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Welcome to Costa Blanca Bowls
- Current News
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COSTA BLANCA PROVINCIAL
The Provincial team have played 2 matches over the last week. The first
against Javea Green on Saturday 20th.
The team of Geoff Kay, Brian Gardiner, Roy Trow & Guiseppe Galelli got
off to a good start against Jonathan (sorry cant read the surname), Brian
Collins, Clive Corbin & Brian Manser leading 8-1 after 6 ends.
The home side then picked up a 4 & a 3 on the next 2 ends to level the
score. The provincial side picked up a shot on the next end before
Brians team collected 6 shots on the next 3 ends to lead 14-9. Guiseppes
team came back winning the next 3 ends to level the score again. With
each team scoring a single over the next 2 ends it was all square playing
the final end. After a measure the deciding shot went to Javea.
The team of Arthur Brown, Matt Chorley, Clive Scott & Noel Verity were
drawn against the strong home side of Dave Sackman, Brian Fenton, Jim Fletcher
& Harry Chick. Having dropped a 6 on the first end Noels team were always
going to have a battle. They got a single on end 2 before dropping
3 shots over the next 2 ends to trail 1-9. They scored 2 on the next
end only to drop 5 shots on the next 3 ends to be down 3-14 after 8 ends.
It looked as though the Javea side would secure a good victory in this match
but the Provincial lads had other ideas. Two 2’s on the next ends brought
them to 7-14 but they dropped a 3 on the next end but managed a single on
end 12. 8-17. A 2 to Javea on the next end and it was looking all over but
Noel and his team dug deep and scored 2 3’s to bring the score to 14-19.
They dropped a 2 on end 16 to trail 14-21 but still trying they collected
a 3 on end 17 to trail by 4 going into the last. A 3 on the final end
and they lost by just 1 shot. A superb comeback – just not enough.
Allen Bowen, Peter Collins, Harry Rhodes & Barry Latham were against
David Moon, Martin Hughes, Barry Elms & Trevor Neale. Allen, Harry
& Barry have been together in quite a few games with varying number 2’s
and had never lost. They continued their winning ways by securing a
20-8 win never allowing the home side to score more than 2 on an end.
For the ladies Mary Cockell, Wendy Latham, Sheila Cammack & Jean Cooper
were against Diane Hughes, J Lapthorn, Joan Moss led by Spanish Coach Pat
Metcalfe. Jeans team won the first 2 ends with singles before trading
3’s to lead 5-3. They then lost the next 5 ends to trail 5-12.
3 singles brought them to within 4 shots then the home side scored a 2 to
lead 14-8. The provincial ladies won 3 of the final ends with 2’s but
dropped a single and a 3 to lose 14-18.
The team of Shirley Verity, Barbara Brown, Carol Meare & Sue Cooper was
well beaten by a strong home side of Janet Neale, Diane Manser, Gail Watson
& Sheri Fletcher. None of the provincial ladies played to their
capabilities and they were well beaten 14-29, a match they would rather forget.
The only saving grace for the ladies was the team of Joy Gardiner, Jan Kay,
Dee Lane & Val Hignett against Diane Wyhill, Jill Hobbs, Felicity Jenkins
& Anne Moon. Despite dropping 2 4’s the provincial side had a comfortable
win 26-15.
The provincial side only won 2 rinks but won on shots 109-107.
Onto the second match of the week on Thursday against Indalo in the Inter
Provincial challenge, at La Marina. The Provincial side have won this
trophy every year it has been played for. This year due to financial
constraints the match is being played over 2 matches and not 4 as usual so
that teams do not have the expense of an overnight stay.
Indalo play mixed rinks with 1 exception whilst the Provincial stay with
their usual format of single sex rinks.
The provincial side of Brian Trinder, Peter Collins, Gerry Gough & Noel
Verity played against Lyn Milton, Alan Ruscoe, Stan Milton & Margaret
Maltby. This was a close game thoughout with the Provincial side leading
after 16 ends by 16-15. They unfortunately dropped a single and a 2
on the last 2 ends to lose 16-18.
Glenda Odell, Jan Kay, Sheila Cammack & Val Hignett played against Derek
Kitchen, Keith Turner, Ray Haynes & Maggie Holmes. The provincial
ladies never got into their stride and lost 7-16.
Shirley Verity, Joy Gardiner, Dee Lane & Jean Cooper were against the
strong Indalo team of Debbie Colquhoun, Jan Johnsn, Jan Dando & Mick
(Jockstrap) Johnson. Despite leading 3-0 after 3 ends the provincial
ladies couldn’t match the consistency of the Indalo side and finished 9-21.
Jean Cooper was ill on the last 2 ends and spectator Wendy Latham was called
on the play the final 2 ends in her place.
Arthur Brown, Geoff Kay, Harry Rhodes & Guiseppe Galelli played against
Geoff Weaver, John Dando, Ferah Mehmet & Peter Steenstrup. Despite
this being a close match the Indalo team won 18-14.
The other ladies rink was changed a couple of hours before when skip Sue
Cooper had to withdraw due to problems with low blood pressure. Barbara
Brown agreed to play at short notice and thanks go to her. The team was Mary
Cockell, Barbara Brown, Jan Pocock & Mary Priddle, they were drawn against
T Seymour, Mike Champion, Gerald Bickers & Mal (Choo Choo) Holmes.
For the first half of the game the provincial side held their own to trail
10-11 at 10 ends. At 16 ends they were only 3 shots behind but dropping
a 6 on end 17 was their downfall and they finished the match at 15-23.
Allen Bowen, Ken Cuthbert, Nick Birch & Brian Pocock (playing his first
provincial match) were against Barbara Ruscoe, Ken Ferry, Brian Halliwell
& John Colquhoun. After 9 ends the provincial lads were struggling
and down 5-11. A 5 scored on the next end brought them to only 1 shot
behind, but they dropped a single, a 6 and another single on the next 3 ends
to trail by 10 shots. Suddenly the Provincial lads realized they had
to do something and they collected a single, a 4, a 2 and another single
to trail after 17 ends 18-20. Amazingly they managed to gain another
3 shots on the final end to win by 1. A truly commendable performance
to keep their heads up when it looked as though they were down and out.
Despite this win Indalo have a strong advantage for their home leg at Indalo
on 25th September when the Provincial will have to pull out all stops if
they are going to retain the trophy they have never lost.
GLORY FOR BROWN AS HEATH BURNS OUT
In Saturday afternoon’s final session at the Emerald Isle a full house was
entertained to two singles matches of the very highest quality. On home turf
former 
National Champion and current international Keith Jones took on club mate
Colin Lindgreen in the men’s competition but it was the women’s contest between
Anita Brown of San Miguel and, playing in her third tournament final, Sandra
Heath of Quesada that really caught the imagination and had the crowd on the
edge of their seats.
Storming into an 8-2 lead in almost unbearable heat Brown looked to be in
fine form against a very tired Heath who looked to be physically drained from
her earlier exertions. But while the Quesada bowler then picked up the pace
to peg her opponent back to within a point, four shots on the 17th end for
Brown once again put daylight between the two bowlers, taking the score to
17-10. Brown took a further 2 on the 18th end to put her within just a couple
of shots of the Valencian title. However during the next 9 ends the determination
of Heath really did begin to shine through and once again she steadily pegged
the score back until after 26 ends she was just a single
point behind her opponent at 19-20. But as she then closed to within touching
distance of the title herself the effort of two previous final appearances
had been just too much. On the 27th end the popular Brown picked up the shot
that she needed to close Heath out of her third Valencian final. As the Quesada
bowler sank to her knees in exhaustion Brown threw her hands into the air
to celebrate an absolutely superb effort and her very first major title.
In the mens final, although Jones had gone into the match as the favourite
he simply didn’t perform on the day. He was always a shot or two behind his
opponent and even though he pulled back to level 17-17 on 17 ends Im sure
that most spectators felt he was just a little off his usual form. The match
was more 'interesting' than 'exciting' as Lindgreen finally closed him out
with three shots on the 26th end.
As Tournament Director Tom Dalgleish and Federation President Steve Westall
brought this first, extremely successful, Valencian Championships to a close
by thanking bowlers, organisers and sponsors, the final act was to award the
Avalon Player of the Tournament shield to Quesada's Sandra Heath for her
excellent achievement, of getting through to the Rinks, Pairs and Singles
finals. 
All the scores:
Mens singles - Colin Lindgreen (EI) bt Keith Jones
(EI) 21-17
Ladies singles - Anita Brown (SM) bt Sandra Heath
(Q) 21-19
Mens pairs - Tony Pilling and Danny Buchanan (LS)
bt Guiseppe Galleli and Alan Pugh (H) 26-6 (Conceded after 16 ends)
Ladies pairs - Shirley Verity and Sheila Cammack
(C) bt Sandra Heath and Deirdre Leeming (Q) 13-12
Mens triples - Stuart Denholm, Alex McNeil, Dominic
Mills (SM) bt Keith Jones, Sam Russell, Steve Cantley (EI) 15-14
Ladies triples - Jean Cooper, Peta Rhodes, Joy
Gardiner (LS) bt Jo Parsons, Pam Lockett, Margaret Rogers (EI) 14-14
Mens Rinks - David Dean, Gerry Gough, Jeff Paylor,
Alan Perry (CB) bt Barry Latham, Bill Pain, Derek Toozer, Ronnie Cairns (Gl)
19-18
Ladies rinks - Janet McNeil, Pam King, Margaret
Patterson, Ann Eagle (SM) bt Deirdre Leeming, Veronika Sale, Sandra Heath,
Sheila Cox (Q) 20-11
Regional Championships surpass expectations
“It has been absolutely first class, just one or two minor hitches
but the competition committee have done a magnificent job”, the words of
a group of bowlers I spoke to at the end of the first week of the Valencian
Regional Championships being held 
locally at San Miguel, the Emerald Isle and Greenlands Bowls Clubs. And
with a strong lineup still fighting it out at the latter stages of the two
blue ribbon events, the mens and ladies singles, week two looks like being
even better than the first. The mens competition could still be won by any
one of half a dozen bowlers although former national champion Keith Jones
was looking strong as he plotted his route into the last 16. But he is unlikely
to have things his own way with Barry Latham, Len Pilling, Len Fisher and
Stuart Hemmings still in the mix. With round 4 and the quarters scheduled
to take place at the Emerald Isle on Sunday I could, however, be eating
my words by the time we go to print.
That is unlikely to be the case with the Ladies singles however as the
four remaining
bowlers won’t meet in their semi finals until late on next week where
surprise package Anita Brown will meet former Spain International Val Sherry
and Sandra Heath will meet Brenda Pilling, the conqueror of ladies national
champion Peta Rhodes in round 3.
While the Ladies Pairs is still to get underway the mens twosomes is at
the quarter final stage with Russell and Jones scheduled to meet Davies and
Mitchell next week. The other three quarter finals are also littered with
quality bowlers as Pugh and Galleli meet Rhodes and Lewington, Hughes and
Armstrong play against the wily veteran Pilling and his partner Buchanan while
Roberts and Hart bring up the rear against Bainbridge and North. The trio
led by Sheila Stead will meet the Jo Parsons three in the first of the ladies
triples semi finals on Thursday while Moss will play Cooper in the the other.
Again, at the time of writing the mens competition is still to get underway.
Len Fisher has brought his Rinks team through from the Preliminary round
to line up against Perry in the first of the mens semi finals while Assistant
National Director Brian Pocock will put his reputation on the line up against
the foursome led by clubmate Barry Latham in the other. Finally the Ladies
rinks is also at the last four stage with Toleman facing McNeil in semi
final one and Leeming meeting Angie Goodfelow in semi two.
All three bowling clubs will be in use throughout the first 3 days of week
two of the competition with the Pairs and the Triples tournaments taking
centre stage. On Thursday the competition moves entirely to the Emerald Isle
where all the latter stages, semi finals and finals, will be contested. But
wherever you go you will be assured of first class competition in en extremely
warm and friendly environment so if you are inquisitive about the standard
of bowls locally and would like to see more you will never have a better
opportunity.
Weather fails to spoil Opening Ceremony
On what had been a very wet day, the Opening Ceremony of the very first
Valencian 
Regional Lawn Bowls Championship, was blessed with a sixty minute break
in the clouds.
At just after 6 o clock, as the sun finally poked through, 18 clubs,
from Country Bowls in the south to Javea in the North made a little piece
of sporting history on the Costa Blanca with over 300 competitors parading
on the San Miguel Green.
The competitors and the guests of honour, including San Miguel Club owner
Naresh Bhunbia, received a warm welcome from the spectators and then, once
everyone was in position, providing a great spectacle with the range of
colours worn, everyone was welcomed by the Valencian Bowls Federation's
delegate, Steve Westall. He
was followed by Brian Pocock, the Assistant Director of the Spanish
Bowls Federation, who again thanked the sponsors and the organising committee.
In his short speech Brian also explained just how the sport had arrived
at the Valencian Championships following more than a little dissention from
the clubs situated on the Costa del Sol.
The championship committee chairman, Emerald Isle’sTom Dalgleish, thanked
his fellow committee members for their hard work in preparation for the
tournament after which he introduced and once again thanked the sponsors.
The competitors retired for some welcome refreshment before leaving to
prepare for the start of the tournament yesterday. This year there are
almost 400 entrants and for the successful ones this will be an arduous
two weeks. For those who’s time on the green might be rather shorter there
will always be the opportunity to renew old acquaintances and make new
friends. The tournament runs until Saturday 23rd May and the greens being
used are those at Greenlands, the Emerald Isle and San Miguel.
Javea Win North v South Battle
Once again pride of
place goes to Javea Quartz, as they played against Emerald Isle Diamonds
in the North versus South League play off & won handsomely!! The 
first leg was away and the Trophy was all but won, as they demolished
the home team, winning 4 matches and drawing the other. The Diamonds made
a few changes for the return leg which turned out to be a tougher affair
& the match score of 5-7 in the away teams favour reflected that. But
with an overall match result of 16-8, Javea Quartz became only the second
club to bring this cup to the North. A delighted Dave Sackman was presented
with the Cup by Brian Pocock, CBBA President. At lunch both Captains agreed
that the games had been played in a competitive but friendly spirit. It
would be wrong to highlight anyone in particular, as it has been a great
team effort over the season, however special thanks should go to Dave Sackman
for his Captaincy, it is an arduous task & difficult decisions have to
be made.
SABA v MAZARRON BOWLS CLUB
The SABA Committee broke new ground on Sunday 26th April with a visit
to the Mazarron Bowls Clubs green at Fuente Alamo. Mazarron have been trying
to get various clubs to play friendlies against them, prior to applying
for membership of the CBBA.
Ten of the eleven SABA clubs were represented with only La Marina missing.
The SABA team was selected to ensure that each trip contained players from
three separate clubs which allowed the Mazarron teams to obtain differing
views on the Costa Blanca bowls scene but did little for the SABA teams’
performance. The game was played in the usual friendly spirit and with some
very close games Mazarron finally winning on 5 rinks and SABA winning 3.
SABA however claimed the game on an overall shot difference of 131 to Mazarron’s
121. Mazarron may not of course agree to this interpretation.
The SABA winning rinks were Sheila Cox, Ken Duffey and Roy Cordell 20
– 9, Jack Jackson, Mike Stacey and Maureen Duffey 21 – 12 and Ann Cranwell,
Derek Lodge and Terry Errington 20 – 19. The losing rinks were Jennie Rothwell,
John Bailey and John Featherstone 14 – 15, Arthur Brown, Sue Oram and John
Moss 16 – 17, Sally Cordell, Barbara Brown and George Rothwell 14 -16, Maureen
Stacey, Steve Pearson and Bob Donnelly 12 – 15 and Sandra Errington, Mary
Moss and Mike Cox 14 – 18.
Everyone at SABA would like to thank Mazarron for their hospitality
and we wish them good luck for the future.
CBBA Championship of Champions by Sue Cooper
This year the CBBA held its major event at Bonalba BC from 13th April.
The weather was kind with the exception of one heavy rain storm on Wednesday
afternoon. This did not delay the schedule and by Thursday evening
all finalists were known. Unlike last year we were unable to complete
the event in less than 5 days due to the number of players in multiple
events.
However, no player was in more than 1 final which enabled all the team
finals to be played in the morning followed in the afternoon by the 2
premier events, Ladies & Mens singles.
In the Rinks final the host club Bonalba (Diane & Joe Ridley, Jan
& Tony Carey) took on Javea Green (Anita & Peter Ellis, Janet &
Trevor Neale). Bonalba had beaten Greenlands, Horadada and La Siesta
to reach the final while Javea had overcome Benitachell, La Marina &
San Luis. For the first half of the match the scoring was nip and tuck and
at 9 ends Bonalba led 8-6. A 3 and a 2 on the next 2 ends gave them
a lead of 7 shots only for this to be reduced to 2 when Javea picked up
a 5 on the next end. Having dropped the 5 the home side upped their
game and won all but 1 of the remaining ends to win the final 21-13.
The triples final matched Benitachell (Sheila Manser, Yvonne Briden
& Alex Fisher) against La Marina (Leighton & Ceridwen Davies, Roy
Mercer). Benitachell had beaten Horadada, Albir & La Siesta on
the way to the final while La Marina had beaten Lemon Tree, Greenlands
& Emerald Isle. This proved to be the most 
competitive final. After 4 ends the score was 2-2. A 3
to each team on the next 2 ends kept the score level at 5-5. La Marina
won the next 2 ends to lead 8-5 then dropped a single before collecting 2
singles to give them the lead 10-6 after 11 ends. Back came Benitachell
with 2 singles only to drop a 2 on the next end to trail 8-12. A 2 to them
on the next end closed the gap but they dropped a single on the next end
13-10 to La Marina with 2 ends to play. Benitachell picked up a single
on end 17 leaving them needing 3 to win or 2 for an extra end on the 18th.
Benitachell gave the mat away for the final end. As the skips left
the head it was La Marina holding shot and it looked as though Benitachell’s
gamble hadn’t paid off. With Alex’s first bowl he hit the shot wood
to send the jack into the back ditch and his team were holding 1.
Roy tried to draw it and just came up short. Alex drew a 2nd with
his next bowl and Roy did not reduce the count with his final bowl.
Alex had a chance to win the match with his final bowl but just failed to
pass the closest La Marina bowl. 13-13 at 18 ends and an extra end
was needed to decide the champions. On the extra end Benitachell
managed to secure the shot and the match.
The pairs pitted the ever consistent pairing of June & Keith Jones
of Emerald Isle 
against Ann & Tony McKenna of Albir. Emerald Isle had beaten
El Cid, San Miguel and Calpe on their way to the final whilst the Albir
had dispatched Greenlands, Bonalba & Monte Mar. The final scoring
in this match does not reflect the game as Tony & Ann played some superb
bowls but June & Keith were on a mission to secure their 3rd win in
this event and ran out winners 20-4. A special mention for Ann who
was playing in her first Championship of Champions, with husband (Spanish
International) Tony leading she played some superb shots to turn ends around
and help them reach the final. Surely a name to watch.
The Ladies singles final was a battle between ex International Val
Sherry of San Luis against current International Sabrina Marks.
Val got off to a perfect start and
by the 7th end had built up a lead of 11-2. Sabrina then found
her range and from then it was game on, she scored on the next 2 ends to
close the gap to 5-11 and then they traded alternate ends until Val led
16-10. Sabrina scored a single on the next end and then changed the
length of the jack picking up a single and a 3 on the next 2 ends to trail
by 2 at 14-16. On the next end Val was holding 2 close bowls when Sabrina
picked up the jack and moved it to her other bowls at the back. To
the spectators on the side it looked as though she was holding 1 & and
measure. Val went up to look at the head and went back to play her
last bowl, she just missed Sabrinas bowls. It turned out to be 4 shots
to Sabrina who now led 18 to 16 and could see the winning line approaching.
Despite some good bowls from Val, Sabrina scored a single and a 2 to win the
match and her 2nd CBBA Champion of Champions Singles.
In the Mens singles it was two Internationals competing, with Russell
Marks from San Miguel and Fred Roberts from La Marina. Fred played
to his usual standard but Russell was a man on a mission. Even when
Fred was holding 2 or 3, Russell would play the perfect bowl to turn it
to his advantage and he stormed to a 21-12 victory and collected his first
win in the CBBA Champion of Champions Singles.
Afterwards, presentations were made by CBBA President, Brian Pocock
and the Jose Manuel, Managing Director of the Bonalba complex. Brian
thanked Bonalba
BC for hosting the event and all their members who set up the green
for the start of play and cleared up at the end of the day, the
members who manned the refreshments, the Umpires and Markers who gave
up their time. Finally he thanked Sue Cooper for running the event
and announced that this would be Sue’s final organization for the CBBA
as she had resigned as Southern League Co-ordinator. His wife Jan
then presented Sue with a beautiful bouquet of flowers as a thank you for
all her work for the CBBA. Russell Marks on behalf of the competitors
thanked the CBBA and organizers for their efforts.
The CBBA wish the Spanish Mens & Ladies teams good luck and good
bowling for the forthcoming trip to Johannesburg for the Atlantic Championships.
Photos courtesy of Allen Bowen.
Start Ém Young
Ben Morrison is just 14 years of age but he has been bowling on grass
since he was seven. Coached by his grandmother, Valerie Pryke, a well
known bowler in Suffolk, Ben has already achieved a great deal of success
both as an individual and
as a team player. He currently belongs to 2 bowls clubs, Trimley
St Mary, Cranfield, and Waldingfield, where he bowls in 3 different leagues
during the 10 week summer break from his boarding school. Ben also represents
his school at rugby and cricket. Last year he won a unique bowls prize,
a shirt worn by the world class bowler Mark Foster which was presented
by Greg Harlow in a tournament organised by Stowmarket’s Mark Royal. As
readers will know, both world indoor bowlers. Ben has also played with John
Rednall, an English outdoor grass bowler. In May Ben has got a trial for
the Suffolk under 25 squad.
Bowling at San Luis was the second time that Ben has bowled on artificial
greens, the other occasion was at Horadada who made it possible for his
visit across to San Luis by making him an honorary member.
Tiger Bowls (Hong Kong and China)
Having travelled for what felt like two days we arrived in Hong Kong
to 29 degrees of heat 120 percent humidity and one of the most wonderful
places I have ever visited.
The first day was spent wandering around in a jet lagged daze and
involved getting lost on a regular basis. This was to become a regular
feature of our travels for the ten days.
We were fortunate enough to be drawn at the Police Officers club
for the first day in Honk Kong, which was outdoor carpet, so we dutifully
practiced all afternoon.
What we didn’t know was that the organiser Jackie Wong had arranged
an exhibition match for us at the Hong Kong Football Club that night on
grass. So the afternoons practice was forgotten as the grass in HK is very
heavy.
Luckily the next day we only took one game to adjust back and managed
to qualify for the cup stages at the Cricket Club so it was back to heavy
grass. Unfortunately the third acclimatisation process took longer and
the Welsh, Malaysians and Thailand boys made sure it was harder still. While
we gave a good account of ourselves the format of two sets of three ends
and a final set of two ends meant we had no margin of error.
So
it was off to China and the first day brought two games against the Internationa
l Barbarians and the Welsh, again. With the greens running at 9 seconds
we now felt comfortable with the weight to the extent that we beat the
Ba Bas by 4 shots and lost to the Welsh by one shot when we put the jack
in the ditch and it went the wrong way. We arrived for day two with a great
chance of qualifying, and then we saw the green. We were playing the China
team skipped by the organiser of the tour who had ordered the green soaked
overnight and had got the green down to 6.5 seconds for the first game( to
be fair they did speed up to 7.5 seconds in the afternoon). This favoured
them slightly more than us and we were well beaten. Things didn’t get easier
when we played the Fijians with three of the silver medallist from World
Bowls in the trips.
We had a great game but came out second best. The pressure was really
on to beat the Canadians last years semi finalists it didn’t look good
for the first 6 ends as they built up a healthy lead. We stuck in and managed
to pick up a 6 and a 3 on the last two ends to win by a shot.
The next morning we had to beat Central China to stand any chance
of qualifying and with the greens back to under 7 seconds we weren’t able
to pull it off and bowed out of the competition.
We all enjoyed ourselves tremendously and the experiences we had
of not only bowling against some top quality bowlers but also of making
new friends and experiencing two marvellous cultures will stay with me
forever. To anybody who gets the opportunity to do something similar I
would say “go for it” I promise you will have the time of you life
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