CORNWALL COUNTY SHORT MAT BOWLING ASSOCIATIONNEWS RELEASE 2nd April 2023
National Championships
The past weekend has seen Cornwall represented in all four disciplines at the English Short Mat Bowling Association National Championships.
The first competition, on Thursday, was the Singles with Cornwall represented by Nigel Nicholls (Newlyn Trinity) and Peter Hore (Holmans). Nigel was drawn in Group Four where he started with a defeat to Bronagh Malone (North Yorkshire) 5-12 followed by a 7-9 loss to Robert Martin (Dorset). Nigel won his final group game against James Trott (Devon) 13-7 to finish the group stages with 2 points and -3 shots and third in the group missing out on the knockout stages.
Peter was drawn in Group Five where he started with a heavy defeat to David Newsome (North Yorkshire) 4-18. Wins against Tony Main (Devon) 12-9 and John Hardy (West Sussex) 13-3 saw Peter finish the group stages with 4 points and -1 shot and second in the group. In the first round of the knockout stages Peter defeated Ross Dunkley (West Midlands) 10-4 before losing to Bronagh Toleman 12-2 in the second round. The Singles title was retained by Dorset's Alex Kley who currently holds the English, British Isles, World and Open Singles titles.
Friday saw attention move to the Pairs where Elise Daniell (Holmans) & Nigel Nicholls represented Cornwall. Drawn in Group Two they started with a defeat to Steve Packer & Steve Duffin (North Yorkshire) 3-10. A further defeat to William Clarke & Emily Weaver (West Midlands) 6-9 was followed by a consolation win against Val & Simon Smith (Humberside) 12-6 to finish the group stages with 2 points -4 shots and third in the group. The Pairs title was won by Gloucestershire's Ryan Knight and Saul Featherstone.
On Saturday three teams represented Cornwall in the Fours. Duloe's Martin Boraston, Jon Read, Caroline & Alan Trubshaw were drawn in Group One. They started with a 9-7 win against Ivan Lunn, Marnie Wright, Phillip Wright & Maria Kitchener (Derbyshire). A further 9-5 win against Shirley Cox, Jow Loveys, John Mills & Becci Cox (Herefordshire) secured qualification for the knockout stages with a game to spare. The final group game against Bronagh & Lee Toleman, Danny Langdon & Callum Malone (North Yorkshire) ended in a draw 7-7 to finish the group stages with 5 points +6 shots and second in the group.
Elise Daniell, Nigel Nicholls & Peter Hore were joined by Saltash's Karen Watson and were drawn in Group Six. They started with a defeat to Roger Green, Debbie Taylor, Paul Johnson & John Walker 5-13. A 10-6 win in their second game against Christine & Ian Bratton, Ray Murphy & Peter Webster (Humberside) kept alive hopes of progression to the knockout stages. A 6-12 defeat in the final group game against Antony Fautley, Steve Killington, Peter Fautley & Matt Sifford (Essex) ended hopes of progression to the knockout stages finishing with 2 points -10 shots and third in the group.
St Newlyn East's Sandra & John Worton and Steve Smith were joined by Withiel's Tony Jago and were drawn in Group eight. An 11-3 win in their opening game against Dave Ekins, Andrew Smith, Alan Lodge & Chris Weston (Northamptonshire) was followed up by a 15-4 win against Dave Jelley, Hayley Bucknall, Mark Berry & Tony Wall (Hampshire) to ensure qualification with a game to spare. They lost 8-10 in the final group game to Simon Faulkner, Lynn Orlando, AJ Brown & Gareth Davies (Oxfordshire) to finish the group stages with 4 points +17 shots and second in the group.
Both Cornwall teams then faced opposition from Dorset in the first round of the knockout stages. The St Newlyn East/Withiel team faced Paul Pomeroy, Thomas Perris, Alex Kley and Sam Harvey losing 6-8 and the Duloe team faced James Scoins, Steve Stanton, Tommy Wilken & Richard Nicoll losing 5-8. The title was won by West Midlands John Pitcher, Craig Strong, Ross Dunkley & Adam Easthope,
On Sunday, the final day of the championships, Peter Hore, Nigel Nicholls and Karen Watson represented Cornwall in the Triples and were drawn in Group 14 where they became the only Cornwall team over the weekend to win 3 out of 3 in the group stages. The first game against Craig Burgess, Mark Chittock & Greg Wade (Essex) was won 12-8. A 9-0 win against Steve Grey, Dianne Marshall & Howard Southwood (Oxfordshire) followed and the trio of wins was completed with a 13-6 win against Georgina Weston-Sharp, Helen Sharp & Bob Cousins (Suffolk), finishing the group with 6 points +20 shots in first place.
In the knockout stages they lost 5-10 to Gloucestershire's Ryan Knight, Saul & Jo Featherstone in the first round The title was won by North Yorkshire's Laurence Moffatt, Lee & Bronagh Toleman.
Cornwall v Friends of Essex
Over the weekend of 6th & 7th May the Cornwall County Short Mat Bowling Association will be hosting the Friends of Essex Touring Team at Carnmoggas Indoor Bowling Club in a fixture that was originally planned to be held in 2020 to mark the 30th anniversary of the formation of the County Association.
The CCSMBA will be putting together a team of 36 bowlers to play on each day and the committee are seeking nominations from clubs for players to join the team.
Short Mat Players Tour
The Short Mat Players Tour season concludes over the weekend of 21st - 23rd April in Belfast. The Belfast Open Pairs will be played on the Friday and the World Masters Singles on the Saturday and Sunday.
ENDS
Nicholas Truscott
Press and Promotions Officer
CCSMBA
