressure on Sue & Lionel now!

Rd runs. 6-6.

Be offside. Bk from near east penalty point ... and through the back of the hoop!!!! To 8 inches in front. Yw and Rd both go close but not close enough. Bk runs. 7-6 to Ryan and Richard, game 1.

Game 2 ... Rd approaches short ... And looks no danger but Lionel runs from 45 degrees. 1-0.

Bk over approaches, glancing right leg of hoop in the process; to three yards beyond hoop 2. Yw approaches but not to wired position.

Be to tight position. Rd approaches and just nicks Be to non-running position. Bk approaches to tight position. Yw hits jaws from 4 yards but bounces out. Be clears Rd to west boundary.

Rd clears Bk. Bk returns to two-yard position. Yw clears Be but with no control. Be to tight position. Rd misses Bk.

Bk from six feet fails to get into jaws, not even hitting the hoop and wandering off to right. Yw clears Be from 18 yards!

Be to 7 feet. Rd misses Be, hoop and Bk; not clear what the target was. Bk to 18 inches. Yw to between Be and hoop. Be clears Yw, keeping control to two feet in front of hoop. But Rd clears Bk. Bk returns and Yw clears Be. Be approaches to tight position. Rd clears B, which then falls short on return.

Yw clears Be. All balls to east of hoop, none can run but all within 5 yards. Be makes first approach. Rd clears Bk and keeps control to west of hoop. Bk hits back of hoop with return shot. Yw clears Be and is just in front of Rd for easy promotion back in.

Bk can run through back of hoop. So Be approaches to position hidden from Rd. Rd seems to take wrong line by clearing Bk too early. The pairs keep on exchanging delicate clearances. Bk misses Yw from 8 yards. Yw only just nicks Be but that is enough to clear that from hoop. Be returns but Rd does the business this time. Next two shots are both from north boundary. Bk and Yw back in. Be only glances Rd which has visibility of Bk. Bk to 10 yards. Runs hoop! Totally cleanly and those few in the crowd who have a view fail to give the shot any applause. 1-1.

Yw approaches to threatening position. Be clears from west boundary. Rd and Bk both to good position. Yw also. From east boundary, Be shoots at Rd ... misses! Rd clears Bk to east boundary with excellent control but fails to end up between Bk and Yw. Bk misses the return though. Yw runs. 2-1.

Be just short of hoop but too wide to east to be able to run. Rd though goes wide to west. Bk to good position. Lionel is smoking on the court (again).

Yw shoots at some sort of double of Bk and hoop. The poor position of Rd now comes to bear as Be clears towards west boundary. Fortunately for Lionel, Ryan makes contact on the up and Be goes beyond hoop 5. Rd misses Bk. Bk runs. 2-2.

Yw is a good approach and Be misses clearance with first approach. Rd to good position. Bk only grovelled through hoop 4, so Freda goes on to referee the clearance attempt at Yw. Bk misses (on the side that was hampered!). Yw runs to 6 yards in front of hoop 6. 3-2.

Be and Bk good approaches but Sue runs from previous position! Ryan & Richard 7-6, 2-4 Sue & Lionel.

Be and Bk win the approach battle but from an angle Ryan puts Be onto leg of hoop rather than in jaws. Rd hits hoop and is unlucky neither to run directly or go in-off. The dis-lodged Be can now clear Rd but Yw clears Bk and frees the other two balls up too. Rd clears Be to boundary and now Rd & Yw have control of two balls about 5 yards in front. Bk approaches and Yw misses the four-yard clearance. From the corner, Be clears Rd to east boundary, beyond the penalty point. Bk is five feet in front and Rd misses by a couple of feet. Bk runs but only just ... Richard tells Lionel he was not sure what he was trying to do ... jaws or not? Ryan & Richard 7-6, 3-4 Sue & Lionel.

Yw over-runs from east boundary penalty point. But has a shot to get into jaws. Be to four yards in front. Rd to four feet in front. Bk can only squirt out wide of hoop 8. Yw clears Be but only by another three yards. Ryan removes scoring clip from hoop ... makes a bouncy attempt that hits outside of hoop. Lionel runs with Rd. Ryan & Richard 7-6, 3-5 Sue & Lionel.

Bk good approach. Yw misses. Be good approach. Rd manages to make the double clearance!!! Lucky from 14 yards! Bk back in. Yw misses again. Both times by quite a margin.

Be clears Rd to almost the north boundary. Bk is open on Rd and Lionel only just misses! Richard into the jaws (this time fully intentional!). Yw clears from 45 degrees and 6 yards ... the view from behind the shot was that it was hitting all the way! Be approaches. Rd hits hoop from south boundary but spins away. Bk now runs with intention from 3 yards and finishes three yards in from of 10. Ryan & Richard 7-6, 4-5 Sue & Lionel.

Yw is an excellent approach though to one yard. Be approaches to just behind Bk and Rd to just behind Yw. But Bk is still able to make the clearance on Yw.

Yw clears Be to 5 yards. Be jumps and runs totally cleanly. Again most of the crowd only know what has happened because Ryan exclaims "Yes!" ... Ryan & Richard 7-6, 5-5 Sue & Lionel.

Rd approach to two-foot position. Bk good approach. Yw fails to block Be from Rd. But Ryan fires and misses to corner 1. Lionel has a shocker, only just struggling through the hoop but then rolling back into the jaws. Richard is not reknowned for his jump shots, playing them with the ball far behind his feet but he sails through to four feet beyond peg. Ryan & Richard 7-6, 6-5 Sue & Lionel.

All the approaches are good but Bk can see Yw. Bk makes the clearance. Not far but Yw misses the shot back. Ryan runs from 40 degrees to win the tournament! Ryan & Richard 7-6, 7-5 Sue & Lionel.