Jack Pye (pictured) of Wymondham was Norfolk’s only competitor in the SMPT Norwegian Open in Skien Fritidspark. He was drawn in Group 2 and faced Paul Seaman of England in his opening game which ended in a 12-9 defeat. But from then on he stormed through the group reeling off four straight wins to finish top and qualify for the Knock-out stages. He beat Lisa Kristin Frantzen of Norway 17-7, Bente Dahlgren of Sweden 24-0, David Ryste of Norway 12-7 and finally Sten Jensen of Norway 13-7. The first knock-out round saw him play talented Northern Ireland bowler Glenn Harvey who Pye beat 12-7. Steven Roberts of England was his next opponent and Jack Pye continued his run of success winning 13-8. Then came his toughest opponent yet in the shape of Northern Ireland’s Mark Beattie who was ranked number one in the SMPT World Rankings for two years from October 2014 to October 2016. Jack Pye will have been over the moon as he defeated Beattie 13-9 in their quarter-final tie to earn a semi-final clash against Sweden’s Benny Sjogren. This was to be the end of the road for Pye though as the surprise packet of the Norwegian Open claimed another big scalp as he beat Pye by 10-3 to claim a place in the final against England’s James Trott. In the final Sjogren continued to hit the heights as he beat James Trott of England 11-8 to win the title. Jack Pye had some consolation as he defeated Elliott James 10-9 to claim third place. The Plate Final was won by Stephen Proctor who beat Mitchell Young 10-8 and in the Shild Final Pontus Guldestam beat Gunnar Frantzen 10-5.
