British Isles Championships 2024- Finals Afternoon Report

Scotland took home two gold, and three silver medals this afternoon at the 2024 British Isles Championships, at Leamington Spa, with our ladies fours, and gents triples proving victorious, while our gents pairs, gents under 18 single hand and ladies senior fours came up short, despite a valiant effort.

Gents Pairs

Darren and Ryan Gualtieri came painstakingly close to a British title, against when they faced England’s Nick Wardle and Joe Dawson.

It was well and truly a game of two halves, with Darren and Ryan slow out the blocks, trailing four shots to two after two ends. It never got any better for the Hyndland pair either, as by the time they had reached eight ends, they were nine shots off the pace, trailing 11-2. The two internationalists showed their class in the ends that followed however, reeling off a three, followed by three singles, a double and another single, to find themselves level at the fourteen-end mark. A single from England hounded the pressure back onto the Gualtieris.

The shot of the game came from Ryan in the sixteenth end. With the shot against him, the Scot done incredibly to half out the bowl, while staying himself, bringing a welcome three, and crossing his opponents. Unfortunately, it was not to be, and a double from the English in the penultimate end, followed by a single in the last, left the Gualtieris having to settle for silver, despite a more-than-impressive comeback.

Ladies Senior Fours

Mandy McFadzean, Margaret Armstrong, Delia Flannigan and Lorraine Craig struggled in the final, versus a strong Jersey four, of Cathy le Sueur, Eileen Vowden, Jackie Knight and Maureen Poree.

Despite coming out of the traps quickly, before being pegged back by the Jersey women. After ten ends, they trailed by just three, before they traded trebles, seeing them 13-10 behind on the scoreboard. An excruciating double, followed by a single saw them require six shots in the final four ends. Unfortunately, losing a three in the sixteenth end saw them fall short, and losing the final. Regardless, this is no mean feat, and reaching this stage of the competition is an incredible achievement.

Gents U18 Singles

Aaron Miller showed fantastic spirit to lodge a mighty fightback against Elijah Minett in the under 18 singles final, though incredibly hard luck in the final end saw the Welsh claim gold.

Starting slowly, Aaron found himself 4-1 behind after three ends. Despite pulling back a single, to trail 4-2, Elijah stretched the advantage over Miller, with four consecutive singles.

He started to find his feet in the game, and pulled it back to 9-6 after thirteen ends, but Elijah once again managed to pull away from him. By recording three singles, a double and a treble in the following six ends, Minett put Aaron under unrelenting pressure. Aaron was not to be deterred however, and pulled it back from 17-6 to 18-16, thanks to three trebles and a one in the last end. Elijah was struggling with the mat up, despite thriving at a full-length jack, when he won the twenty-fourth end, he knew exactly where to put it. He forced it to 20-16, before Aaron took a double, heading into what would be the last end of the game.

Aaron was incredibly unlucky, when he trailed the white ball, locking to Elijah’s bowl, forcing him into a tricky shot with his last, which never went his way, handing Elijah Minett the British under 18 title, while Aaron picked up the silver medal.

Ladies Fours

Our first gold of the competition came from the ladies fours, who hail from Windygates and Durievale B.C., in Fife. They saw themselves faced with Ireland’s Hanna Cochrane, Norma Marshall, Valerie Witherow and Dessa Baird.

 A slow start from the Scots saw us 4-0 behind in the opening two ends, before the style was turned on. A four, and a three in consecutive ends saw a 7-3 lead, though they would spend the next three ends without the jack. At 8-7 down, the ladies scooped up a two and a three, to lead 12-8, after nine ends.

The ladies would never go behind again, with the closest the Irish ever came being 12-10, before Jane, Anne, Julie and Lynn took off again. Two doubles in the twelfth and thirteenth ends saw a healthy six shot lead, while a three in the fifteenth saw Baird and her team require eight shots from three ends. This was far too big an ask for them, and the Scottish ladies romped to their British title

Gents Triples

Our second gold medal came from Derek Hutcheson, Connar Robertson, and Dylan Robertson, from Abbeyview Bowling Club, Dunfermline. In a ding-dong battle with Ireland’s Paul Daly, Stuart Bennett and Simon Martin, the Scots managed to run out 14-11 winners. It was so incredibly tight, and after nine ends, the guys trailed just 5-4, with the first count coming in the tenth end, when the Fifers picked up a three. The next two ends unfortunately saw Ireland scoop up five shots, in two ends.

The shot of the game came the following end, when skip Dylan was able to knock the opposition’s bowl into the ditch, and lie himself, to claim the three and set the boys onto a phenomenal final stretch. The Fifers took control of the final ends, and cruised to their British title, with some fantastic game management in the latter stages.

 Report by Oliver Anderson