PRIDE OF THE TOWN
Cambuslang celebrates duo of Scottish championship bowlers
Cambuslang welcomed home two Scottish bowling champions after they made history in the national finals.
Ladies Junior Singles winner Rachel Sinclair and Gents Singles number one Mark O’Hagan were congratulated by their respective clubs on their return from the Bowls Scotland Championships at Northfield, Ayrshire on Saturday.
Sinclair, 24, a children’s nursery worker based in Rutherglen, was in floods of tears when she eventually overcame her Scotland teammate Dawn Anderson in a dramatic fightback to bag the trophy by a single shot.
But the mum of one also had to endure a tricky route to the final.
Sinclair, who was representing Kingswood Bowling Club, said: “It is such an amazing feeling to win a Scottish title, I was literally so happy I couldn’t stop crying.
“My first round was against nine-year-old Rebecca McCutcheon, she is the youngest person ever to qualify for the national championships.
“It wasn’t a nice situation to be in, I mean she’s only six years older than my daughter and the same age as most of the children I look after in my job but I won 21-4.
“My final was against Dawn who also made the final of the ladies singles.
“It was a great game, Dawn took the lead after me losing two fours but I put my head down and managed to get it back to 20-20 for a last end shoot out.
“I managed to win 21-20 with my last bowl and when I finished all I could think about was getting home to get a big cuddle off my daughter Mia!”
Whitefield’s O’Hagan also had a difficult start to his tournament when he came up against a seasoned Scottish Internationalist, past champion and favourite for the title, Billy Mellors.
But a 21-12 victory sent him on his way before defeating local favourite Craig Adrain from Irvine Park despite throwing away an eight point lead to win 21-15.
Whitefield club secretary David Russell said: “All the members of the club would like to congratulate Mark on his success.”
More reaction from the Northfield finals and local bowling news on page 57.