How all the local bowlers fared at Skegness

WOMEN

2b singles – Sheila Craig (Conservative) was beaten 12-21 in the first round by Cleveland. 4b singles – Sarah Newson (Parkway) lost her opening match, 17-21 to Notts. Senior singles – Norma Squires (City of Peterborough) gained a 21-18 victory in the first round over Suffolk, but lost 6-21 in the second to Hunts. Secretaries singles – Linda Darani (City of Peterborough), a former winner of this event, was beaten 10-21 in the opening round by Northumberland.

Champions of Champions singles – Making her first appearance in the national finals, Joan Butcher (Whittlesey Town) progressed to the semi-finals. She defeated Cleveland 21-18 and North Cambs 21-17, but with only a brief break after the second round tie lost 8-21 to Durham.

Pairs – Mother and daughter Sarah and Val Newson (Parkway) advanced to the semi-finals with wins over North Essex (17-9) and Durham (19-5). Chris Morton replaced Leamington-bound Sarah in the semi-final which was narrowly lost 13-15 on an extra end against Cleveland after leading 13-9 with three ends to play.

Senior pairs – Pat Bussey and Sheila Craig (Conservative) also reached the semi-finals, beating Northumberland (20-5) and Durham (2312) before losing 12-22 to Hunts.

2b rinks – Ketton’s Carol Warters, Shirley Suffling and Chris Ford lost their opening match 12-19 to Northumberland.

3b rinks – The Ketton trio of Carol Warters, Shirley Suffling and Chris Ford produced an amazing comeback from 3-15 down at the halfway stage to defeat Humberside with a single on the last end for a 20-19 victory. However, they were unable to repeat their heroics in the second round where they lost 5-28 to Derbys.

MEN

2b singles – Peter Cox (Langtoft Pearl), making his first appearance in the finals for more than twenty years, opened with a 21-8 defeat of Notts, but was beaten 17-21 in the semi-finals by Northumberland.

4b singles – Neil Wright (Parkway) was an emphatic 21-9 winner against Northumberland in the opening round, but was pipped 20-21 by Notts in the second round after leading 20-10.

U25 singles – Stephen Harris (Blackstones) reached the final with a 21-10 win over Cleveland and a 21-18 defeat of Suffolk, but was beaten 16-21 in the decider by his sister Louise’s boyfriend Jonathan West (Lincs).

Veterans singles – Mick Duell (West Ward) retained the title for the county after defeating Suffolk 21-20, North Cambs 21-19 and then Humberside 21-12 in the final.

Secretaries singles – Malcolm Squires (City of Peterborough) was beaten 10-21 in the opening round by Lincs. Champion of Champions singles – Howard Shipp (Parkway) had the satisfaction of defeating current England international Ashley Clipston (Derbys) 21-18 in the opening round, but came unstuck 16-21 against Notts in the second round.

Pairs – Blackstones’ Nick Wilkie and Paul Buckley lost 12-23 to Derbys in the first round.

Senior pairs – Graham Jackson, making his first appearance in the finals, and City of Peterborough clubmate Roger Martin reached the semi-finals after wins against Norfolk (15-13) and Hunts (24-7), but then lost 14-17 to Notts.

2b rinks – The Parkway trio of Stuart Reynolds, James Harford and Trevor Collins, who was substituting for Mike Robertson, opened their bid with a 27-15 victory over Durham, but lost 16-20 in the semi-finals to Notts.

3b rinks – With Simon Law otherwise engaged in the national fours at Leamington, Parkway’s Tony Scarr and Neil Wright were forced to play one short, but they almost pulled off what would have been a remarkable victory over Humberside. They led 14-1 at one stage, but playing three bowls short on every end began to tell, but even so they held match lie on the final end before the Humberside skip powered through the head to grab the three shots they needed for a 21-20 win.

Under 25 open pairs – Stephen Harris made amends for his defeat in the final of the under 25 singles by winning the under 25 open pairs with Blackstones team-mate Darren Middleton, defeating Durham 22-15, North Cambs 19-15 and finally Notts 18-12.

MIXED

Mixed pairs – With Simon Law (Parkway) engaged in the fours at Leamington, Neil Wright stepped in for his third match of the day to team up with Chris Morton, but they were beaten 10-23 by North Essex.

Mixed rinks – The Newson family, daughter Sarah and husband and wife Jeff and Val Newson were beaten 22-24 in the opening round by Lincs.

Senior mixed pairs – Making their bow at Skegness, Linda and Tony Kemp (Conservative) put up a game performance in their 14-19 first round defeat at the hands of Hunts.