The National Championship have been taking place over the last 2 Saturdays in Ballymoney Indoor Stadium and the Armagh representatives had mixed fortunes. However Armagh will be represented in 2 finals on 2 April at Richhill Leisure Centre with Pauline Beattie aiming to retain the Ladies Singles and Ladies Triples titles she won last year at the same venue.
On Sat 5 March the National Rinks, National Singles, Ladies Pairs and Over 55 Pairs were played. The Armagh rink of Robert Cassells, May Cassells, Pauline Beattie and Alan Roberts started by receiving a walkover when their Cork opponents didn't show. They then played the Mid Tyrone rink skipped by Rodney Cunningham in the 2nd round and won 7-6. They then played the Western rink skipped by Irish International skip Gary Burke in the quarter final, but could not reproduce their form from the previous round and succumbed to an 11-5 defeat. Burke went on to reach the final where he plays D. Morrison from Mid Antrim.
In the singles Andrew Leckey lost 11-9 to eventual finalist Dessie Hamilton from Lisburn in the 2nd round after beating D. Campell (South Tyrone) 10-8 in the first round. Pauline Beattie and George Crothers both lost their 1st round games by 2 shots against P. Rooney Jnr (Mid Down) and Uel McKeeman (North Eastern) respectively.
The Ladies pair of Leslie Strain and Elizabeth Smyth, and the Over 55 pair of May and Robert Cassells also suffered defeat in the early rounds.
The National Triples and Pairs, and the Ladies Singles and Triples were played on Saturday 12 March. In the Triples Eileen & Danny McDonald and Sean Conroy Snr started with a great 10-9 win over the highly fancied Mid Ulster triple skipped by Colm McHugh. However they couldn't reproduce that form in the quarter final against West Down's DJ Wilson and bowed out.
In the pairs Tony Bell recorded victories against E. O'Hare (South Down) and D. McRandall (Larne) before going out to P. McGee. Andrew Leckey had a good win against Gary Burke (Western) in the first round before going out to C. Dunwoody in the 2nd round.
Armagh's main success came in the Ladies Singles and Triples. Pauline Beattie had a busy day playing and winning 8 games between the 2 competitions. In the singles she saw off E. Boal (S&E Belfast), L. Hamilton and G. Menice (N. Belfast), and will now play Bridget Davidson from Mid Ulster in the final. In the triples with mum May and aunt Rachel she beat J. Sharpe (North Eastern), R. Wylie (Mid Down), A. Polin (West Down) and C. McMahon (Oriel), and will now play L. Carleton from Monaghan in the final.
The finals will take place in Richhill Leisure Centre on Saturday 2 April. The line up will be as follows:
National Singles: D. Hamilton (Lisburn) -v- J. Wilson (West Down)
National Rinks: G. Burke (Western) -v- D. Morrison (Mid Antrim)
National Triples: J. Wilson (West Down) -v- L. Graham (Foyle)
National Pairs: C. Mackin (Oriel) -v- J. Quinn (Donegal)
Ladies Singles: P. Beattie (Armagh) -v- B. Davidson (Mid Ulster)
Ladies Pairs: M. Tomkins -v- R. Brennan
Ladies Triples: P. Beattie (Armagh) -v- L. Carleton (Monaghan)
Over 55 Pairs: D. Turtle -v- E. Irwin
Junior Singles: N. Hand -v- J. Beattie
