Worcestershire Short Mat Bowls Association

The Short Mat Players Tour staged the first of their 2016/2017 tournaments  –  the UK Open  –  at the County’s home venue at Bromsgrove Indoor Bowls Centre, on the 20th and 21st August. The tournament saw 24 short mats in use accommodating 144 players. The players were allocated into groups of 6 with each player within the group playing against each other to determine progression into the knockout stage. The two first players within each group would proceed into the main knockout phase for the UK Open Cup. The third and fourth players would proceed to compete for the “Plate” with the fifth and sixth players competing for the “Shield”. Only one player from Worcestershire competed in this tournament  –  Malcolm Saunders  – but this was entirely due to the very quick take up of places after the entry process started.  

Malcolm progressed well in the group only losing one match. This placed him second within the group which saw him progress to the main UK Open knockout stage,In the first round of the knockout stage his opposite number was Paul Gallagher from Ireland with a world ranking of 20. In spite of several hard fought and successful ends Malcolm lost in this round. Nevertheless Malcolm can be well pleased with his most successful tournament to date.

There will be a pre season practise/training/selection session at  “THE CIVIC HALL, MARTINS WAY, STOURPORT ON SEVERN, DY13 8UJ” on Monday 12th September commencing at 7.00pm. All County Squad members should attend this very important pre season session.

Each year  the English Short Mat Bowling Association organises a Summer Club Championship which this year was held at Daventry Indoor Bowls Centre on the 17th July. Sixteen clubs entered including one from Worcestershire  –  Churchill and Blakedown Short Mat Bowls Club. In addition to competing for the championship, the top eight clubs qualify for the ESMBA / TLH  English top club finals which will be held in Torquay early next May.

The sixteen clubs were divided into groups of four. Churchill and Blakedown were included in a group with   –  Bellingdon ( Buckinghamshire ), Bob Carter Centre ( Norfolk ), and Hazelbury Bryan ( Dorset ).

The Churchill and Blakedown team consisted of  –  Alan Walters, Dave Grove, Ian Davis, Malcolm Saunders, Richard Rose, Sandra Felton, Terry Clifford, and Trish Clifford.

A total of twelve matches were played  –  3 x Singles, Fours, Pairs, and Triples

The Churchill and Blakedown team members performed consistently well against strong opposition and had a very successful competition and were placed second in their group. This means that Churchill and Blakedown go forward to the National Club Finals in Torquay next year .

The club’s individual results are set out below :

V  –  Bellingdon.

Singles   –   won   15-7            Fours   lost   6-9            Pairs   –   lost   8-9            Triples   –   won   8-5

V  –  Bob Carter Centre

Singles   –   lost   5-8               Fours   lost   5-10            Pairs   –   won   10-1          Triples   –   lost    5-6

V  –   Hazelbury Bryan

Singles   –   won 15-7               Fours   drew  7-7           Pairs   –   won    11-4          Triples   –   won  9-2

Overall Churchill and Blakedown  scored 104 shots with their opponents scoring 75 shots

The local league that Worcestershire County Short Mat Bowls Association has run for the last 23 years at Gilt Edge is moving to a new venue.

We are moving to The Civic Hall, Martins Way, Stourport on Severn, Worcs. DY13 8UJ. We Will be starting in September 2016 and running through to March 2017. Monday evenings from 7.00 to 10.00pm.

All existing teams will be invited to compete.

The format will be the same, ie : Each team comprising of Two Triples each playing 9 ends, so teams need a minimum of 6 players, reserves are recommended.

Anyone interested in joining with a new team please contact :  Richard Payne  01562 515778 or 07845 957 004.

The new venue is larger and has a better floor, it has a bar and tea and coffee facilities.

The National Top Club Championship Finals were held in Torquay over the weekend of 16th/ 17th April. Sixteen clubs from across England competed in this event, having previously qualified in tournaments held in July last year and January this year. One club from the county participated having qualified last July.

County players representing the Churchill and Blakedown Short Mat Bowls Club, who competed in this event playing under the banner of “Richard’s Rebels”, were  –  Richard Rose, Terry Clifford, Trish Clifford, Ian Davis, Alan Walters, Sandra Felton, Dave Grove, and Malcolm Saunders.

The tournament started with 4 groups of 4 teams playing singles/fours/pairs and triples, with the top two teams from each group proceeding to a knockout stage for the main trophy..The third and fourth teams  in each  group competed in a knockout stage for the “Plate” trophy.

In the Group stage Richard’s Rebels competed against –  Hazelbury Bryan 1 ( Dorset ), Truro ( Cornwall ) and Smallthorne ( Staffordshire ). The results of the group stage are shown below :

Richard’s  Rebels v Hazelbury Bryan 1

Singles   won   10-6        Fours   lost   3-11       Triples   won   7-6        Pairs   drawn   10-10

Richard’s Rebels v Truro

Singles   won 15-8        Fours   Drawn   5-5    Triples   won   17-2     Pairs   drawn     8-8

Richard’s Rebels v Smallthorne

Singles   lost   6-10       Fours   Lost  3-15        Triples   lost    5-12       Pairs   lost      0-24

Richard’s Rebels competed in the “Plate” knockout, playing against Hazelbury Bryan 2 in the quarter  final with the following results:

Singles   won 7-6          Fours   won 14-3         Triples   won   9-8        Pairs   won     8-7

After a convincing quarter final win Richard’s Rebels faced Hollmans ( Cornwall ) in the semi final. – the results of that match are shown below:

Singles   lost   7-9          Fours   lost   5-11         Triples   lost 3-11          Pairs   lost     3-11