The Ladies’ Championship has been hit by the withdrawal of Gwen Croft ahead of her first-round match against Dorothy Glasby.

With Dorothy automatically proceeding to the next round and Jill Hatfield having been granted a first-round bye, two players have reached the semi-finals of the most prestigious women’s competition without having played a game.

Anne Bosman became the second former Ladies’ champion to fall by the wayside in this year’s singles, losing 15-21 to last year’s multiple trophy winner, Marge Breading.

Dorothy will play Marge in one semi-final and Linda Huntley, who beat previous champion Nicola Coles, will face Jill.

The strength of the club is being reflected in the unpredictability of the results, as players who have cruised through some matches have been caught cold in others.

Marge, who won the 2024 Handicap – among others – beating Bill Mann in the final (pictured above), suffered a first-round defeat to the same player in this year’s competition, losing 22-5, with a handicap disadvantage of only six.

Bill, in turn, crashed out of the John Martin Shield at the hands of arguably this year’s form player, Mark Gooch, 21-3.

Mark – who had already knocked Basil Larkins out of the Handicap – then won by an even greater margin against Maurice Benson in the Men’s Championship, dropping just a single shot.

And in his latest triumph, he helped yours truly defeat another in-form player – Linda – and her partner, Clive Thomas, 23-9 in the Drawn Pairs.

John Box, having beaten Stephen Banks in the first round of the Handicap, secured a comprehensive win in the next round, turning his rather surprising 10-point start over Linda into a 21-4 victory.

Meanwhile, Basil’s Indian summer continues. Having convincingly knocked me out in the preliminary round of the Men’s Championship, he enjoyed a similarly overwhelming victory over Mark Howell in round one – 21-10 in a game of high quality.

All submitted results are on the website, under the heading Club Matches 2025.