NORTH Wilts duo Sue Cooke and Alex Jacobs are the 2018/19 O60 ladies pairs national champions.

They clinched the indoor age-group title late last week in Nottingham when defeating Northampton’s Linda Warren and Janet Swift 23-11 in the final.

The North Wilts pairing made a slow start in the final and trailed 4-2 after six ends, but then hit back hard with big counts of five and four on the next two ends to move 11-4 up at eight and never looked back.

They led 14-4 at 10 ends and pulled further away to lead 22-8 at 15 and a single on end 17 gave them an unassailable 23-11 advantage.

This victory completes a pairs double of championship and age group crowns for Cooke and Jacobs as they won the championship pairs title in the 2009/10 season.

They have also been involved in North Wilts ladies section’s other three national successes.

Cooke and Jacobs, together with Carol Grenfell and Janet Hardie, won the 2007/08 national fours crown, and with Jean Collier, were successful in the 2015/16 season O50s two-wood triples final.

And they were also members of the North Wilts ladies team that secured the Yetton Trophy inter club championship title – the top ladies team competition in the 2007/08 season.

En route to the O60s pairs final this season, Cooke and Jacobs eliminated Dot Kennelly and Linda Harrison (York) 20-14 in the last 16 and then thumped Gail Donnison and Jeny Humphries (Newark, Notts) 20-8 in the quarter-finals.

They clinched their place in the final with a 19-16 win in a hard-fought semi against Heather Bell and Ann How (Cambridge Chesterton).

North Wilts had originally qualified for the age group competitions in Nottingham when winning the ladies Area 16 O60s pairs section with an 18-14 success over Clarrie Dunbar’s Sue Bird and Jeanette Wheeler at Bristol in March.

The final event of the age group championships in Nottingham brought the indoor season to a close. Attention now switches to the start of the outdoor campaign.

THE Open Singles Circuit has not closed down yet as it still has four more indoor tournaments to stage before the end of this month and the closure of its 2018/19 campaign.

The Easter weekend is a busy time as the OSC sees tournaments being staged on Good Friday at Hartlepool as well as Torquay on both Friday and Saturday.

Then the action moves to Poole on Easter Sunday and Monday for the Dolphin OSC tournament.

A host of players from local clubs North Wilts and Clarrie Dunbar will be chasing prize money and OSC ranking points to enhance their claims to a top-32 spot and a place in the Grand Final at Potters Leisure Resort, Norfolk, in November.

The principals seeking a top-32 spot are Wayne Snook (Clarrie Dunbar), who is currently ranked 11th, Andy Moore (North Wilts) who is 36th and Clarrie’s Graham Shadwell in 46th.