The Short Mat Bowls Players Tour was back in Essex this week as they played their Bowls Trader World Cup event on Friday evening and the SMPT UK Open over two days on the Saturday and Sunday.
SMPT World Cup
SMPT’s England team of Craig Burgess, Alex Kley, Peter Roberts & Nigel Nicholls all won their games in the final of SMPT’s own mini version of the World Cup beating Ireland 6-0 in the final. It is the first time England have won the Friday evening event where Ireland were the defending champions. In the semi-finals England beat Belgium 6-0 while Ireland defeated Sweden 5-1.
SMPT UK OPEN – Group Stages
Six Norfolk based bowlers entered the event as well as former Norfolk bowler David Blundell. Ryan Fox of Halvergate was drawn in Group 5 and started well with a 12-7 win against Martin Grange. In his second game he faced group favourite Mark Beattie of Ireland who proved too hot to handle for Ryan who was defeated 16-3, Ryan recovered to record two more wins and a draw in the group stages to claim the runner-up spot in Group 5 behind Beattie and qualify for the main competition knock-out stage. Chris Willies of Watton Expendables was drawn in a much depleted Group 9 that contained only four bowlers following the withdrawal of Kenny Baxter and Wymondham’s John Jeffery. Three straight wins saw Willies win the group while former Norfolk player David Blundell suffered three heavy defeats. Thetford’s Jason Martin was in action in Group 11 and did well winning four games with his only defeat against Craig Burgess who is always a serious contender in any event. Jason finished runner-up behind Craig Burgess to qualify for the main event. George Hume of Harling was drawn in Group 17 and pushed Ireland’s Pauline Beattie close in his first game losing by just 10-9. He recorded two wins beating both Deborah Jarvis and Ken Taylor but a 12-9 loss to Bobby Archibald resulted in George finishing third in the group behind Beattie and Archibald to therefore qualify for the Plate knock-outs. Carleton Rode’s Karl Newby was in Group 18 and will be delighted to have won four of his five games with his biggest an 18-4 win against Sylvia Poulter. Group 18 winner was Matt Sifford, who was the only player to beat Karl Newby, and both qualified for the main competition knock-outs. Wymondham’s Jack Marshall lost his opening Group 27 game against Andrew Jones by 10-6 but bounced back with a win of 15-8 against Bjarne Andersson and then defeated Brian McCoy 17-4. But a 9-7 loss against Keith Johns was followed by a 10-9 loss to Thomas Coles. This left Jack in fifth place in the group which left him in the bottom tier Shield knock-out section.
SMPT UK OPEN – Main Competition Knock-Out Rounds
The four Norfolk bowlers who reached the knock-out rounds of the UK Open were reduced to just one after the first round of knock-outs were played. Ryan Fox went down by 15-5 against Chris McWhinnie, Karl Newby was defeated by the experienced Pauline Beattie of Ireland by 14-2 and Jason Martin lost by 15-3 to Greg Wade. Meanwhile Chris Willies beat Jason McLean by 10-9 in a tight match to progress to the next round where he faced Craig Burgess. Unfortunately that was one step too far for the Expendables bowler who lost by 11-6. Craig Burgess continued to mine his rich vein of form and reached the semi-finals where he blew away Belgium’s Jonathan Payne by 16-0 following his quarter-final win of 13-6 against Tom Morris. In the other semi-final Ireland’s Gary McNabb edged out England’s Ben Pay by 10-9. In the final Gary McNabb got the better of England’s Craig Burgess as he stormed to a 13-4 win to lift the SMPT UK OPEN title once again. It is yet another addition to Gary McNabb’s impressive list of major victories that include the SMPT Champion of Champions title he won earlier this year.
SMPT UK OPEN – Plate Knock-Out Rounds
In the Plate competition David Blundell exited after a 15-3 loss to Joel Hager. George Hume though beat Melissa Morris 13-4 to reach the next round where he defeated Alexander Magowan 12-6 but the last 16 round proved to be his last as he lost 15-8 to Alistair Mahaffy. Paul Seaman was the eventual winner of the Plate beating Keith Lackford 8-7 in an all England final.
SMPT UK OPEN – Shield Knock-Out Rounds
Jack Marshall edged through the first knock-out round of the Shield with a 10-8 win against Mandy Long but lost his next match by 16-8 against John Lax. Ivan McClintock of Ireland won the final of the Shield beating Terry Mead 12-10.
Ireland's Gray McNabb pictured at one of his previous major wins
England's Peter Roberts, Alex Kley, Craig Burgess & Nigel Nicholls