DANNY King rued Sheffield’s gate positions having been ousted in the semi-final of the Championship Pairs by winners Glasgow.
The Sheffield Window Centre Tigers edged through to the last four at Somerset’s Oak Tree Arena but had no answer to victorious pair Craig Cook and Rasmus Jensen. Glasgow led the way in qualifying with 25 points, giving them the choice of where to start from and Jensen took full advantage with his third win of the night from the inside with Cook getting the better of King on lap two. King, the meeting’s top scorer in qualifying with 14 points, said: “It was always going to be difficult having got two and four in the semi, four was a bit of a graveyard and Glasgow trapped well and made it show. “They led from the front and the track had pretty much gone by that point, it was a case of following around the kerb which was a bit of a shame but credit to Glasgow, the rode well all night. “It was hard to pass, if anyone got in front it was really difficult to make your move but the meeting did have a bit more life in the middle.” Sheffield made the perfect start by soaring to a maximum over home duo Nick Morris and Rory Schlein in the opener. Heat six did not go so well with Howarth attempting to chop up the inside from gate four only to get pinned by Leicester’s Ryan Douglas and while King was quickest he could not get by leader Scott Nicholls. Hopes began to fade after heat 12 with Howarth stifling King’s surge around the outside. King eventually came through to second but Birmingham’s Adam Ellis, who had laboured at the back early on, ensured Howarth went from first to last in a race won by Tero Aarnio. Nothing less than a maximum would do in heat 20 but the Tigers had a slice of luck with Berwick only tracking Tomas H Jonasson after the withdrawal of Jye Etheridge and some tidy team riding did the job. It meant Sheffield finished level on 20 points with Scunthorpe but joined Glasgow, Birmingham and Leicester in the shootout by virtue of grabbing two maximums along the way. Leicester reached the final by packing the minor places behind Birmingham’s Ellis in the semi-final but had no answer to Cook’s pace in the decider, while Jensen took third behind Douglas.
CHAMPIONSHIP PAIRS, Somerset 1. GLASGOW: Craig Cook and Rasmus Jensen 2. LEICESTER: Ryan Douglas and Scott Nicholls
Qualifying scores: Glasgow 25: Rasmus Jensen 13, Craig Cook 12 Birmingham 22: Adam Ellis 13, Tero Aarnio 9 Leicester 21: Ryan Douglas 12, Scott Nicholls 9 Sheffield 20: Danny King 14, Kyle Howarth 6 Scunthorpe 20: Jake Allen 13, Ben Barker 7 Redcar 19: Jordan Stewart 13, Erik Riss 6 Eastbourne 18: Richard Lawson 12, Lewis Kerr 6 Newcastle 15: Steve Worrall 12, Lasse Bjerre 3 Somerset 15: Nick Morris 8, Rory Schlein 7 Edinburgh 13: Ricky Wells 8, Cameron Heeps 5 Berwick 10: Tomas H Jonasson 10, Jye Etheridge 0
