British Wheelchair Bowls Association
Five members from the BWBA were selected to take part in the Disability Bowls England Master Tournament 2007. Originally this Tournament is played at Solihull on there outside surface, but due to members taking part in the Multi-Disabled Bowls Championships out in Australia last autumn, it was decided that the Masters Tournament for 2007 would be played at Gelding Indoor Bowls Club in Nottingham.
Five of our bowlers were chosen to represent the BWBA in the Masters Tournament held at Gelding Indoor Bowls Club on 19th and 20th January.
There was three of our five bowlers reaching the semi final stages and two of our bowlers competing against each other in the final. The overall winner was George Ridgeon who had to beat of Lea Davis 15 - 8.
Further information will be with you shortly and I will inform you once I have the result sheets in.
Februarys training weekend went very smoothly with Penny and Peter organising the weekend. The Kay Pipe Pairs Competition was well supported with very close games throughout the day. The BWBA would like to thank the Stoke Mandeville Indoor Bowls Club for organising markers, without them it would not have run. On the Sunday morning Penny and Peter were coordinating in training individuals and making sure other bowlers were paired off against each other. Go to 'bowlers news' for all the results.
Results:
| 1st | Kevin Woolmore & Brenda Penny |
| 2nd | George Ridgeon & Barbara Woolmore |
| 3rd | Lea Davis & Chris Burton |
| 4th | Norman Gault & John Appleton |
| 5th | Percy Powell & Mark Morris |
| 6th | Val Bradley & David Powell |
| 7th | Mike Bull & Gordon Foster-Blythe |
| 8th | Alan Cunningham & Chris Jones |
Wheelchair bowlers and their supporters traditionally travel some distance for the annual match between Worthing Pavilion BC and the BWBA. This year saw players trekking from Essex, Surrey and all the way from Bristol to this bowling hot-spot in Sussex-by-the-Sea. The BWBA popularity is reciprocated within the members of Pavilion, where several players have played in all the matches so far played.
Don’t let this apparently cosy popularity suggest it is an easy match – far from it. BWBA players are not inclined to travel long distances just to lose; and so it proved this year with a good 78 – 58 win for the wheelies. The only blot on the day was the one BWBA losing rink, skipped by BWBA President Terry Fitzgerald who has yet to break his winning duck in BWBA colours.
Y.Body, G.Body, K.Smytherman, L.Davis 23 – 14 F.Sacco, M.Walton, R.Bell, B.Graham
M.Ralfs, K.Dooley, C.Ward, I.Blackmore 24 – 12 E.Hamblett, T.Parker, P.Chiffings, R.Spencer
P.Shanley, P.Williams, R.Davis, S.Shanley 16 – 12 A.Westcott, G.Armstrong, J.Braiden, J.Barrass
C.Jones, C.Leonard, S.Ralfs, T.Fitzgerald 15 – 20 G.Rhodes, S.Lingham, R.Calvert, T.Bates
Overall result BWBA 78 – 58 Worthing Pavilion BC
KEVIN IN MATCHPLAY HEAVEN…AGAIN!
It is said that retaining a Championship always takes
more effort than winning it in the first place. So it proved at the BWBA UK
Matchplay Singles Finals held recently at Stoke Mandeville IBC, Aylesbury.
The lure of BWBA national ranking points and good prize money brought wheelchair bowlers to the Buckinghamshire headquarters of the BWBA from the far north of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and all over England.
Players were drawn into four groups. Matches are the best of two sets with a tie-break decider if required. Winners from each group would play for the BWBA Matchplay title with the second placed bowlers playing off for the Matchplay Plate.
An early highlight was the draw itself, which brought together in one heavyweight group of John Appleton (Thornaby IBC), George Ridgeon (Mid Gloucester IBC), Chris Burton (Scarborough IBC), Lea Davis (Jacks Centre Latchingdon IBC) and defending Champion Kevin Woolmore (Ffrith IBC). This would prove to be a tough group as four of these players were in the top ten of the BWBA national rankings. Woolmore’s consistency saw him win three of his four games, only losing the fourth on a tie-break. The real surprise in this group was the lack of form for the normally reliable Appleton who would end up with the wooden spoon. The fight for second place was not settled until the final round of matches. Ridgeon needed to win without dropping a set, anything less would see Davis playing in the semis. Ridgeon did not get the result he wanted and lost 0-2 to Burton, so Davis went into the Plate semi-finals.
Elsewhere in the tightest group of all, the unfancied Ken Harrington (Church Gresley IBC) just edged out one of Scotland’s most experienced wheelchair bowlers Jimmy Sellar (Cumbernauld IBC) on shots scored (a difference of only seven shots between them). The unlucky bowlers not qualifying were Steve Clarke (Ryedale IBC), Dave Powell (Solihull IBC) and Harry Haydock (Belfast IBC). If any one of these latter three had won or drawn another set in their group matches then they would probably have qualified instead.
Former Matchplay Pairs winner Percy Powell (White Oak IBC) and Paul Brown (Bristol City and County IBC) topped the third group, being separated only on shots scored. They got the better of fellow group members Adrian Foley (Sully IBC), Norman Gault (Barwell IBC), and Michael Bull (Foxhills IBC).
The last available spots in both sets of semi-finals were taken by James Smith (Elgin IBC), last year’s Plate winner, and Val Bradley (Hull & Distrct IBC). Those not quite making it were Alan Cunningham (Scarborough IBC) and Barbara Woolmore (Ffrith IBC).
Barabara’s in-form husband Kevin Woolmore won through to the Championship Final with a 2-0 sets win over Ken Harrington. He would meet the young Scot, James Smith who had a similar win over the veteran Englishman Percy Powell.
And so to the Final itself. Smith held a 6 shot lead in the first set with two ends to go and only just held on to win 7-5. The second set was close all the way through with the scores tied with two ends to be played. A draw would be good enough for Smith, but it was not to be. Woolmore took singles on the remaining ends to win 8-6 and force a tie-break which he won to the acclaim of those present so retaining his BWBA Matchplay Singles Crown.
Harrington took third place in a dramatic tie-break with
Powell. Harrington fired with three of his four woods and only won the end
on a respotted of the jack after successfully driving the jack off the green
with the last delivery.
In the Plate final, it was Paul Brown, playing in his first national wheelchair competition who came through to win in straight sets over the other Scot, veteran Jimmy Sellar.
BWBA President, Terry Fitzgerald presented the prizes and cups and thanked the volunteers from Stoke Mandeville IBC who had worked very hard and helped make the event run so successfully.
Results
Championship Semi Finals
K.Woolmore beat K.Harrington 9-4, 7-2
J.Smith beat P.Powell 10-8, 8-7
Third Place play-off
K.Harrington beat P.Powell 11-5, 7-9, 1-0
Final
K.Woolmore beat J.Smith 5-7, 8-6, 1-0
Plate Final
P.Brown beat J.Sellar 13-0, 8-6