DEANE B knocked Forrest D out of the Bolton Badminton League Jane Fletcher Memorial Cup in a closely-contested quarter-final.

First couple Margaret Wong and Tony Waring won the opening game of the handicap competition for Deane 21-14 before losing the second to Karen Holden and Shalin Patel 21-15.

Deane, who are 10th in Section B, went ahead temporarily again when Pat Beck and Robert Brocklehurst won the first of their two games 21-18 against Forrest’s first couple, Georgina King and James Wallen, who took the second 21-15.

When the third couples met, seventh-placed in the section Forrest’s Clare Stopford and Peter Lambert claimed both games 21-17, 21-12, against Samantha Robertson and Umer Azeem.

Both teams were working hard to collect points for their teams and in the clash of the first couples the games were once again shared, Wong and Waring claiming the first 21-16 for Deane, and King and Wallen taking the second with a nerve-tingling 24-22 win.

When the second couples met, Deane’s Beck and Brocklehurst dug in to win 21-9, 21-15, and earn considerable points for their team, against Holden and Patel.

Going into the level doubles Deane had edged ahead with 186-178. The first pair of ladies’ games was claimed by Forrest’s Stopford and King 21-12, 21-17, against Robertson and Wong.

Forrest’s Lambert and Wallen won the first pair of men’s games 21-9, 21-15, against Azeem and Waring, putting Forrest in front.

The second pair of ladies’ games was shared, Forrest’s Stopford and Holden claiming the first 21-15 and Deane’s Robertson and Beck taking the second 21-18.

Forrest’s Lambert and Patel won the final games 21-18, 21-8 against Azeem and Brocklehurst.

Forrest had accrued 322 points and Deane 289 and the envelope revealed 45points in Deane’s favour and a final total of 334 meaning a win by 12 points.

Metro A did not need their 60-point handicap to see off Sharples B in the quarter-final of the Robert Cup.

The first pair of games was shared with Metro’s Carol Lanham and Peter Holden claiming the first 21-17, and Jude Stenson and Paul Bargh taking the second 21-11.

Fourth-placed in C Section, Metro’s Jean Egan and David Smith won the next pair of games 21-18, 21-15, against Deb Burgess and Alan Burgess.

When the third couples met the games were shared with Joanne Holden and Jack Milner winning the first 23-21, and Sharples’ Linzi Casey and Matt Duckworth taking the second 21-15.

In the first couples’ clash Egan and Smith took the honours in a tight contest, 24-22, 21-17, against Stenson and Bargh.

The second couples’ games were shared with Lanham and Holden winning the first 21-14 and Burgess and Burgess the second 21-13.

At the conclusion of the mixed visitors Metro were 191-187 ahead. Metro’s Holden and Egan won the first pair of ladies’ games 21-11, 21-18, against Casey and Stenson.

In the first pair of men’s games the determined Sharples’ pair Duckworth and Bargh hit back with both games 21-17, 21-7, against Milner and Smith.

Sharples’ kept up their good form in the second pair of ladies’ games with Casey and Burgess beating Holden and Lanham 21-19, 21-12.

The final pair of men’s games was shared, Metro’s Milner and Holden taking the first 21-12, and Duckworth and Burgess the second 22-20 in a nail-biting last game to leave the final score 329-324 to Deane without the handicap.