Dawes and Chestney pair up to claim Potters crown
There has been plenty of quality bowls on show at the World Indoor Championships at Potters this week, with three of the four titles having been decided.
The first final decided was in the newly named Open Pairs as the England duo of Mark Dawes and Jamie Chestney repeated their 2018 success when they dashed England’s Ellen Falkner’s hopes of a historic win, leading in for half of last year’s winning pair Greg Harlow.
It was classic Harlow as he produced bowl after bowl to take the first set 7-6. Dawes and Chestney responded in the second set to level it up 9-2 to take the final into the best of three tie-breaker.
On the opening tiebreaker with Chestney holding shot, Harlow produced another quality draw to take the end.
It was a case of role reversal on the second end as Harlow held shot but had to watch Chestney draw within six inches with his last bowl to take it into a matchdeciding final end.
On the final end again Chestney drew the shot leaving Harlow a foot to save the game but it was overweight, leaving the Dawes and Chestney combination the open pairs champions.
There was to be more disappointment for Falkner and due to an ongoing shoulder injury, she had to withdraw from the ladies match play singles.
The defending men’s champion England’s Robert Paxton’s title defence ended at the first hurdle when talented rising Yorkshire star Jack Bird put in a five star performance.
With Bird having already secured the first set 8-7 and leading 5-1 in the second set, Paxton conceded the match.
Sadly for the Yorkshire lad, his dream came to an end when Simon Skelton inflicted an 8-5, 8-3 loss.
Perry Martin knocked out the 12th seed Mark Royal 10-7, 6-2 while Mark Dawes recovered from losing the
first set to beat Mervyn King 2-1 on a tie breaker.
The favourite for the men’s title Scotland’s Paul Foster MBE was beaten 7-6, 5-4 by England’s Wayne Willgress.
The 2019 champion Scotland’s Stewart Anderson had to dig deep to see off Wales’ Dan Salmon 4-9, 9-2, 2-1.
With the inclusion of women into the men’s event the title has been adjusted this year to the Open Singles.
Scotland’s Julie Forrest’s run in the singles came to an end, despite a tremendous performance against the 2010 champion Greg Harlow and there was no repeat of her first round success as Harlow sneaked home 8-8, 7-6.
There was better news for the remaining woman in the draw as England’s Katherine Rednall, who is 7½ months pregnant, produced the performance of her life and the result of her career im beating the most
successful player in the game, Scotland’s Alex Marshall 7-5, 5-5 to book a place in the last eight.
Scotland’s David Gourlay also booked a last-eight place after a narrow 8-8, 7-5 win over Welshman Jason Greenslade.
In the ladies matchplay singles, Hartlepool-based Devon Cooper produced the result of her career when the chemistry student knocked out the two-time defending champion Scotland’s Julie Forrest.
The defending champion looked on course, taking the first set 7-3 only for Cooper to bounce back to level the match taking the second set 10-4.
In the best of three tiebreak it was Cooper who came out on top 2-0.
Sadly for Cooper, in the semi-finals the three-times winner Katherine Rednall proved a step too far, winning in straight sets 9-2, 8-4.
In the other semi-final, Wales’ Laura Daniels booked a final berth with a 2-0 tie-breaker win over England’s Rebecca Willgress.
Following Rednall’s superb win over Alex Marshall, it was straight back on the green for the final of the ladies match play singles against Wales’ Laura Daniels.
This was a repeat of the 2015 final when Daniels came out on top and history was to repeat itself.
The opening set saw a rampant Rednall run away with the first set 14-2, however Daniels regrouped, taking the second set 11-4.
With the momentum now with Daniels and Rednall unsurprisingly starting to tire, it was the Welsh star who took the title 2-0 on the tie-breaker.
Two former Scottish world champions teamed up to land the mixed pairs title. After her disappointment in the singles, Julie Forrest teamed up with Stewart Anderson to secure their first mixed pairs success.
In the final, fellow Scot Carla Banks, on her Potters debut, led in for last year’s men’s champion Robert Paxton.
In the end, the ForrestAnderson pairing took the title in straight sets 8-3, 6-5.
Bowls Australia, meanwhile, are looking for a new national coach after Steve Glasson decided to step down from the role.
During his ten-year tenure, Glasson has overlooked the rise of the Jackaroos, lifting title after title, which culminated at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, where the Jackaroos won five gold and two silver medals.
Bowls England are urging outdoor clubs to take part in a national open weekend as part of a national recruitment drive.
It is earmarked for the Spring Bank Holiday, May 28-31.
Finally, and sadly, 2021 has seen the local scene say goodbye to a second bowler, Roker Park’s Eddie Kay.