English duo lift Kamala Pairs Championship in season finale
AFTER SEVERAL COVIDinduced cancellations and postponements, the Major Bowls Championship season finally concluded last Friday (Apr 22) with the Kamala Pairs Championship.
Adopting a shortened knockout format due to the searing heat and with pairings drawn at random from the field of 16, the title race was truly wide open as Ulf “Ue” Egerstaad and Ray Austin advanced to face the all-female team of Dot Barker and reigning Phuket singles champion Nidnoi
Worada in the first semi-final.
The second semi-final was between Pat Ailm and Duncan Kennedy and English duo Carl “Cowl” Mesham and Rob Knight.
The encounters weren’t as close as anticipated as Ulf and Ray and Carl and Rob eased past their opponents 13-6 and 13-2 respectively.
In the final showdown Carl and Rob took control of the jack early on and set a 7-0 lead, varying the length of the ends throughout in an attempt to ensure their opponents did not get used to the length and speed of the green.
Crucially, when Ray and Ue eventually got on the score sheet they made the mistake of throwing a foul jack, leaving their opponents to once again dictate the length of the end and establish a 12-3 lead.
Carl and Rob then claimed the 9th end by a point, meaning that they were victorious without having to play the final end.
Having previously won the Nations Cup, Carl and Rob’s triumph here helped restore some pride for the English contingent after a small period without any success in the Majors competition.
In the Plate final for the first-round losers, Sunee “Aon” Sriraksa and Ron Blackwood defeated George Aasanow and Derek “Rocky” Chalmers 13-6.
The finals honours board for this high season’s Majors: Kamala Open singles champion: Ron Blackwood; Phuket Open singles champion: Nidnoi Worada; Nations Cup champions: England; Kamala Pairs Open champions: Carl Mesham and Rob Knight.
Lawn bowls continues throughout the year and Kamala Lawn Bowls is open five days a week, Monday to Friday. All are welcome to have a go at this cheap and enjoyable sport and all equipment is provided. For further details contact the club on 0991307299.