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On the weekend of 13th-14 June,
the Suffolk County Champions joined the rest of carpet bowls
county champions, in Blackpool, for the ECBA Champion of Champions.
After their success in the
Eastern version, the Suffolk teams went with good expectations.
Playing nine games, over two days, the competition was going
to be difficult, in what is recognised as the top club event
in the country.
Colin Fellingham was the singles
player, in maybe the hardest event. At the end of the first days’
play, Colin was in the fight, lying in joint second place, and
it wasn’t until he was beaten by the eventual winner, on
Sunday afternoon, that he was put out of the running. He finished
in 7th position. A very close competition, that Colin did not
disgrace himself in.
In the pairs, Andy Gilder and
Mick Watkins represented Suffolk, with perhaps more expectation
than most. There were some strong pairs there, and nobody would
find it easy. At the end of the Saturday, they had only lost
one game, but had drawn two. One of these being the only point
that the Cambridgeshire pair had dropped. On the Sunday, after
some very good games all round, Andy and Mick went into the last
game knowing that any win would secure the championship. Unfortunately,
they were beaten by the Sunderland pair and finished in third
place, two points adrift.
The Daniels family, were our
representatives in the triples, and showed the never-say-die
attitude of all the Suffolk bowlers. At the end of play on the
Saturday, they had won two, lost two, and drawn one, making 5
points and sitting mid table. They never lost another game, and
by the end of play, their total was 13 points, and a finish of
second place, one point behind the winners. A very credible performance.
Rita and Peter Runnacles, Jim
Porter, and Don Allum, took part in the toughest competition,
the rinks. This discipline always contains a large number of
county bowlers, and plenty of determination. Although starting
strongly, the Suffolk rink could not keep up with the Hertfordshire
four, that more or less ran away with it, only losing when it
didn’t really matter. They performed well and certainly
never disgraced themselves, finishing in 6th place.
In the team event, Suffolk
was in the mix, until the final games. It was won by a very strong
Sunderland team, that contained all county bowlers. Seven of
which once played for Durham. It must always be remembered that
not all these counties use the open tournament as a way of picking
their champions, so sometimes, it is not a level playing field,
and our representatives must be congratulated on their manner
and performance.
A very good weekend was enjoyed
by all that went, and the Suffolk bowlers would like to offer
a big thank-you to our supporters, namely Sheila, Sue, Shirley,
Margaret and Jim.
Click here for the full results |