We have a Mixed Friendly v London Welsh on Sunday at home starting at 2:00 pm. It’s so good to have more mixed friendlies this half of the indoor season.

Teams:

Brenda, Duncan, George & Andy K

Shaf, Stella K, Ange & Dave P

Scott, Tony, Ann B & Kevin K

Cliff, John E, Gym & Dawn

Reserves: Chris & Malcolm P

Whites with club/white shirts.

On top of a fun, banter and competitive bowls, we’re looking forward to being serenaded by Luigi after the match!

Tomorrow will be the chance our teams have to put into practice the shots we’ve been watching on the television- the drawing shots to within a sixpence of the jack, not the ones over a yard away!

This is our second Middlesex League match. Century are our opponents. Two rinks home, two away.
Good luck to Will, Graham, Ian & Andy; Peter J, Tricia, Kevin & Peter T, with Jacqui as reserve, at home; and Barry, Frances, Bob & Teresa; and Tina, Laurence, Mike & Dawn, with Duncan as reserve, away.
Concentrate, play well and enjoy. Stay warm!

We can do it!

Well, I don’t think you’ll have seen as good a Ladies Final as the one yesterday.  An amazing display of drawing by both girls but especially Julie Forrest in that first set.  Katherine did well with the change of mat length in the second set and that made all the difference to her coming back to win the second set.  Julie’s drive in the first tie break end was a dream of a shot, smacking it square on the head and following it neatly into the ditch.  Alas for her, she did not manage to win either of the next two tie break ends and Katherine took her 6th World Ladies Matchplay Championship.  And, she’s how old? 28.  Wow!

The following match between Nick Brett and Billy Mellors also displayed brilliant draw bowling from both bowlers.  Nick came through by one shot in each set.  A really tight game which could have gone either way. Billy Mellors retired from Internationals in March 23 after 27 years or so. He has just come back to play in the PBA World Qualifiers having not played in them for 20 years.  Longevity seems to be the name of the game, so hope for us yet!  Whilst watching we thought that Billy and Alex Marshall had similar deliveries and mannerisms, or did we imagine it?

No time to watch the other matches last night, but Alex Marshall and Paul Foster also made their way into the Quarter Finals.

The competition is definitely hotting up and on today’s agenda …

It looks like another good afternoon to be sitting indoors, drinking tea, watching the television and being the expert from the sidelines as the four quarter-finals take place.  Stay warm and enjoy!

A text from a non-roving reporter (i.e. someone who doesn’t got to work during the daytime!) said “The standard in this afternoon’s bowls is exceptional!”

So headed off to the BBC iPlayer once dinner was cooked.  Well he was right.  That was an amazing match between Jamie Walker & Jason Banks, the 2023 finalists.  Wow, what amazing shots.  Jamie’s last bowl in the first set was played with such confidence!  I thought, from what I’ve watched over the last 10 days or so, that Jason Banks had his best game of the Championships.  Draw, after draw, after draw.  And the crowd …. didn’t even clap when a bowl was a mere foot short.  They were tough!!  Most of us are jolly  pleased to get within a foot!

It was a really tight game and Jamie just had the edge.  Watch it on iPlayer or YouTube if you haven’t managed to see it yet. On Friday, Jamie plays Harry Goodwin, the young qualifier, in the quarter-final.  Last year it was Jamie and Jason who were the young qualifiers and they made it to the final!

Next came the first of the ladies semi-finals.  A close first set between Katherine Rednall and Nicole Rogers which went to Katherine, then Nicole stepped up another gear to win the second.  On to the tiebreak where, in the first end, Katherine played a pretty decent shot but had an incredibly fortunate result leaving Nicole to draw as wide as she could on the swingy forehand side.  It was as difficult as it would be for us trying to draw a shot  a yard beyond T weight and nigh on the ditch side rink marker on our rink 4!  As Nicole said afterwards, playing her first two bowls short in the second tiebreak end wasn’t exactly helpful.  So, Katherine goes into the final, hoping to clinch a 6th victory.

As it was late and being bowled out, I didn’t watch the Julie Forrest v Ceri Anne match.  The 9-5; 10-7 result in favour of Julie suggests a pretty close match.  They had a battle in the front end of the Mixed Pairs Final so it should have been top quality bowls.  Was it?  Who watched it?

The commentators certainly seemed to have their favourites (as well as predicting the shot they will play which seems to vary from the shot actually played !), so it will be interesting to see who they back in the Final this afternoon starting at 1:00 pm on BBC2.

Apart from the Ladies World Matchplay Final, the rest of the schedule is below.  I haven’t quite found out why Alex Marshall dropped out of the Pairs but it’ll be good to see him back in the singles for the first game.  Again, another strong Scottish contingent on the green again.

It could almost have been sweet revenge when Di, Dawn & Ann H secured their victory over Tina, Jacqui & Teresa in the Over 50’s Triples on Sunday morning having lost to them in the all-age National Triples a few weeks.  Revenge is really too strong a word though as we all play together as much as we play on opposite sides.  It was a very good game but Ann’s triple managed to get ahead and stay there.  Great consistent draw bowling by Di all evening – worthy of a tv appearance!

Last night, Kevin K, Peter j, Peter T and Barry headed off to Century for the Over 60’s Fours.  The feedback from Kevin was short, but not the sweetest as they lost by one shot on the extra end.  That is tough.  Well done for pushing the Century chaps so far.

Caught up with the Mixed Pairs Final later last night.  That was a great game.  Amazing shots by all players but especially the boys.  Well done to Nick & Julie!

Julie and Ceri Anne face each other again in the Ladies World Matchplay Singles this afternoon.  It should be another close game.

The Men’s Singles almost went to plan, although young Harry Goodwin putting out David Gourlay was probably the most surprising start to the day.  Stewart Anderson recovered well from the Mixed defeat to come out fighting and winning comfortably against Jon Wilson.

Today’s schedule with BBC coverage of Jamie Walker v Jason Banks and the Ladies Semi-finals.

Well, having spoken to a few of you, it sounds like the Men’s Pairs Final was a bit disappointing being very one-sided.  On any other day, maybe the tables would have turned.  How often have you heard “Bowls – It’s all on the day”?!!

Paul Foster’s singles match before the pairs, I gather, was a great display of bowls.  None of the singles’ matches went to a tie-break which is a shame now more viewers could be watching on the BBC.

Hopefully today’s matches, including the Mixed Pairs Final, is more entertaining.  If I was a betting person, my money would be on Julie & Nick even though Ceri Ann& Stewart won last year. Match starts at 1;00 pm on BBC2 and carries on with the Paxton v Weir Singles.

Scotland is well represented in the Open Singles.  Maybe Stewart Anderson can reach all three finals in 2024?  He’s certainly drawing well enough but it also depends on how well his opponent plays or lets him play, of course!  I hope I haven’t put the KOD on him!

Mixed matches for the Ladies yesterday.  I didn’t see all of them.  Ceri-Ann and Giulia didn’t seem to be having their best game, whereas Nicole had a storming win over Ailsa.

Personally, I didn’t think Katherine didn’t look over comfortable and obviously Annalisa pushed her to a draw in the second set which was good, but it did mean Katherine secured her place in the semi-final.  The most exciting one, on which I need to catch up, is Julie v Lauren which went to a nail-biting tie-break.  With Lauren holding match at 1-1 in the tie break, Julie pulled out a masterful final shot out of the bag to win through.  The girls will now have time to practice until the semi-finals on Wednesday.  As there is only one portable rink, it is not unusual for any of the players to be out practising at 2;00, 3:00 or 4:00 am.  It must mess up their body clocks!

Today features the men again with the all Scottish LIVE Final of the Pairs on BBC2 at 1:00.  Early lunch then feet up with a cup of coffee to enjoy the entertainment … unless you’re at work, then it will have to wait until post leagues tonight!  Who is your money on?  Stewart has been drawing on a sixpence in all of his singles matches but Jason has been holding his own with Paul and Paul will have had a warm up on the rink as he’s first up in the morning for singles.  Seems a bit odd that.  Stewart has to wait until after his Mixed Pairs Final to play his next round of singles.  Maybe they’ll change the order .  You can watch Paul v Aron on the BBC red button .

Whether you’re watching bowls on anything else, have a good Monday.

A great set of semi-finals which saw last year’s winners – Ceri-Anne & Stewart beating Giulia (from California) & Mark D 2-1 in the tie break.  It doesn’t get much closer than that!

Nicole R & Wayne were up against Nick B & Julie F both of whom had won the Mixed Pairs (with different partners) in previous years.  The girls bowled so well with nothing to choose between them .  It should inspire us all to remember “It’s a drawing game”.  Wayne had some brilliant shots somehow weaving their their way into shot bowl position before Nick B stepped up another gear with other ideas although he did manage to put some bowls through gaps in the head that were impossible!  Nick & Julie took the victory 7-5, 7-5.  A very low scoring semi-final – each set accumulating only 12 shots over 9 ends.

The Final is on Tuesday at 1:00 pm on BBC2 – a welcome treat for all our non-FB/non-YouTube members.

Thanks to Katharine W from Hampton who forwarded the link for the BBC Schedule for the matches which can be live, or on the red button or iPlayer.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/bowls/67924630

Whenever you’re watching, take a moment to look at the different delivery styles. Ceri-Ann starts swinging high then has two more swings as she gets closer down before she releases the bowl.  Nicole focuses on a spot on the carpet a few yards in front of her and stays watching before standing upright; Julie Forrest has a bit of a “push” action with no backswing. Katherine Rednall is remarkably quick onto the mat and Nick B says he always know what shot he is going to play before getting on the mat.  Different styles and speeds but they’re all bloomin’ good bowlers.

Today, it’s just the girls in singles action on the green.  The commentator said that Nicole Rogers is one to watch as she goes from strength to strength in her career.  I’m sure they’ll say the same about Lauren Gowen who represented Wales in the British Under 25 Championships when she was just 10.  Crikey!  Who says bowls is for old people?!  It’s a sport for all.

Well done to the CP team who won on 3 of the 4 rinks v Bishop Duppas this afternoon.

The final score was 85-52 with Tina, Bernard W, Mike & Dawn taking top rink, although it was a close run v Laurence, Frances, Bob & Gym until Dawn’s team secured a 6 around the 18th end.

Ann B – skipping for her outdoor club had an excellent game on rink 2 and managed to win by 4 shots v Malcolm P, Pauline, George & Dave W.

Meanwhile on rink 4, Christine P, Cliff, Ange & Richard D were battling all the way through with barely more than 1 shot between them, so much so that going into the 21st end it was 14-14!  Nail biting  taking place at the front end as Richard’s team were  0-3 down before Richard delivered his final bowl of the match.  The crowd held their breath as a weighted bowl travelled down the green.  It was going to be close …….. bang!  He scattered the bowls leaving just the one CP bowl in the head to take the match.

A cracking shot by Richard and it was followed by another award not just shot of the day when after the match when Mike awarded Richard with a Wrong Bias Certificate for a very wayward shot in the first few ends!  Richard said it would go up along with the 10 others or so adorning his loo wall!

It was a good afternoon and was played in just the way it should have been – competitive, social, fun.  Good to see Reg supporting the teams too.

Thanks to Jane for manning the bar all afternoon.