The Isle of Man Indoor Bowling Championship on Saturday 1st February treated spectators to some great bowling as players competed for the Triples, Pairs and Ladies’ and Men’s Singles titles.
The afternoon’s bowling opened with the Triples event which saw Bernice and Clive McGreal and Janice Pilling take on Jimmy Sansom and Paula and Stuart Garrett. The trio of Bernice, Janice and Clive started strongly with Bernice leading very well and at the halfway stage they held a 9-0 lead but their opponents rallied to win three ends but on the day the McGreal, Pilling partnership were too strong and ran out 15 – 4 winners.
The Pairs Final saw David Quirk and Dee Lewis takes on Shaun Seal and Ian Moore and although the latter pair scored the first chalk it was the Quirk/Lewis pairing that dominated the early game and at halfway stage had taken an 8-1 lead. We then saw a great fight back from Seal and Moore and at the end of the regulation ten ends the score was level at 8 -8 which meant a one end tie break which was won David Quirk and Dee Lewis making them the Pairs Champions.
In the Ladies Singles we saw reigning champion Paula Garrett defend her title against Janice Pilling and we saw a great performance from Paula as she played a calm and controlled game and proved to be too strong for her opponent who played well but was never able to take control of the game. It was Garrett then who went on to win in straight sets taking the first one 9-4 and the second one 10-1 to win her second successive Ladies Singles Championship.
The Men’s Singles saw Jimmy Sansom matched against Mark McGreal and this turned out to be a match of great quality with both players drawing some great shots and adding a little weight to their shots when required. I think it would be fair to say that Mark started as favourite but this didn’t deter Jimmy who took the first set 6-5 scoring two on the last end. Mark then retaliated and won the second set 9-6 and then winning the tie break to take the Championship title. This was a match that was a credit to both players and one perhaps that no one deserved to lose.
To sum up this was great Championship Finals Day and the whole of the three weeks of the Championship have seen some great bowling and sportsmanship and has been a credit to all taking part. The Ladies and Men’s Singles Championship Winners have now qualified to take part in the 2020 World Bowls Indoor Championships in Bristol from the 20th to 24th April so our best wishes go to Paula Garrett and Mark McGreal who will be representing the Isle of Man in this.