2016 Tour 5 Preview

The fifth and final tour of the 2016 season is now upon us. The tour takes place on the weekend of the 21st - 23rd October at the Park Inn, Telford and it's all to play for in the premier leagues and for those who want to book their places in the premier league for 2017.

Currently Tom Cousins is sitting at the top of the table having won 10 of his 12 matches so far with just one loss, to England Captain Lee Kendal, and one draw against former England player Neil Davey. Hot on his heels are Phil Harrison and Craig Waddingham who meet first game. A draw would open the way for Tom but a win for either player would set up a tense final two games, especially in the case of Harrison who plays Tom last game of the season, which could well be a title decider and not one to be missed!

The ladies premier league is even more finely poised with 4 players all in with a realistic shot at the title. Sharon James is currently sitting at the top, ahead of Lyndsey Roberts, Amy Beauchamp and Sharon Lunn. James was the runner up in 2015 to former World Champion Beauchamp and will be hoping to go one better this time around. She's certainly in the driving seat with only 1 loss out of 12 games and her last 3 games of the season are against players ranked 11th onwards but with the pressure of the winning line in sight strange things can happen and any slip up will no doubt be pounced upon.

The last tour of the season sees everyone competing to get into those top 14 spots that guarantee a place in the 2017 premier league. Two who are safely there are Phil Harrison and Mick Hill who currently top the table on 44 points and, bar any shock results, look certain to be battling it out for top spot. Davis, Petty and Cousins are all also fairly secure for next years PL but the remaining 9 spots are up for grabs with only 4 points separating 6th to 17th.

With all to play for and a fantastic stream provided by Beard Productions be sure to tune in or, better still, come down and catch all the action live.