CORNWALL COUNTY SHORT MAT BOWLING ASSOCIATION
The championships started on Thursday with the Singles with no local bowlers progressing from the round robin stage. Steve Williamson (Luxulyan) was drawn in Group One where he lost all three group games, 4-19 to Bob Naylor (Wiltshire), 5-13 to Peter Whale (West Sussex) and 5-13 to Billy Chapman (Cambridgeshire). Peter Hore (Holmans) was drawn in Group Seven picking up one point with a 8-8 draw to Steve Steward (Wiltshire) and losses to Edward Law (East Sussex) 1-15 and Jody Frampton (Kent) 6-14.
NEWS RELEASE - 14th April 2024
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Cornwall were well represented at last weekend's ESMBA National Championships in Melton Mowbray with 12 places out of a maximum possible 16 across the four disciplines.
Mark Williams (Lanteglos) was drawn in Group Nine where he lost all three games, 5-13 to Greg Wade (Essex), 10-12 to Josh Hale (West Midlands) and 6-10 to Mark McHugh (Greater Manchester). Nigel Nicholls (Newlyn Trinity) was drawn in Group Fourteen where a 14-4 win against Josh Burrow (Humberside), a 9-9 drawn against Steve Adsett (West Sussex) and a narrow 11-12 loss to Dave Andrews (Suffolk) was not enough to take Nigel through to the knockout stages.
Friday saw better fortunes for Cornwall with both Pairs progressing from the group stages only to meet in the first round of the knockout stages. Peter Hore (Holmans) & Karen Watson (Saltash) were drawn in Group Three where they picked up wins against Ian Bratton & Josh Burrow (Humberside) 12-7 and Craig Burgess & Mitchell Young (Essex) 9-8. A 7-8 loss to Brian Baker & Lynn Dean (Dorset) left Peter and Karen top of the group by one shot over the Dorset pairing.
Elise Daniell & Luke Jolly (Holmans) were drawn in Group Fourteen where they picked up wins against Julian Bradbury & Neil Pratley (Oxfordshire) 17-5 and Hazel & Phil Spry (Cambridgeshire) 14-4, a loss to Michael Doorey & Danny Hogben (Hampshire) left them in second place in the group.
In the knockouts the two local pairs were drawn against each other with Peter & Karen prevailing 13-8. In the last 16 round Peter and Karen were defeated 8-5 by Adam & Thomas Perris (Devon).
On Saturday attention turned to the Fours with four teams representing Cornwall. Chris Jennings, Rosie Glover, Eileen Williams & Mark Williams (Lanteglos) were drawn in Group Two where they won 8-3 against Leon Webb, Lee Webb, Kevin Dawson & Jimmy Whitehouse (Shropshire), losses to Robin Armstrong, Paul Butler, Stephen Jeffery & Peter Whale (West Sussex) 3-9 and Christine Bratton, Ian Bratton, Ray Murphy & Josh Burrow (Humberside) 8-9 left them in third place in the group missing out on the knockout stages.
Martin Boraston, Mark Slack, Caroline Trubshaw & Alan Trubshaw (Duloe) were drawn in Group Three where they drew 6-6 with Gary Allard, Chloe White, Darren Allard & Mike Leale (Kent) and lost 5-7 to Bill Gearing, Toni Gearing, Neil Rixon & Julia Bruce (Hertfordshire) and 4-9 to Sue Tuttle, Marek Wazydrag, Steve Tuttle & Mark Jones (Surrey) to finish bottom of the group.
Steve Williamson, Austen Runnals, Christine Worth & John Worth (Luxulyan) were drawn in Group Ten where they won 10-4 against David Watts, Phil Cheese, Howard Southwood & Santo Orlando (Oxfordshire) and lost 7-10 to Angharad Brideaux, Angela Norbury, Paul Norbury & Peter Roberts (Greater Manchester) and 4-5 to Steve Buckett, David White, Alistair McCrea & Ben Pay (Hampshire) to finish third in the group.
Elise Daniell (Holmans), Nigel Nicholls (Newlyn Trinity), Peter Hore (Holmans) & Karen Watson (Saltash) were drawn in Group Eleven where they put together an unbeaten run to top the group with a +30 shot advantage. Wins came against Les Woodward, Simon Faulkner, Chris Hasker & Gareth Davies (Oxfordshire) 12-4, Ste Tinsley, Dave Blackburn-Woods, Jay Finney & Dan Rigby (Cheshire) 10-7 and Malcolm Warwick, Jeff Branch, Jan Rogers & Jeanette Gaylor (Hertfordshire) 20-1. Into the last 32 round of the Knockouts they won 11-4 against Alex Tymon, Trevor Tymon, Chris Davison & Shane Davison (Hampshire). In the last 16 round they defeated Cheryl Graham, John Sewell, Donna Mills & Michael Rice (Suffolk) 8-2. Their run came to an end in the Quarter Finals with a 6-10 loss to Steve Buckett, David White, Alistair McCrea & Ben Pay (Hampshire).
The championships closed on Sunday with the Triples. Nigel Nicholls (Newlyn Trinity), Luke Jolly & Peter Hore (Holmans) were drawn in Group Three where they lost all three games. 3-16 to Trevor Brown, Debbie Sparham & John Sparham (Norfolk), 5-8 to David Dimmock, Alan Lodge & Chris Weston (Northamptonshire) and 7-8 to Joe Loveys, John MIlls & Becci Cox (Herefordshire).
Sandra Worton, John Worton & Steve Smith (St Newlyn East) were drawn in Group Ten where two wins saw them through knockout stages, 7-5 against Penny Lowe, Pauline Lowe & Stuart Lowe (Essex) and 10-3 against Lily Duffin, James Clark & Steve Duffin (North Yorkshire). Their other group game ended in a 2-14 loss to Josh Hale, Peter Dunkley & Scott Follis (West Midlands). In the first round of the knockout stages they won 9-8 against Chris Willies, Neil Davidson & Chris Mann (Norfolk). Their run ended in the last 16 round with a 2-16 defeat to Jack Pye, AJ Brown & Gary Best.
SHORT MAT PLAYERS TOUR
Over the coming weekend three local bowlers travel to Belfast for the conclusion of the Short Mat Players Tour season with the World Masters on Saturday & Sunday. Before the main event the Belfast Open Pairs on Friday afternoon will give 96 pairs drawn into 32 groups a taste of the playing surface ahead of the weekend's Singles.
Elise Daniell teams up with Keith Lackford and they are drawn in Group one where they will face Nigel & Millie Froud and Kate & Arwel Morgan. Peter Hore teams with Paul Seaman and they are drawn in Group nine where they will face Ed Sawbridge & Aaron Claire and James Trott & Mark Sproule. Nigel Nicholls pairs up with Daniel Sands in Group Twenty Seven and will face Gunnar Frantzen & Andrew Cockcroft and Mark Hamilton & Aoife Fay.
The weekend then sees the biggest tournament of the season with 216 bowlers competing for the World Masters title drawn across 36 groups of 6 for the round robin stage of the competition.
Nigel Nicholls who is currently ranked 5th in the SMPT rankings with a win rate of 70.07% from 284 games, 77.14% from 35 games in the current season is drawn in Group Thirty One where he will face Shaun Amrein (IRE - Rank 599 - 45.83% from 24), Rory Gittoes (WAL - 53 - 57.41% from 54), Peter Roberts (ENG - 1 - 75.61% from 287) fresh from winning the English National title last weekend, Adrian McCaw (IRE - 216 - 37.50% from 96) and Sean Trainor (IRE - 109 - 63.64% from 77). Group 31 Stats. Nigel lies fourth in the season's Order of Merit standings with 491 points and currently occupies the final place in the England team for August's World Cup event. Ed Sawbridge is 41 points behind Nigel with James Trott a further 21 behind.
Elise Daniell is currently ranked 32nd in the SMPT rankings with a win rate of 43.56% from 225 games, 51.52% from 33 in the current season, is drawn in Group Thirty where she will face Darren Davies (WAL - 270 - 73.33% from 15), Lorraine Shorney (ENG - 227 - 30.48% from 105), Shaun Morley (ENG - 347 - 47.83% from 23), Declan Hegarty (IRE - 698 - 8.33% from 12) and Ian Mcelroy (IRE - 332 - 46.88% from 32). Group 30 Stats. Elise is currently 22nd in the Order of Merit standings with 329 points.
Peter Hore is currently ranked 39th in the SMPT rankings with a win rate of 54.22% from 225 games, 54.05% from 37 in the current season, is drawn in Group Eighteen where he will face Mark Spalding (ENG - 50 - 41.54% from 65), Tony McHugh (IRE - 429 - 35.71% from 114). Louis O Hara (IRE - 630 - 25.00% from 8), Noel Smyth (IRE - Tour debut) and Chris O' Kane (IRE - 232 - 42.11% from 19). Group 18 Stats. Peter is currently 38th in the Order of Merit standings with 263.5 points.
The full schedule of fixtures, with results added after each session of play can be found at https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/matches.aspx?id=C3BD1F0F-DD5D-4CE2-8C2E-509580600E93.
ENDS
Nicholas Truscott
Press and Promotions Officer
CCSMBA.
