VISITING BOWLERS SCOOP SEPTEMBER BOWLS FESTIVAL HONOURS
VISITING BOWLERS SCOOP SEPTEMBER BOWLS FESTIVAL HONOURS
Cumbrian Ian Nicholson (KA Hale) created a little bit of history on Friday in becoming the first man to successfully defend his Derek Killey Memorial (September Festival) title when he beat Macclesfield’s David Jackson in what turned out to be a surprisingly one-sided affair.
From the start Nicholson was in no mood to relinquish the trophy – having also won it in 2004 – and he was in formidable form on finals day Friday as he first won 21-9 in his semi-final over first time entrant Paul Drabble (
Jackson’s form was equally emphatic in his last four 21-17 win over Nicholson’s clubmate Martin Gilpin as he stormed back from a 14-8 deficit but his hopes of ultimate success were crushed by Nicholson’s superb corner bowling.
Paul Williams (Ford), Alan Midwood (Morton House), Ian Johnson (
In a disappointing competition for those who backed the locals Neil Withers (Marown) fared the best and in doing so he was awarded the Chris Quayle Memorial trophy.
In the Ladies event the sun shone on Morecambe’s Joan Murgatroyd as she beat the hot favourite Tracy Lawrence (Horsforth) by 21-14.
The winner was made to sweat though by local girl Rebecca Leece (Noble’s Mixed) in a game that swung to and fro until coming to 20-across only for the local to run into the back of a loose bowl to give a nail-biting win to the Morecambe player.
In her last four game the runner-up overcame another fancied player Julie Green, the 2007 losing finalist from Beech Tree, by a score of 21-14.
One crumb of comfort for Rebecca Leece was that she won the Blanch Kaye trophy for being the furthest Manx lady in the event just beating teammate Helen Martin and another local player Jenny Saunders from Castletown plus Shirley Jones (Wrockwardine Wood) and Alice Pooley (Leeds) who all went out in the last 8.
There was no let up in the medley of competitions although had the Tuesday storms continued there could well have been problems for
Thursday night is traditionally kept for the Tourism finals, a competition that runs in conjunction with the main events, and Chris Hill from
Maureen Lyons (West Derby Recs), so successful in ladies bowls, beat Joyce Foxcroft (KA Hale) 21-15 to take the Ladies Tourism final after being runner-up in each of the last two years. Susan Armitage (
Success eluded another
In the men’s doubles Mark Richardson (Meersbrook) and Kevin Nixon (Dearne Sports) beat Ray Russel (Warton) and Richard Goddard (
Violet Dennison (Levens) and Jean Wanbon (Warrigton) were successful by 11-7 in the final of the ladies’ doubles beating another local who came tantalisingly close, Mary Alderson from Marown who was paired with Debbie Farmer (West Melton). Both semis finished 11-4 with the winners beating Eileen Fullalove (Warrenhurst Mount) who partnered Onchan’s Eileen Killey while the other losing pair was Eunice Riding (Leeds) and Ruth Blake from District BC.
The men’s Consolation final produced a victory for perhaps the noisiest man of the week, Colin (‘Come on baby’) Scorah from Crossgates, who beat the 1991 Festival winner Terry Glover (Liverpool CC) 21-16. The effervescent and very likeable Scorah only just made it through his last four game when the Red Lion’s Mark Winnington ran him to 19 though Glover had an even tighter match before edging home 21-20 against Chris Lloyd (
Shirley Darnill (West Melton) took the honours in the Ladies Consolation when she beat North Ramsey’s Viv Grills 21-15 in the final ... it simply was not a day for the IoM players! Scorelines of 21-19 were the order of the day in the last four games with the winner beating Violet Dennison (Levens) and the local lady beating Hazel Borradaile (Netherfield).
The visitisleofman,com flyer event saw Keith Lowther from Warton just edge home 9-8 against Peter Wilcox from Crossgates with the Wirral’s Edward Clayburn and Ford’s Callum Wraight making up the last four losing 9-1 and 9-6 respectively to the winner and runner-up.
In the last event of the hectic week, the ‘Last Chance Flyer’, Chris Slater (Colwyn Bay RBL) beat Richard Atkin (Meersbrook) 21-7 in one semi while John Garrett met his father, also John, and both entering from the Penketh club in Warrington. Dad lost out - but only just – 21-19 but then it was the son’s turn to lose out in the final with the
The Festival programme is sponsored by the Department of Tourism and Lesiure and Department member, Mr Geoff Corkish,
In turn
Next year’s Festival dates are June 21-25 and September 6-10.
FARMER AND FOXCROFT TAKE JUNE FESTIVAL HONOURS
ONCHAN’S DAVID BRADFORD WINS TOURISM EVENT
After a week of blistering sunshine Andrew Farmer (Dearne Sports) and Hale’s Joyce Foxcroft took the major honours in the June Bowling Festival which again was kindly sponsored by the Department of Tourism and also by Manx Telecom.
To some bowls enthusiasts Farmer’s success was something of a shock for at the start of the quarter finals on Friday morning he was the 10-1 outsider of the group. Although Onchan’s David Bradford – who had won the previous evening’s Tourism event – ran him close Farmer then produced two scintillating performances firstly against the fancied James Wilcox before ultimately winning the event by deflating the hopes of another Onchan star, Kevin Quirk, in the final. Quirk cannot be too disappointed though for his play throughout the week had been of a high standard and he was presented with the George Craine Trophy for being the best Manx competitor. However, there was just no living with the superb Farmer!
Quarter final: Kevin Nicholas (Gresford Colliery) 7, James Wilcox (Crossgates) 21; Andrew Farmer (Dearne Sports) 21, David Bradford (Onchan) 17; Kevin Quirk (Onchan) 21, Tommy King (
In the last eight stages of the Ladies’ Main event there were also considerable hopes of a local win with one North Ramsey player and no fewer than three players from Port St Mary. However, with some tight games ensuing the Port’s Trish Bull was the only player to progress past this stage and in doing so she won the VisitIsleofman.com trophy for being the best Manx lady. She certainly started her last-four game in confident style but the ‘big stage’ experience of the eventual winner, Joyce Foxcroft, helped her overcome a 16-13 deficit to triumph to 17. In the final Foxcroft met Joan Jolly who, in her semi final game beat last year’s Festival winner Alexis Lunn-Gadd but that was where the hopes of the
Quarter final: Trish Bull (Port St Mary) 21, Janet Monk (North Ramsey) 20; Joyce Foxcroft (Hale) 21, Ann Maddrell (Port St Mary) 18; Linda Gledhill (Marsh Utd) 19, Alexis Lunn-Gadd (Morton House) 21; Joan Jolly (St Josephs) 21, Margie Tasker (Port St Mary) 15. Semi final: Bull 17, Foxcroft 21; Lunn-Gadd 14, Jolly 21. Final: Foxcroft 21, Jolly 13
The big local success came in Thursday evening’s Tourism Championships, ranked 2nd in status to the main events, where David Bradford defeated Deganwy’s Peter Jones in the final. However, it was a case of ‘phew, only just’ as it was the Welsh player who streaked into what seemed to be an unassailable lead at 17-7 but back came the Onchan man in determined style to take the trophy with a last-gasp 21-19 success. In their semi final games
Throughout the carefully planned week there were no fewer than seven other events that kept every player occupied.
In the men’s Consolation final David Gilmore from
In the doubles finals Paul Bailey and Graham Garnett took the men’s event beating Brian Hough and Steven Hargreaves 11-4 while in the ladies’ final Joyce Foxcroft was unable to make it a further success as, partnered by Carole Bleakley, they lost 11-9 against Lynda Drury and Jean Gee who had put paid to the hopes of Lyn Ruscoe and her partner Marion Clayton in the previous round.. The mixed doubles final saw more local success with Castletown’s Val Macfarlane partnered by Michael (Mr Doncaster Rovers) O’Brien winning 9-5 against Sue Plumbley and Ted Mitchell.
Finally, to round off the events, James Wilcox won the ‘visitisleofman.com’ Flyer event by 11-6 over David Gilmore while John Watson just lost out 20-21 in the ‘last chance’ Flyer against one of the Bangor boys, Gwerydd Buckland.
Festival Director,
*
During the week competitors Mally Fowler and Arthur Lethbridge were taken to hospital, with Mally having to withdraw in the later stages of the Main event while 88 year old Arthur not even being able to start in the competition which he has been coming to for many years. Then on finals day Marion Clayton was also taken to Nobles after injuring her knee and every best wish to extended to all for speedy recoveries.
*
The fantastic weather was matched by the superb condition of the six greens used in the week and grateful thanks are extended to the greenkeepers and helpers at the Noble’s Park complex and also at the Villa Marina, Onchan and Finch Hill greens.
Of course no event can be held without the loyal band of local officials who help as referees, stewards and measurers through the hectic five days of competitions. By a total oversight on my behalf (due to the many scribbles on my script) proper thanks and appreciation were not conveyed in the final speeches but it goes without saying that everyone is indebted to every helper who gave up his or her time to assist.
As a follow-up if there are any other local bowlers, especially actual competitors, who could give up time, even for one session, in future Festivals we would love to hear from you for without help the event cannot run!
Juan Kermode - Isle of Man Crown Green Bowling Executive - Press Officer
The 2009 Bowls Tournament Organising Comittee welcomes all competing Islands and looks forward to meeting players and their supporters in September.
The tournament bylaws are being amended to match the specific requirements of our tournament. All will be in place when you arrive.
Competing islands as of March 1, 2008, although the final list of teams is likely to include Cyprus and others:
Alderney
Guernsey
Jersey
Isle of Man
Isle of Wight
Orkney
Shetland
Western Isles
Ynys Mon
The Tournament
We have the approval of the English Indoor Bowling Association, the British Isles Indoor Bowls Council and the World Indoor Bowls Council to hold the tournament.
The format for the bowls tournament will be the same as in Guernsey: Men’s Fours, Men’s Pairs and Men’s Singles; Ladies’ Fours, Ladies’ Pairs and Ladies’ Singles.
As before, the player entered to play the singles shall not be eligible to play in the pairs.
Gold, Silver and Bronze medals will be awarded for each discipline and the same will be presented for the Men’s and Ladies’ teams.
Any comments or additional information should be sent to:
Alec G. Soars
Telephone: 01983 280252
e-mail: alecsoars@talktalk.net
RAMSEY’S VIV GRILLS COMES CLOSE IN LADIES EVENT
Marown’s Colin Kelly and Onchan’s John Kennish took top honours in the two men’s competitions of last week’s Isle of Man June Bowling Festival with many top
The climax of the week was the final of the main Tournament that saw Kelly come up against the likeable Welshman Peter Jones (Deganwy) and after steady starts from both players the Manxman crept away from 12-across to gain a 17-13 lead. Having already lost three previous Festival finals, once when 19-12 ahead, the nerves visibly hit Kelly but just as the Welshman looked as if he could pile on extra pressure to come back to 17-19 he inexplicably played a very heavy second bowl on the 18th end to roll the jack away from his own lead bowl and onto Kelly’s two back woods. For a brief moment everyone, most of all the two players, looked stunned but as the local cheers sunk in to Kelly’s bemused mind so too did the reality of his 21-15 win and the fact that the major spoils were finally his - the £3000 winner’s cheque plus the magnificent trophy and also the George Craine Cup for being the best local player.
“Phew!” uttered Kelly afterwards “and, yes, I was starting to tighten up as thoughts of past defeats kept flashing into my head.”
The last 8 results were Paul Bailey 16, Peter Jones 21; David Jackson 8, John Briggs 21; Colin Kelly 21, Andrew Spragg 14; Robbie Fitzpatrick 21, James Wilcox 19.
In the semi final Jones beat Briggs 21-14 while Kelly once again played on his own nerves to edge home 21-20 against Fitzpatrick.
There were similar close encounters in the last 8 stages of the ladies Main event, which had 111 entries, with the closest of all being North Ramsey’s Viv Grills edging out the hot tournament favourite Debbie Farmer to 20. At this same stage the Wirral’s Pat Crowther had seen off the challenge of Grills’ team-mate, Lilian Slinger, to 11 while two wins of 21-17 by Alice Pooley over Carole Bleakley and by Alexis Lunn over Maureen Lyons gave us the semi final line-up. Lunn then repeated her earlier 21-17 win against Crowther while Pooley had to withstand a mighty comeback from Grills before she achieved her final place after a 21-19 win.
One consolation for the Ramsey lady was that she won the VisitIsleofman.com trophy for being the best Manx lady.
The first three ends of the final were innocuous enough but then Alexis stunned
with a run of six winning ends, including 4 doubles, to put her 17-8 up and though the Crossgates player battled hard it was the smiling Yorkshire girl from the Morton House club who was in no mood to relinquish her lead and she came home victorious by 21-12 to win the £1000 top prize.
Thursday evening had seen the finals of the Tourism Championships, ranked 2nd in status to the main events, and in the ladies’ competition two wins to 14 by last year’s main event winner, Pat McGuirk over Suzy Ladbrooke and by Maureen Lyons over Pat Crowther saw the two friends meet in the final. This turned out to be another close affair that could have gone either way but it was McGuirk who eventually triumphed 21-19.
Lin Ruscoe had been the last Manx competitor, going out in the last 8, but by the men’s semi final stage there was considerable local interest with John Kennish in a field that also included the might of Martin Gilpin, Andrew Farmer and Matthew Gilmore. The standard of play in these late stages was without equal and while Gilpin was seeing off Farmer by 21-10 most eyes were on the other compulsive game which Kennish won to 17 against Gilmore who did little or nothing wrong throughout.
The final was also of the highest quality but there was no stopping a magnificent Kennish performance as he repeated last year’s win by triumphing by 21-17. Though most players would not complain he later confided that it was something of a bitter-sweet moment as he said “I think that’s seven Tourism events I’ve won now … all I want is the main one!”
Throughout the week there was a myriad of other events that kept every player occupied and in the men’s Consolation final Steven Hargreaves beat Eric Breeze by 21-17 with Joan Jolly winning the ladies final by 21-14 over Lisa Rice.
Two local ladies, Val Macfarlane and Rita Callister, lost with their partners at the last 4 stage of the Mixed Doubles event that was won by Brian Young and Alice Pooley by 9-7 over John Hamer and Anne Goddard.
In the two ‘Flyer’ competitions there was no stopping Callum Wraight from Castlefields who won them both! He was firstly victorious in the ‘VisitIsleofMan.com flyer’ when he triumphed by 11-7 over Malcolm Fowler and then in the ‘Last chance flyer’ his powerful finish gave him a 21-13 victory over Gerald Merry.
The new Festival Director, Andy Hawkard, who ran his first event after the sad death of Derek Killey last November, was quick to give praise to everyone who had helped him through the week including his office staff, the various greenkeepers of the six greens that had been used and also the many referees, measurers etc without whom the event could not take place.
“Yes, there were several challenges through the week”, said Andy afterwards, “including the Wednesday evening downpour that forced the cancellation of two doubles events.”
Andy also praised the Department of Tourism for their assistance and sponsorship of the week’s events and he was delighted that Mr Geoff Corkish, MHK, was able to attend on Friday afternoon for the official presentations. Mr Corkish was also full of praise for the smooth running of the event and finished his brief speech by hoping that he would see everyone back for the forthcoming September Festival.
Competing islands at March 1, 2008
Alderney
Cyprus
Guernsey
Jersey
Isle of Man
Isle of Wight
Menorca
Orkney
Shetland
Western Isles
Ynys Mon
Preliminary programme for the week
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Teams arrival at hotel
Sunday, September 27
All-day practice sessions for all teams
Opening ceremony and buffet supper at the hotel
Monday, September 28 to Friday, October 2
Tournament matches
Wednesday, September 30
Charity quiz and raffle at the hotel
Friday, October 2
Closing ceremony and Gala Dinner at the hotel
The Tournament
The tournament has the approval of the English Indoor Bowling Association, the British Isles Indoor Bowls Council and the World Indoor Bowls Council.
The format for the bowls tournament will be the same as in Guernsey: Men’s Fours, Men’s Pairs and Men’s Singles; Ladies’ Fours, Ladies’ Pairs and Ladies’ Singles.
As before, the player entered to play the singles shall not be eligible to play in the pairs.
Gold, Silver and Bronze medals will be awarded for each discipline and the same will be presented for the Men’s and Ladies’ teams.
At the recent championships all the manx participants performed well and were in reach of a quarter final spot coming into thier last round robin matches, unfortunately Mary & Edward Alderson and Tony Dugdale just missed out. There performances will no doubt give some of the IOM Indoor Bowling Association Members something to aspire too. Full details of all thier results can be found on the International page, or at http://www.wibc.com/
Manx Telecom Premier Division winners Phil Kelly (left) and Mickey Cain (right) from Crosby Colts receiving their winner’s trophy from IOMIBA outgoing President
Manx Telecom Premier Pairs League winners David Thomas (left) and Nigel Thomas (right) from Nobles Generations receiving their winner’s trophy from IOMIBA outgoing President
Manx Telecom First Division and First Division Pairs winners Kestrels trophies were received by Jan
Manx Telecom Tuesday morning league winner Bob Sellor’s (left) for Onchan Royals received the winner’s trophy from IOMIBA outgoing President
David Thomas wins his second IOMIBA Indoor Singles U25 Championship - In the final of the IOMIBA U25 Singles Championships held at the NSC on Saturday 19 January, David Thomas beat Ben Dugdale over 2 x 9 end sets to win his second U25 title.
David will now represent the IOMIBA at the W.I.B.C. World U25 Championships in October, although at this stage, the date and venue are still to be finalised.
Tony Dugdale and Mary Alderson Triumph in IOM Indoor Bowling Championships
The W.I.B.C. World Singles and Mixed Pairs Championships in 2008 will be attended by Tony Dugdale and Mary Alderson, who came through their respective finals at the NSC on Saturday 5 January. Tony beat Mary's son Edward Alderson and Mary came through against last years champion Rita Callan. The championships will be held in Swansea from the 16 - 20 April.
.jpg)
2007 British Short Mat Bowling Championships
Two weeks ago the
2007 Bowls and Squash Guernsey Games
A Team of 14 bowlers representing the
The team came away with several medals;
The Men’s Fours, Archie Collister, David Quirk,
In the Men’s Pairs Jimmy Sansom and Nigel Thomas narrowly missed out on a Bronze in a very tense 4 hour game, however the games they won earlier in the week contributed to the Men’s team picking up a Bronze Medal in the Men’s Team event.
The full results can be viewed at http://www.2007bsguernsey.com/
The Isle of Man Team would very much like to thank Manx Telecom for all their support and many of the team are no doubt setting their sites on a repeat event in the Isle of Wight in 2009, where the goal will be very much Gold!
"This summer's Rhodes Games Sporting Programme does not include Bowls and Squash, but a number of Member Islands who competed in the Shetland Isles wished to compete again in these sports, so we came up with the idea of holding a separate event entitled the '2007 Bowls and Squash Guernsey Games'," said Garry Collins, Co-ordinator of the event.
All
The General Organising Committee is made-up of Officials of both the Guernsey Indoor Bowling Association and the Guernsey Squash and Rackets Association, together with Roy Martel, the Chairman of Sports Guernsey, which has provided substantial financial support. Additional commercial sponsorship is being sought.
"The Bailiff has kindly agreed to be the Patron of the Games, in view of his very keen support for
"The Bailiff and Mrs Rowland will be presenting each
The Bowls format will be a continuation of the 2005 Island Games format - Men's and Ladies, Singles, Pairs and Fours. The Team medals will also be awarded to both the Men's and Ladies top teams. The event will be held at the Guernsey Indoor Bowls Stadium.
The Squash format will again be a continuation of the 2005 Island Games format - Men's and Ladies, Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles. The Team event will be 3 Men and 2 Ladies. The event will be held at Beau Sejour Leisure Centre.
