Podium Open Fours Results
Yesterday saw the Podium Open Fours event being completed at four separate venues throughout Scotland.
44 teams were competing in the fours discipline, resulting in 176 players vying to reach the later stages and qualifying themselves for an international assessment day.
A full report from each of the four venues can be found below.
Airdrie Central BC
Our first winners at Airdrie Central Bowling Club was the team of Dawn Anderson, Michael Connolly, Paul Kane Jnr and Mark O’Hagan.
The talented foursome qualified for the knockout phase via Group D thanks to their two victories against Emily Houston, Kieran Hamilton, Jamie Houston & Kerr Harris and Abbie Harris, Sarah Campbell, Laura McCabe & Aimee Harris. Their only loss throughout the day came against Blair Davidson, John Meikle, Robert Lenza and John Fleming Jnr.
The other three section winners were the Glasgow based team of Kyle Young, Kayden Young, Tom Sclater & Stewart McGillivray, the young quartet of Ryan Turnbull, Astyn McKechnie, Jamie Noon & Dylan Robertson and Ross Gouldstone, Andrew Weir, Darren Weir & Paul Foster MBE.
In the semi finals, Ryan Turnbull, Astyn McKechnie, Jamie Noon and Dylan Robertson got the better of Ross Gouldstone, Andrew Weir, Darren Weir and Paul Foster MBE 6-4 in a match that went right down to the last end. Dawn Anderson, Michael Connolly, Paul Kane Jnr and Mark O’Hagan advanced to the final in more comfortable fashion with a 7-2 victory over Kyle Young, Kayden Young, Tom Sclater and Stewart McGillivray.
The final was an extremely close encounter with Dawn, Michael, Paul and Mark just edging over the winning line 5-3 after 5 ends. Congratulations to Dawn, who becomes the first player to have won multiple Podium Open events following her triumph in the triples at Kilmarnock Portland Bowling Club last weekend.
Balgownie BC
The qualifier at Balgownie Bowling Club was won by 2022 European Championships gold medallist Jason Banks and his team of Finlay Gowan, David Mitchell and Lee Trotter.
With their only being two sections at Balgownie, the winners of Group A and Group B advanced straight to the final. Jason and his team qualified from Group A thanks to their two wins and one defeat. Their two commanding victories came against Adam Tait, Alisha Stephen, Bruce Milne & Alan McDonald and Katie Rendall, Ellie Rendall, Alicia Tait and Caitlin Waddilove.
Group B was won by Carla Banks, Angela Banks, Liam Thom and Colin Banks. The Inverurie based side finished the group phase undefeated with two wins and a draw in their respective three matches. Narrow victories over Andrew Reilly, Lisa Thomson, Kieran Ward and Andrew Thomson as well as Corey Cadger, Ashley MacDonald, Lewis Smith and Ross Dalgarno was enough to see them reach yesterday’s final.
The final was a relatively one-sided affair as Finlay, David, Lee and Jason came out on top 7-4 against Carla, Angela, Liam and Colin. Both teams can now look forward to the international assessment day after their impressive displays.
Haddington BC
As there were only five teams competing at Haddington Bowling Club, the five teams all played off in one section with whoever finished in first position at the end of the day qualifying for an assessment day.
After four gruelling matches, the all-West Lothian team of Ewan Shearer, Gary Orr, John McDermott and Andy Dunnett eventually prevailed victorious courtesy of their three victories in four games.
The experienced quartet went into their final group match needing a victory against Daniel Gormley, Gavin Smith, James Hogg and Andrew Caldwell to finish in top spot. The match was an excellent display of bowls, with the West Lothian rink picking up a crucial count of 3 shots at the last end to win 5-4.
Notable mentions must also go to the teams of Colin Dick, Adam Martin, Sam Gray & Glenn Blair and Stuart Chesby, Jamie Lane, Martin Todd and Martin Campbell as they also won three of their four encounters but narrowly missed out on qualification on shot difference.
Tillicoultry BC
Eilidh Weir, Rebekah Weir, Arron Craig and Dean Jones claimed victory at Tillicoultry Bowling Club’s Podium Open Fours playdown.
The Alloa East End Bowling Club teammates advanced to the knockout stages after finishing top of Group A with three wins from their four matches. Despite losing their first game to Gordon Milligan, Lawra Cox, Lewis Milligan and Wendy Grant, they responded well to chalk up three relatively comfortable victories which was enough to see them qualify for the semi finals.
Group B was dominated by Stephanie Wallace, Sophie McGrouther, Chloe Thomson and Liam McKay as the all-international lineup impressively won all four of their sectional games. Their most decisive win was a narrow single shot victory over Craig Middleton, Steven Bodle, David Stewart and James Dick.
David Cargill, Leah McCloy, Alan Low and Jamie Low claimed top spot in Group C thanks to their return of three victories and one defeat. The Angus based team showed strong character to bounce back from losing to Blair Gourley, Ann Milton, Mark Thompson and Mark Biondi in their opening group game to win their following three matches.
The all-West Fife team of Lyle Robertson, Logan Fraser, Daniel Martin and Allan Ramsay also qualified for the semi-finals from Group C as the overall highest runner-up at the Tillicoultry venue. Their three wins and +13 shot difference was enough to ensure their passage to the knockout phase.
In the semi finals, Eilidh Weir, Rebekah Weir, Arron Craig and Dean Jones done enough to get past Stephanie Wallace, Sophie McGrouther, Chloe Thomson and Liam McKay 6-4. Lyle Robertson, Logan Fraser, Daniel Martin and Allan Ramsay also had to battle hard to get past David Cargill, Leah McCloy, Alan Low and Jamie Low 8-6.
The final was another high quality affair with the Alloa East End BC team of Eilidh, Rebekah, Arron and Dean holding their nerve to secure an impressive 7-3 win.
A huge thanks to all of yesterday’s host clubs, assessors, umpires and volunteers that helped make the Podium Open Fours event happen. Next weekend sees the Podium Open Singles taking place on Sunday 26th May, a full preview for this event will be released later in the week.
To view the full results from the Podium Open Fours, please click here.