The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
England ace only just has the measure of Parkway’s Hannah
England national women’s championships
Parkway’s Hannah Overton suffered the disappointment of an extra end defeat in her bid to reach the quarter-finals of the Bowls England national women’s two-bowl singles at Leamington. She defeated Mary McNally (Northumberland), 17-8, and Glynis Morgan (Durham), 147, before a 16-15 third round defeat at the hands of current England international Pat Walker (Leics).
Overton held a one shot lead going into the last end, where she lost a measure for shot, and then conceded a single on the extra end to be denied a quarter-final place.
Michelle Barlow ( Parkway) was beaten 16-9 in the first round by Middlesex’s Sue Butcher.
Overton, though, did reach the last eight of the under 25 pairs with Warboys’ Lauren Brett, beating Oxfordshire, 27-10 ,and then Suffolk, 16-15, before losing 30-10 to Leicestershire.
There were opening round exits in the pairs for Parkway’s Sarah Newson and Catherine Popple, former winners of the title, who were beaten 22-8 by Buckinghamshire’s Charlene Turpie and Vicky Room, and mother and daughter Pat Reynolds and Emma Thurston, beaten 16-14 by Wiltshire’s Jacki Pearce and Janet Willis.
In the men’s events that overlapped the conclusion of the women’s championships, Tristan Morton (Warboys) and Joe Randall (Parkway) both reached the last 16 of the junior singles.
Morton, twice a runner-up in the under 25 event, lost 2116 to Martin Heitzman (Sussex) after wins over Sam Selby (Hants), 21-4, and Sam Watts (Oxon), 21-17.
Randall, competing in the event for the first time, went down 21-18 to Marcus Fuller (Cambs) after defeating Michael Richards (Wilts), 2118, and Marcus Street (Surrey), 21-18.
The Brampton rink of Andy Walton, Barry Kitto, Ryan O’Flanagan and Robbie Coleman made an early exit from the fours, losing their preliminary round tie against Durham, 16-15.
Having won the junior version twice in the past three years, Hunts will be hoping to win the senior men’s two fours inter-county title this weekend for the first time.
Hunts face new Middleton Cup champions Hampshire in the Balcomb Trophy semi-fi- nals on Sunday morning, with the winners facing Warwickshire or Lancashire in the final later in the day.
The Hunts rinks are: Robert Elmore, Lewis Baker, Alex Walton and Nicky Brett; Simon Leader, Ean Morton, Stuart Popple and Tristan Morton.
Four of that squad are in action today (Thursday) in the opening round of the triples, with Leader and the Morton brothers facing Middlesex, while Parkway’s Nigel Eagle, Mike Robertson and Trevor Collins are also in action at 9.30am against Worcester- shire.
Collins is also involved in the senior singles on Saturday afternoon against Surrey’s Andrew Barclay at the same time as the triples final is scheduled, although there are plenty of hurdles to overcome before he needs to be concerned about that potential clash.
Hunts officials will be hoping there will be some flexibility in the playing timetable when it comes to the pairs competition, as Warboys pair Simon Leader and Nicky Brett are scheduled to play their preliminary round match against Cumbria at the same time as the Balcomb Trophy final – assuming Hunts advance from the morning semi-finals.
The other Hunts pairing – Chris Falkner and Alex Walton, also from Warboys – are not scheduled to play until Monday morning, when they face Cornwall in the first round.
The two-bowl singles gets under way on Tuesday, with Andrew Thurston (Parkway) in action against Kevin Ward (Middlesex) at 12.30pm, and Alex Walton facing Shaun Jones ( Herefordshire) at 9.30am, providing he’s still not involved in the pairs competition.
The men’s i ndividual events got under way last Friday with the senior pairs, where there was a 20-15 preliminary round defeat for Eynesbury’s Bob Parr and Les Renwick by Durham. Premier Division: Blackstones 81-12; West Ward Tigers 80-14; Whittlesey Manor 76-13; Longthorpe Tower 74-14; Ketton Welland 7213; CoP Belvedere 68-14; West Ward Lions 66-13; Conservative Blue 56-14; West Ward Panthers 27-13. Division One: Peterborough & District 95-13; Langtoft Pearl Blue 80-14; Itter Park 77-13; Yaxley A 75-13; Barnack 62-13 (-26); Whittlesey Town B 62-14 (-51); Langtoft Pearl Red 59-15; Deeping A 58-13; Crowland A 42-14. Division Two: Yaxley B 92-14; CoP Molins 80-14 (+57); Bourne 80-14 (+25); East Community A 72-13; Longthorpe Wood 6813; Langtoft Pearl Green 54-13 (-65); West Ward Rhinos 54-14 (-67); Deeping B 40-13. Division Three: Ketton Chater 85-13 (+96); Longthorpe Manor 85-13 (+95); Market Deeping 72-14; Werrington Mill 60-14; Longthorpe Green 59-13; Parkway B 57-12; Thomas Cook 54-12; Werrington Fox 48-13. Division Four: Baker Perkins 86-14; Conservative Grey 78-13; Bretton 72-13; Whittlesey Town A 70-11; Crowland B 67-13; Burton Street Tigers 53-12; Deeping C 52-14; East Community B 32-12.