13 proves not so unlucky for Irish international Gary

GARY McNabb has enjoyed a month to remember, winning the Irish Champion of Champions crown before going on to help Ireland win a 13th straight British Isles Championship victory and then he won both the World Fours Masters and the World Pairs Masters titles. The Trillick man partnered Magherafelt’s Martin McNicholl, Ben Pay and Alastiar McCrea to World Fours Masters success on Saturday before going on to annex the Pairs crown in Chelmsford alongside McNicholl.

In the Fours, victory never looked in doubt once the team figured out their best playing order with McNabb skipping, brushing aside the competition, and in the Pairs, McNabb and McNicholl achieved a Short Mat Players Tour first by becoming the only duo ever to win the Pairs and Fours titles on the same weekend.

“It’s been a pretty good few weeks,” beamed McNabb, who was delighted to achieve such success on the back of McCrea’s invitation to play together.

“There’s a fella originally from Ballinamallard called Alastair McCrea, who moved over the England 17 or 18 years ago but he’s a mate of mine and he asked me to play this tournament with him and we ended up winning it, so it went well.

“And then in the Pairs, me and Martin McNicholl teamed up and we were hoping to meet Alastair and Ben in the final but it didn’t work out that way!

“Me and Marty are the first people to do the double – no-one has ever won the World Fours and the Pairs together before, which is a nice accolade to have.

“Marty was moving house last week and wasn’t for coming but things changed for him and he went and that was his first title, so it was a great weekend.”

McNabb’s weekend of success in Chelmsford came a couple of weeks after he helped Ireland win the British Isles Championships.

He skipped a rink that included former Ireland team captain Colm McHugh, Sean Trainor and Mark Beattie from Strabane, who ‘was brilliant all weekend’.

While McNabb’s main Irish squad won the overall title, so too did the A team which included his Mid Tyrone colleagues PJ McCrossan, Catherine McCrossan, Steven Stafford, Mark Rutledge and Gary Moore.

“Both teams won all six games and it was a good experience for a first time skip!,” McNabb said. “Skipping comes with pressure and I was under pressure quite a few times but it was enjoyable because I was playing with good, experienced players.

“It was good to get it over the line because we have won it 12 years in a row twice, but always seem to fall at the 13th but this was the 13th year and we got over the line.”

McNabb will be back in action in York at the turn of the year when he will bid to win the British Open crown for a third year in a row.