The ESMBA National Finals cover seven different disciplines with the county sending entrants to six of these for 2019 – there were no entrants for the Under 18s. This report will cover the progress of the county’s entrants.
Mixed Fours – Daventry – Saturday 30th March 2019.
The county had one team entered into the Mixed Fours, having won the county championship earlier – Belinda Gibbs, Maureen Tingle, Cayman Dredge, and Jim Tingle. In the round robin series of matches the team came against very strong opposition from teams from Northants, Hampshire and Hertfordshire. Having been beaten in these matches the county’s team did not make the knockout series of matches.
Over 55s Pairs – Daventry – Sunday 31st March 2019.
Another of the disciplines where the county had one team entered – Richard Rose and Richard Payne. Many congratulations to both Richards who reached the final from a total entry of 64 teams from across the country. In the round robin series of matches they won, one, drew one and lost one and were second in their group. In round two they beat a team from Dorset by 9 shots to 5. Round 3 ( last 16 ) saw both Richards beating a team from West Midlands by 11 shots to 6 and in round 4 ( quarter finals ) they beat a team from Suffolk 9-8. In the semi finals they beat a team from Norfolk by 10 shots to 8. On to the final where the two Richards came against a team fro Hampshire. In a low scoring game ( the lowest total shot score of the 8 games played by the two Richards), the Hampshire team ran out winners by 8 shots to 4, leaving Richard Rose and Richard Payne runners up but very well pleased to have had a very successful day ending up number 2 from 64 entrants.
In 2018 the county’s Mixed Fours team won the county’s first trophy at a National Finals event since 2006. One year later the Over 55s Pairs team win another trophy . Well done.
Richard Payne and Richard Rose receiving the National Over 55s runners up trophy from the President of the English Short Mat Bowling Association on the 31st March 2019
Singles – Melton Mowbray – Thursday 11th April 2019.
Worcestershire’s entrants in this year’s Singles finals were Richard Rose and Richard Payne. They were drawn in separate groups of four for the round robin series of matches. Richard Rose was in a group including players from Cheshire, Dorset and Derbyshire. Richard had a comfortable win over the entrant from Cheshire 13-9, but unfortunately lost his two further matches – against the Dorset player 9-10 and against the Derbyshire player 6-9. As a result of the group matches Richard did not proceed to the knockout stageds of the competition.
Richard Payne was in a group including players from Norfolk, Gloucesrtershire and Hampshire. Richard lost his matches against the Norfolk player 9-14, and against the Gloucestershire player 6-12, but won his match against the Hampshire playeer 11-5. Unfortunately this was not enough, and Richard did not proceed to the knockout stages.
Pairs – Melton Mowbray – Friday 12th April 2019.
The county was allocated one Pairs slot for this year’s Pairs finals. The county champions who took this slot were Dave Grove and Alan Walters. In the round robin series of matches they were in a group including pairs from Humberside, Derbyshire and East Sussex. They had a great session with wins against the entry from Humberside 16-6 and against East Sussex 15-3. They lost their match against the Derbyshire Pairs team 7-13. With two wins out of three and a shot difference of +16 they were streets ahead of their nearest opponents and easily made it into the knockout series of matches.
It is not surprising that at these national events competition is very strong and in the first knockout match Dave and Alan came up against a strong pairs team from Devon which sadly they lost 5-11. They must have left this event, however, feeling very satisfied with their own strong performance.
Fours – Melton Mowbray – Saturday 13th April 2019.
Two teams were in this year’s Fours finals – Belinda Gibbs/Richard Rose/Richard Payne/Jonathon Smith – and – Jenny Gibbs/Trish Clifford/Alan Walters/Terry Clifford. Jonathon’s team were included in a group for the round robin series of matches with teams from Norfolk, Oxfordshire and Suffolk. They beat the Norfolk team 8-7, but lost to the teams from Oxford 3-11 and Suffolk 4-6. – The team did not proceed to the knockout stages. Terry’s team were included in a group together with teams from Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire and Gloucestersire. They drew with the team from Oxfordshire 5-5, lost to the teams from Oxfordshire 8-9, and Gloucestershire 3-9. The team failed to make it to the knockout stages.
Triples – Melton Mowbray – Sunday 14th April 2019.
Once again the county had two teams entered into a National Finals event – Dave Grove/Sandra Felton/Alan Walters – and – Keith Mills/Richard Payne/Jonathon Smith. In the group stage, Alan’s team lost to teams from Surrey 7-11, and Kent 5-12, won against the team from Bucks 12-6, but unfortunately did not make the knockout stages. Jonathon’s team had two wins in their group – against the team from Suffolk 11-7, and against the team fron Cheshire 8-7. Although the team lost their match against the team from West Sussex 3-19, they came second in their group and proceeded to the knockout stages. In the first knockout round they were narrowly beaten by Surrey 7-8.
