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2019 Finals Report

Played on the eight rinks green at the Newark Indoors Bowls Centre the EBF & EWBF Indoor National Finals at the Newark Indoor Bowls Club once again had all the promise for a fascinating week of high class bowling and did not disappoint in any way. The tournament organisers, Dave Woods, Beryl Beresford, Ray White and Ty Roberts had their work cut out with over 60 players duplications including, four players in five, five in four and many others in two or three competitions, this meant that some players if successful would play in all sessions on a day.

The opening ceremony on the Tuesday morning was hosted by EWBF President, Carole Swan from Norfolk. The official opening was carried out by the Mayor of Newark Councillor Tony Roberts, and the Chairman of the council Robert Crowe and his consort. Following this the Ladies from twelve counties took to the green for the annual Harry Carver Trophy competition. The winners after a four match round robin were Nottinghamshire, with the runners-up Lincolnshire.

Some highlights of the week: Match play began prompt at 9.30 a.m. on the Wednesday with the opening rounds of the three rink competitions. Resulting in wins for Huntingdonshire in the men’s and mixed rinks competition and Lincolnshire in the Ladies.

There were some close games in the Finals with Sue Pearson and Alan Hind from Cleveland just edging out the Durham pair of Alan Lawton and Maureen Charles in the Mixed Pairs by 16 shots to 15. Another close and exciting game resulted in Ladies rinks from Lincolnshire consisting of Jenna Earl, Rene Walker and Maureen Wilson defeating the rink from Northumberland of Ann Lennie, Karen Weites and Enid Brown by 21 shots to 19. In the ladies singles, Ann Lennie completed the hat trick of wins in this event, winning it for the 3rd time in a row. This now makes Ann the winner of this trophy for the seventh time since 2010.

Liam Creaser won the under 25 title for the second time in 3 years by beating Andrew Pulford from Suffolk in the final.

One of the most disappointing aspects of the week was when Ed Elmore from Huntingdonshire, had to pull out of the Championships on the Saturday through illness. He had already played all of the 13 sessions previously available since the Wednesday morning, winning all of them. Although he had already won 2 of the 5 championships he had entered, he could possibly have won 3 more if the illness had kept away.

The final game on the Sunday afternoon, was the Derbyshire Trophy final it was the first time in over 10 years that neither of the finalists had previously qualified when Northamptonshire played Nottinghamshire. The game could have gone either way with two evenly matched teams before Northamptonshire gradually pulled away and won by 17 shots.

Plans are already underway for the 2020 EBF/EWBF Indoor Finals which will take place from Monday April 20th to Sunday April 26th inclusive, at the Newark Indoor Bowls Club.

Once again I would like to thank the officials, the staff and the members of this lovely club who helped to make this another memorable championship, delivering all present with a never ending supply of tea, coffee and drinks while the bacon baps never failed to delight, as did the hundreds of lunches and sandwiches served throughout the games. Thanks to Richard Coles our Photographer and also to the Umpires and Markers who gave generously of their time, the EBF and EWBF officials who organised and ran the tournament, the bowlers who delighted the spectators all the week and the spectators themselves who created the magical atmosphere for the English Bowling Family that is only found at Newark.

Dave Woods

E.B.F. National Secretary