Club Championships

The draw has been made for the 3Rs sponsored pairs championships which start next Tuesday, 31 January.

The Final of the Indoor Bowls Junior Championship took place on Saturday 12^th and it produced a great game between the two thirteen year old boys who took part. The game was very close throughout with both boys playing well with John Long playing a perfect last bowl to take the win from William Corris. It is good to see young players taking part and may I say many thanks to Win Kewley who has coached young players throughout the season.

Last week we saw the Isle of Man Indoor Bowling Association hold the Ladies and Men’s Singles Championship in Bowls Hall at the NSC. In the Ladies event we saw two Preliminary Round matches in which Win Kewley beat Marilyn Ellison and Dee Lewis beat Glynis Drinkwater. This led to the Quarter Finals and here we saw Dee Lewis continue with her winning form to beat Win Kewley while Libby Andrade lost out to Bernice McGreal. In the remaining two matches we saw Paula Garrett beat Shirley Corrin and Janice Pilling beat Muriel Cain.

In the Semi Finals we saw Paula Garrett who had won the last two Championship Finals lose the first set to Janice Pilling before winning the second set and losing out in the one end tie-break while Dee Lewis beat Bernice McGreal to earn her place in the final.

The Final saw Janice Pilling win the first set but Dee Lewis fought back to win the second set and set up a tie- break which Janice won with her last bowl to become the 2022 Ladies Singles Champion.

In the Men’s Championship we again had two Preliminary Round matches with the ever enthusiastic Rob Matthews losing out to Wayne Roberts and Gary Lenton beating Mike Moyer. In the First Round we saw Wayne Roberts beat Gary Lenton  and Edward Carlyle beat Colin Brown who has proved himself over the years to be competitive in a number of sports. Trevor Quayle proved to be too strong for Gordon Wynne-Smythe and Clive McGreal beat Shaun Seal.  John Kewley beat Stephen Bradley while in the battle between Gordon Corrin and Gordon Drinkwater it was the latter who took the win. In the remaining two matches Jimmy Sansom beat Chas Grills and Mark McGreal beat Mike Ashmole.

At the Quarter Final stage Wayne Roberts lost out to Edward Carlyle and Trevor Quayle took the win against Clive McGreal. John Kewley beat Gordon Drinkwater to win a place in the Semi Final against Mark McGreal who beat Jimmy Sansom.

We came then to the Semi Finals and on the night Trevor Quayle was too good for Edward Carlyle while Mark McGreal who has had multiple Championship wins over the years defeated John Kewley.

The Final saw Mark McGreal win the first set and Trevor Quayle winning the second set to set up a tie-break which was won by Mark who drew the perfect bowl to win his fourth Singles Championship in five years.

Last night saw the finals of the men’s and ladies’ club championships.

Both matches were closely contested with both going to the dreaded 1 end tie break.

In the Ladies Final it was Janice who held onto the vital winning shot despite a valiant effort by Dee whose last bowl just drifted past the head.

Last week saw the running of the Isle of Man Indoor Bowls Association Pairs Championship which began on Monday 3^rd January with two Preliminary Round matches and three First Round matches. In the Preliminary Round, we saw the father and son pairing Clive and Mark McGreal prove to be too strong for Dee Lewis and David Quirk and Stefan Kelly and Alan Moore took the win against Trevor Quayle and Wayne Roberts.

In the First Round Win and John Kewley beat Paula and Stuart Garrett, Marilyn Ellison and Libby Andrade did well to beat Joyce Ogden and Caroline Whitehead and Bernice McGreal and Janice Pilling beat Mike Moyer and Mair Moore.

Tuesday night saw the remaining First Round Matches played and in these, we saw some close games with two ending a tie after the regulation ten ends were completed and go to a one end tie break. The first of these saw Rob Matthews and Gordon Wynne Smythe tie 8-8 with Mary Manuja and Colin Brown only for the latter team to lose the tie break. The second tie break of the night saw Bob Callow and Norman Kneen also draw 8-8 with Joanne Kelly and Tina Hampson and I have to say that the latter pair were unlucky to lose after a very close battle. In the remaining games, we saw Clive and Mark McGreal beat Stefan Kelly and Alan Moore, Marcia Pearson and Muriel Cain beat Edward Carlyle and Brian Lindsay and Paul Dougherty and Peter Hughes beat Shirley and Gordon Corrin.

In the Quarter-Finals, a gallant effort from Win and John Kewley came to an end when they lost in a tie break to  Janice Pilling and Bernice McGreal, Marcia Pearson and Muriel Cain were too strong for Paul Dougherty and Peter Hughes while Rob Matthews and Gordon Wynne Smythe were beaten by Marilyn Ellison and Libby Andrade. In the remaining game, we saw Pam Makin stand in as a very capable reserve with Norman Kneen but they were comfortably beaten by Clive and Mark McGreal.

The Semi-Finals saw the on form McGreal pairing prove to be too strong for Marcia Pearson and Muriel Cain while Marilyn Ellison and Libby Andrade who had battled so well all week beat Janice Pilling and Bernice McGreal to earn themselves a place in the Final.

We then came to a Final which saw one of the least experienced pairs in the competition play arguably the most experienced pair of Clive and Mark McGreal who put on a masterclass to coast to victory. We must not however take anything away from Marilyn Ellison and Libby Andrade who should be proud of their performances all week and fully deserved their place in the Final.

The Copyshop Indoor Bowls League took a break last week as the first of the season’s Championships was played, this being the Triples Competition. In the first round, we saw the trio of Paula and Stuart Garrett and Jimmy Sansom beat Marcia Pearson, Muriel Cain and Paula Firth 10-6 while Win and John Kewley and Brian Lindsay had a walkover as their opponents had to withdraw from the competition. In the remaining two matches of the evening Colin Brown, Alan Franklin and Rob Matthews lost 6-12 to Shirley and Gordon Corrin and Joyce Ogden and Chas Grills, Stefan Kelly and Alan Moore beat Shaun Seal, Phil Kerruish and Ian Moore 16-2.

On Tuesday we saw Paula and Stuart Garrett and Jimmy Sansom beat Win and John Kewley and Brian Lindsay 14-3 while Chas Grills, Stefan Kelly and Alan Moore beat Shirley and Gordon Corrin and Joyce Ogden 19-4. In the remaining games we saw the very experienced trio of Bernice and Clive McGreal and Janice Pilling beat Tony Epifani, Paul Dougherty and Peter Hughes 13-1 while Dee Lewis, Libby Andrade and Mike Moyer pushed David Quirk, Wayne Roberts and Trevor Quayle all the way before eventually losing 12-13.

This brought us to the semi-finals on Wednesday where the Chas Grills, Stefan Kelly and Alan Moore team, who had played well throughout the week, continued to play well, but on the night they eventually went down 7-10 to Paula and Stuart Garrett and Jimmy Sansom. The other semi-final was not quite so close as Bernice and Clive McGreal and Janice Pilling beat David Quirk, Wayne Roberts and Trevor Quayle 13-4.

The Final was played on Thursday evening and Paula and Stuart Garrett started well and built up a 5-0 lead but the very experienced trio of Bernice and Clive McGreal and Janice Pilling fought back to eventually run out with a 12-6 win to become Isle of Man Indoor Bowls Triples Champions. The Final was a great game to watch and kept the spectators on the edge of their seats right up until the end. The Trophy was then presented to the winners by Win Kewley the President of the Isle of Man Indoor Bowling Association.