2026
Finals:
Stuart Rutter defended the Thursday Night Merit after beating Pete Farmer in the final 16. He went 16-8 up before Pete got back to be 16-14 behind, but Pete chucked the block off and Stuart went 19-14 up. Pete got two but Stuart got the two he needed.
In the Semi Finals Stuart beat Jamie Millman 15 after coming back from 13-8 down. Pete defeated Nick Mullinder 16 from 11-10 down.
The Quarter Finals saw Stuart beat Lee Walmsley 20 from 9-3 and 20-18 down, Jamie get past Trench team mate Pete Millington 15 from 13 across, Pete defeat Stuart Church 15 from 18-7 up and Nick overcome Nigel Ferrington running out from 14-13 down in 2s after being 9-2 down.
Well done to Stuart on his success and possibly being the only person to ever win this in the same year.
Thank you to Newport for hosting.
| 1 | Stuart Rutter P | 21 | 16 | Peter Farmer |
| 1 | Peter Farmer | 21 | 16 | Nick Mullinder |
| 2 | Stuart Rutter P | 21 | 15 | Jamie Millman |
| 1 | Nick Mullinder | 21 | 14 | Nigel Ferrington |
| 2 | Peter Farmer | 21 | 15 | Stuart Church |
| 3 | Jamie Millman | 21 | 15 | Peter Millington |
| 4 | Stuart Rutter P | 21 | 20 | Lee Walmsley |
Qualifying:
Old Shrewsbury
Prince of Wales Hotel team mates Lee Walmsley and Nigel Ferrington got through at Old Shrewsbury.
Nigel defeated Emily Hotchkiss 17, Charlotte Butler 10 and Nathan Crocombe 10, while Lee Walmsley got past Jack Cooke 17 and Ed Proudlove 16.
Full results are here.
Edgmond
Stuart Church got through at Edgmond after beating his own son Logan Church 9 and then Adrian Smith 13. Nick Mullinder was the other qualifier getting past Chris Dodds 9 and Ben Delves 18.
Full results are here.
Shifnal
Former winner Pete Farmer got through after defeating Pete Spragg 13 and Lee Parton 7. Jamie Millman was the other qualifier, coming through two 21-20 games against Michael Cooper and Josh Cotton, then beating Kelly Hill 16 in the qualifier.
Full results are here.
Bowring Flat
Holder Stuart Rutter got through at the Bowring. He beat Gareth Jones 9 and then Helen Clee 14.
Full results are here.
Bowring Hump
Pete Millington took 3 Premier League scalps on his way to qualifying. He defeated Steve Faulkner 12, Jackie Rutter 11 and Emmet McKinley 17.
Full results are here.
Well done to all our qualifiers!
2025
Stuart Rutter won the third ever Thursday Night Merit after a classy display in the final to beat Josh Cotton 5. From 7-3 up he went 16-3 ahead on his favoured corner mark, before not allowing Josh to gain any momentum and winning 5. He had used that mark to great effect in the Semi Finals running out from 12-11 up on Sir John Bayley team mate Pete Grimston. Josh had given his own dominant display in his Semi against Carleen Doody-Millington, going 11-2 up and winning 6.
In the Quarter Finals, Stuart had his closest game only getting past Stuart Church 18, although he had been 18-9 up. Pete defeated Michael Cooper 11 from 9 across, Josh from 5-4 up on Jon Lea won 7 and Carleen Doody-Millington held off a comeback from Jackie Rutter from 19-9 down to win 16.
Well done to Stuart on his win, and he is our first qualifier in our Champion of Champions event on 3rd October.
Thank you to St Georges for hosting tonight.
