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Difference between revisions of "Luke Johnson-Davies"

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'''Luke Johnson-Davies''' is an [[Apterite]] who has yet to appear on the show. Luke began attending [[Co-event|Co-events]] in 2018, and was the runner-up of only his second event, [[CoNuT 2019|CoNuT]], in 2019.
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{{octostats|'''Champion'''|1|1,024|6}}
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[[File:Luke Johnson-Davies.png|thumb|200px|right|He's not hot. He's not cold. He's Lukewarm!]]
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[[File:Luke Johnson-Davies Audience.png|thumb|200px|right|Luke Johnson-Davies solving the conundrum in the [[Episode 7102|second quarter-final of Series 80]].]]
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'''Luke Johnson-Davies''' was an [[octochamp]] in and the [[Series Winners|champion]] of [[Series 82]] who debuted in [[Series 81]], and a quarter-finalist in [[Championship of Champions XVI]]. He was a Maths and Computer Science Student at Durham University, from Cambridge at the time of his initial appearances. By the time of his Championship of Champions games, he had graduated from Durham and was a Software Engineer. He is also an [[Apterous|Apterite]].  
  
He appeared in [[Episode 7102]] on 21st June 2019 as the audience member who solved the conundrum COVERSLIP
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Luke began attending [[Co-event]]s in 2018 and was the runner-up of only his second event, [[CoNuT 2019|CoNuT]], in 2019.
  
[[Category:People who have not appeared on Countdown]]
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==Appearances on the programme==
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===Pre-COVID-19 pandemic suspension===
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Luke first appeared on television in the [[Episode 7102|second quarter-final of Series 80]] as the audience member who solved the conundrum {{word|LOVECRISP}} with the answer {{word|COVERSLIP}}, which also had {{word|SLIPCOVER}} as a valid solution.
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Nearly 6 months later, Luke made his debut as a player on 5 December 2019 against one-game winner [[Zach Hart]]. Two nine-letter words and scoring points in every round helped him beat Hart convincingly and catapult to 139 points, a score which broke two records: [[Hamish Williamson]]'s 10-year-old record for the [[Episode 4806|highest-ever score set by a challenger against a champion]] by 5 points; and [[Elliott Mellor]]'s 7-month-old record for the [[Episode 7076|highest-ever debut score]] by 8 points (since broken by [[Dan Byrom]] in 2022). He earned four more victories, while never falling below 113 points nor failing to declare at least one nine-letter word, before stepping aside for the finals of Series 81.
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Luke soon returned to the programme on 2 January 2020 to carry over his unbeaten run in the first heat of Series 82. Showing no signs of slowing down, he kicked off the new year in style by spotting another pair of nine-letter words to win his sixth game with 143 points, the joint fourth-highest ever achieved in the "new" 15-round format. In the third show of the series, he became the standout number one seed and only the second octochamp ever to join the [[800 club|"1,000 club"]], having accumulated a total of 1,024 points – at the time, the second-highest ever after Mellor's 1,061 – giving him an average of 128 per game.
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Luke is the first contestant ever to declare a valid nine-letter word in at least one letters round in all eight of their heat games. He also broke the record for the most valid nines declared in heat games alone with 11 (since beaten by [[Luke Boynton]] with 12): {{word|HAILSTONE}}, {{word|OUTDRIVES}}, {{word|EUTOPIANS}}, {{word|LEGATIONS}}, {{word|ARRESTING}}, {{word|RESINITES}}, {{word|DISLOCATE}}, {{word|MONTICULE}}, {{word|ESTIMATOR}}, {{word|PARVITUDE}} and {{word|COURTIERS}}. In addition, he is the first contestant ever to record a run of four consecutive scores [[List of 15-round scores over 125|over 125]].
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===Post-suspension===
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As a result of filming being suspended in March due to the [[2020 COVID-19 hiatus]], Series 82 was extended to finish on-screen in December following its resumption in August. Luke returned to play his quarter-final match against the No. 8 seed [[David Kempshall]] on 10 December, a record 342 days after becoming an octochamp. He sailed off to a convincing lead, while Kempshall kept up. Both players spotted {{word|DETAILING}} for nine before Luke emerged victorious with a maximum of 136 points and qualified for the semi-finals. Luke's [[max game]] was only the eleventh in the history of ''Countdown'', the second in the "new" 15-round format, and the first since December 2014. Luke then met No. 4 seed [[Ian Volante]] in the first semi-final. In the game, Luke added yet another 18 points to his total with a spot of {{word|SOAPINESS}} for nine. Despite Volante beating him in the second numbers round, Luke outmuscled the opposition by a score of 112 points (his lowest score to date) to 65. This propelled him into the ultimate series showdown against No. 2 seed [[Sam Cappleman-Lynes]] – only the second episode in more than 7,000 to feature two contestants bearing double-barrelled surnames, the first being [[Episode 882]] between [[Derek Stuart-Clark]] and [[John Gough-Cooper]].
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In the final, after picking 1 large in his previous ten shows, Luke opted for 6 small in the first numbers round. A very easy target of 150 helped neither player and the scoreline after three rounds remained level at {{score|25|25}}. He then broke the deadlock in round 4 by unravelling {{word|MAGESHIP}} in a consonant-heavy selection chosen by Sam. Luke remained 8 points up after gambling on 6 small again, which proved much more challenging than the previous two numbers rounds. In the final stretch of the match, Luke compounded {{word|LEAPFROG}} to escape the crucial 10-point margin with five rounds remaining, before confirming his 100% record of finding a nine in every show of his series with a spot of {{word|EUTOPIANS}} again! In the final letters round, Luke once again edged the opposition with a spot of {{word|MAEGBOTE}} to claim the title of Series 82 Champion and, in doing so, winning the longest ever series of ''Countdown''. Luke held the [[Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy]] but, for reasons unknown, this shot was not shown in the final cut.
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Amazingly, Luke found the longest possible word in every letters round across the finals stages. In addition, he has already declared more nine-letter words in the letters rounds than anyone else on the programme so far with 14. Across his 11 victories in his series he amassed a series aggregate total of 1,384 points, the highest ever achieved; this statistic also makes him the first contestant to win a series with an average above 125. He had fallen behind in the scoreline only once thus far, and remained unbeaten on the show.
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===Championship of Champions XVI===
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Luke returned to the programme on 9 January 2023 for [[Championship of Champions XVI]]. He played against [[Series 79]] runner-up [[Martin May]], and won 4 rounds to eclipse the opposition by 27 points, with the only missed maxima being {{word|ABUTTER}} and the tough conundrum {{word|LOTTOLIAM}}. This set up a highly anticipated quarter-final contest against [[Ahmed Mohamed]].
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In the quarter-final matchup, both players roared off the blocks by spotting two 9-letter words in succession, although Mohamed then put his foot on the gas with some excellent numbers rounds solutions, along with the word spots {{word|AMBREINE}} and {{word|JUDOIST}}. Johnson-Davies did steal the last [[numbers]] round to ensure he kept his record of scoring a [[century]] in every game, but Ahmed finished with a flourish by unraveling the conundrum to {{word|NICOTIANA}}, knocking Luke out of the tournament and condemning him to his only defeat on the show. That being said, Luke did manage to maintain his 100% record of spotting a nine-letter word in every episode, having spotted a total of 17 nine-letter words.
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Luke has scored 1,601 points over his 13 games, giving him an average of just over 123 points. He is also the 7th octochamp to have NEVER scored under a century, after [[Julian Fell]], [[Craig Beevers]], [[Jack Hurst]], [[Dylan Taylor]], [[Jen Steadman]] and [[Robin McKay]].
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==ZoomDown==
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===Heat games===
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Whilst Countdown was airing with COVID precautions, he appeared on [[ZoomDown Series 2| Series 2 of ZoomDown]]. He won on a crucial conundrum against [[David Barnard]], but lost on a crucial against [[Jack Hurst]]. Nearly a year later, Luke appeared on [[ZoomDown Series 4|Series 4]], where he had lost against [[Eeshan Malhotra]]. However, after Malhotra withdrew for personal reasons, Luke was invited back and then won the last two preliminary matches of the series with a total of 249 points. He will carry over his run onto the [[ZoomDown Series 5|next series]].
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===Championship of Champions===
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During the period, he came on the [[ZoomDown Championship of Champions]] as a wild card - since [[Elliott Mellor]] qualified in two series - winning against [[Jonathan Wynn]] and [[Rachael Montgomery]] before eventually losing to [[Conor Travers]].
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{{series winner|preceded_by=James Haughton|series=82|followed_by=Adam Latchford}}
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==Episodes==
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{{episode table}}
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{{ep | 7220 | 05/12/2019 | P |[[Zach Hart]]| 26 – 139 |Luke Johnson-Davies|[[Suzannah Lipscomb]]|[[Susie Dent]]|146}}
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{{ep | 7221 | 06/12/2019 | P |Luke Johnson-Davies| 122 – 60 |[[Janice Collins]]|Suzannah Lipscomb|Susie Dent|144}}
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{{ep | 7222 | 09/12/2019 | P |Luke Johnson-Davies| 113 – 58 |[[Jim Torpey]]|Suzannah Lipscomb|Susie Dent|143}}
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{{ep | 7223 | 10/12/2019 | P |Luke Johnson-Davies| 124 – 28 |[[John Lawlor]]|Suzannah Lipscomb|Susie Dent|144}}
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{{ep | 7224 | 11/12/2019 | P |Luke Johnson-Davies| 126 – 59 |[[Stephen Rooney (Series 81)|Stephen Rooney]]|Suzannah Lipscomb|Susie Dent|133}}
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{{ep | 7232 | 02/01/2020 | P |Luke Johnson-Davies| 143 – 51 |[[Gagan Singh Gill]]|[[Tim Vine]]|Susie Dent|145}}
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{{ep | 7233 | 03/01/2020 | P |Luke Johnson-Davies| 131 – 23 |[[Nathan Nicholson]]|Tim Vine|Susie Dent|135}}
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{{ep | 7234 | 06/01/2020 | P |Luke Johnson-Davies| 126 – 36 |[[Carole Bramwell]]|Tim Vine|Susie Dent|139}}
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{{ep | 7407 | 10/12/2020 | QF |'''Luke Johnson-Davies'''| '''136''' – 89 |[[David Kempshall]]|[[John Inverdale]]|Susie Dent|'''136'''}}
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{{ep | 7411 | 16/12/2020 | SF |Luke Johnson-Davies| 112 – 65 |[[Ian Volante]]|[[Levi Roots]]|Susie Dent|135}}
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{{ep | 7413 | 18/12/2020 | GF |Luke Johnson-Davies| 112 – 95 |[[Sam Cappleman-Lynes]]|Levi Roots|Susie Dent|135}}
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{{ep | 7927 | 09/01/2023 | CP |[[Martin May]]|90 – 117|Luke Johnson-Davies|[[Heather Small]]|Susie Dent|128}}
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{{ep | 7932 | 16/01/2023 | CQF |[[Ahmed Mohamed]]|132 – 100|Luke Johnson-Davies|[[Rick Edwards]]|Susie Dent|145}}
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{{episode table end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson-Davies, Luke}}
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[[Category:Contestants in Series 81]]
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[[Category:Teapot owners]]
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[[Category:Contestants in Series 82]]
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[[Category:Octochamps of the 15 round era]]
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[[Category:Finalists]]
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[[Category:Contestants on ZoomDown]]
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[[Category:Contestants in Championship of Champions XVI]]

Latest revision as of 23:56, 19 January 2024

Luke Johnson-Davies
Octochamp Statistics
Final positionChampion
Seeding1
Points total1,024
Conundrums solved6
He's not hot. He's not cold. He's Lukewarm!
Luke Johnson-Davies solving the conundrum in the second quarter-final of Series 80.

Luke Johnson-Davies was an octochamp in and the champion of Series 82 who debuted in Series 81, and a quarter-finalist in Championship of Champions XVI. He was a Maths and Computer Science Student at Durham University, from Cambridge at the time of his initial appearances. By the time of his Championship of Champions games, he had graduated from Durham and was a Software Engineer. He is also an Apterite.

Luke began attending Co-events in 2018 and was the runner-up of only his second event, CoNuT, in 2019.

Appearances on the programme

Pre-COVID-19 pandemic suspension

Luke first appeared on television in the second quarter-final of Series 80 as the audience member who solved the conundrum LOVECRISP with the answer COVERSLIP, which also had SLIPCOVER as a valid solution.

Nearly 6 months later, Luke made his debut as a player on 5 December 2019 against one-game winner Zach Hart. Two nine-letter words and scoring points in every round helped him beat Hart convincingly and catapult to 139 points, a score which broke two records: Hamish Williamson's 10-year-old record for the highest-ever score set by a challenger against a champion by 5 points; and Elliott Mellor's 7-month-old record for the highest-ever debut score by 8 points (since broken by Dan Byrom in 2022). He earned four more victories, while never falling below 113 points nor failing to declare at least one nine-letter word, before stepping aside for the finals of Series 81.

Luke soon returned to the programme on 2 January 2020 to carry over his unbeaten run in the first heat of Series 82. Showing no signs of slowing down, he kicked off the new year in style by spotting another pair of nine-letter words to win his sixth game with 143 points, the joint fourth-highest ever achieved in the "new" 15-round format. In the third show of the series, he became the standout number one seed and only the second octochamp ever to join the "1,000 club", having accumulated a total of 1,024 points – at the time, the second-highest ever after Mellor's 1,061 – giving him an average of 128 per game.

Luke is the first contestant ever to declare a valid nine-letter word in at least one letters round in all eight of their heat games. He also broke the record for the most valid nines declared in heat games alone with 11 (since beaten by Luke Boynton with 12): HAILSTONE, OUTDRIVES, EUTOPIANS, LEGATIONS, ARRESTING, RESINITES, DISLOCATE, MONTICULE, ESTIMATOR, PARVITUDE and COURTIERS. In addition, he is the first contestant ever to record a run of four consecutive scores over 125.

Post-suspension

As a result of filming being suspended in March due to the 2020 COVID-19 hiatus, Series 82 was extended to finish on-screen in December following its resumption in August. Luke returned to play his quarter-final match against the No. 8 seed David Kempshall on 10 December, a record 342 days after becoming an octochamp. He sailed off to a convincing lead, while Kempshall kept up. Both players spotted DETAILING for nine before Luke emerged victorious with a maximum of 136 points and qualified for the semi-finals. Luke's max game was only the eleventh in the history of Countdown, the second in the "new" 15-round format, and the first since December 2014. Luke then met No. 4 seed Ian Volante in the first semi-final. In the game, Luke added yet another 18 points to his total with a spot of SOAPINESS for nine. Despite Volante beating him in the second numbers round, Luke outmuscled the opposition by a score of 112 points (his lowest score to date) to 65. This propelled him into the ultimate series showdown against No. 2 seed Sam Cappleman-Lynes – only the second episode in more than 7,000 to feature two contestants bearing double-barrelled surnames, the first being Episode 882 between Derek Stuart-Clark and John Gough-Cooper.

In the final, after picking 1 large in his previous ten shows, Luke opted for 6 small in the first numbers round. A very easy target of 150 helped neither player and the scoreline after three rounds remained level at 25 – 25. He then broke the deadlock in round 4 by unravelling MAGESHIP in a consonant-heavy selection chosen by Sam. Luke remained 8 points up after gambling on 6 small again, which proved much more challenging than the previous two numbers rounds. In the final stretch of the match, Luke compounded LEAPFROG to escape the crucial 10-point margin with five rounds remaining, before confirming his 100% record of finding a nine in every show of his series with a spot of EUTOPIANS again! In the final letters round, Luke once again edged the opposition with a spot of MAEGBOTE to claim the title of Series 82 Champion and, in doing so, winning the longest ever series of Countdown. Luke held the Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy but, for reasons unknown, this shot was not shown in the final cut.

Amazingly, Luke found the longest possible word in every letters round across the finals stages. In addition, he has already declared more nine-letter words in the letters rounds than anyone else on the programme so far with 14. Across his 11 victories in his series he amassed a series aggregate total of 1,384 points, the highest ever achieved; this statistic also makes him the first contestant to win a series with an average above 125. He had fallen behind in the scoreline only once thus far, and remained unbeaten on the show.

Championship of Champions XVI

Luke returned to the programme on 9 January 2023 for Championship of Champions XVI. He played against Series 79 runner-up Martin May, and won 4 rounds to eclipse the opposition by 27 points, with the only missed maxima being ABUTTER and the tough conundrum LOTTOLIAM. This set up a highly anticipated quarter-final contest against Ahmed Mohamed.

In the quarter-final matchup, both players roared off the blocks by spotting two 9-letter words in succession, although Mohamed then put his foot on the gas with some excellent numbers rounds solutions, along with the word spots AMBREINE and JUDOIST. Johnson-Davies did steal the last numbers round to ensure he kept his record of scoring a century in every game, but Ahmed finished with a flourish by unraveling the conundrum to NICOTIANA, knocking Luke out of the tournament and condemning him to his only defeat on the show. That being said, Luke did manage to maintain his 100% record of spotting a nine-letter word in every episode, having spotted a total of 17 nine-letter words.

Luke has scored 1,601 points over his 13 games, giving him an average of just over 123 points. He is also the 7th octochamp to have NEVER scored under a century, after Julian Fell, Craig Beevers, Jack Hurst, Dylan Taylor, Jen Steadman and Robin McKay.

ZoomDown

Heat games

Whilst Countdown was airing with COVID precautions, he appeared on Series 2 of ZoomDown. He won on a crucial conundrum against David Barnard, but lost on a crucial against Jack Hurst. Nearly a year later, Luke appeared on Series 4, where he had lost against Eeshan Malhotra. However, after Malhotra withdrew for personal reasons, Luke was invited back and then won the last two preliminary matches of the series with a total of 249 points. He will carry over his run onto the next series.

Championship of Champions

During the period, he came on the ZoomDown Championship of Champions as a wild card - since Elliott Mellor qualified in two series - winning against Jonathan Wynn and Rachael Montgomery before eventually losing to Conor Travers.

Preceded by
James Haughton
Series winner
Series 82
Followed by
Adam Latchford

Episodes

# Date Type Contestant 1 Score Contestant 2 Presenters Guest Lex Max
7220 05/12/2019 P Zach Hart 26 – 139 Luke Johnson-Davies Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Suzannah Lipscomb Susie Dent 146
7221 06/12/2019 P Luke Johnson-Davies 122 – 60 Janice Collins Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Suzannah Lipscomb Susie Dent 144
7222 09/12/2019 P Luke Johnson-Davies 113 – 58 Jim Torpey Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Suzannah Lipscomb Susie Dent 143
7223 10/12/2019 P Luke Johnson-Davies 124 – 28 John Lawlor Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Suzannah Lipscomb Susie Dent 144
7224 11/12/2019 P Luke Johnson-Davies 126 – 59 Stephen Rooney Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Suzannah Lipscomb Susie Dent 133
7232 02/01/2020 P Luke Johnson-Davies 143 – 51 Gagan Singh Gill Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Tim Vine Susie Dent 145
7233 03/01/2020 P Luke Johnson-Davies 131 – 23 Nathan Nicholson Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Tim Vine Susie Dent 135
7234 06/01/2020 P Luke Johnson-Davies 126 – 36 Carole Bramwell Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Tim Vine Susie Dent 139
7407 10/12/2020 QF Luke Johnson-Davies 136 – 89 David Kempshall Nick Hewer Rachel Riley John Inverdale Susie Dent 136
7411 16/12/2020 SF Luke Johnson-Davies 112 – 65 Ian Volante Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Levi Roots Susie Dent 135
7413 18/12/2020 GF Luke Johnson-Davies 112 – 95 Sam Cappleman-Lynes Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Levi Roots Susie Dent 135
7927 09/01/2023 CP Martin May 90 – 117 Luke Johnson-Davies Colin Murray Rachel Riley Heather Small Susie Dent 128
7932 16/01/2023 CQF Ahmed Mohamed 132 – 100 Luke Johnson-Davies Colin Murray Rachel Riley Rick Edwards Susie Dent 145