British Isles Championships 2024- Day Two; Session One Report
Our games this morning saw three out of four Scottish victories, confirming a further three finals for the Scots. Our gents under 18 singles, along with gents pairs and ladies fours will be in action, vying for a British title later today.
Gents U18 Singles
Aaron Miller cruised to a 21-6 victory over Ireland’s Josh Thompson in the first game of the day. Miller, from Inverkeithing found himself in a tight game, at four-a-piece after five ends, in a battle that was quite tit for tat. Aaron then warmed into the game, taking five shots in the next three ends, showcasing his fantastic drawing ability, to lead by nine shots to six after nine ends.
It was the tenth end in which he broke out of first gear for the first time, taking a two in the tenth end, before scooping up an inch-perfect four in the eleventh end, with all four bowls within six inches of the jack, to take a 15-6 lead.
He never looked back after that moment, and kept up the pressure, scooping up three consecutive trebles, closing the game out.
Gents U25 Singles
Daniel Martin came so incredibly close to a spot in this evening’s final of the under 25 single hand, after a barnburner against Ireland’s Jack Moffett.
The opening exchanges were tight, with the score being all square at five, after five ends. The game was nip and tuck, with Moffett and Martin trading ends at almost every opportunity. Four consecutive singles from the Irishman between the eighth and twelfth ends allowed him to open a gap on Daniel, but the West Fifer dug in deep, and managed to push all the way to 13-12 down. The opening came for Moffett in the seventeenth end, when Daniel’s running shot did not go to plan, and resulted in him losing three shots. From then on, the four-shot deficit was too much to overcome, and the bowlers traded to 21-17. Despite having a cracking go at it, Moffett proved just too strong for Daniel.
Gents Pairs
Darren and Ryan Gualtieri were nothing short of sublime against Jersey’s Ross Davis and Malcolm de Sousa. The game was tight in the beginning, with all four players having a fantastic game, though opportunities arose for the Hyndland pair, the most crucial being the four shots picked up in the seventh end, to cross the side from the Channel Islands.
From then on, the brothers did not look back, cruising into an 18-9 lead after 12 ends. Despite losing a one in the thirteenth, the Gualtieries cracked on, scooping another three shots in the following two ends. Holding an 11 shot lead, with just three ends to play, de Sousa was forced to play to burn the sixteenth. He did just that, forcing the Scots to wait for their victory. Upon restarting the end, Darren drew his first bowl perfectly, piling on more pressure, forcing the end to be burnt a second time!
The Jersey pair were not yet finished, and managed to burn the end a third time, before Darren and Ryan finally took a pair, easing them into the finals.
Ladies Fours
Jane Anderson, Anne Bone, Julie Sword and Lynn Stein navigated their way through to the Ladies Fours finals this afternoon, though it was not without a test, as they were run close by Jersey’s Fiona Archibald, Sara Douglas, Lorraine Plante, and Katie Nixon. The Windygates based front end started fantastically, greatly aiding the team to rush into a 9-3 lead after six ends. Big bowls from all four players two ends later attributed to them making another three shots, leading 12 shots to five after eight.
They never looked back, and raced into a 15-6 lead after 11 ends, though they then faced a wobble.
The Jersey side dug their heels in, and rattled off eight shots in four ends, taking it to 15-14 with just three ends to go. Big bowls from the Fifers dragged them back into the contest, and they scored on all three of the last ends to advance.
Report by Oliver Anderson.
Find Live Scoring for this afternoon's finals below:
Green A (Gents Pairs and Triples) here!
Green B (Ladies Fours and Senior Fours) here!