This weekend saw the finals of the National Over 55 Pairs and National Mixed Fours played and East Tuddenham and Norfolk bowlers John Turner and Simon Willies reached the final in the pairs event. Four pairs represented Norfolk with two of the pairs making it through the group stages. John Turner & Simon Willies won Group 7 with two wins and one loss while Tony Ottewell & Mike Smail of Forncett won Group 14 with three straight wins. Will Townsend & Graham Tweed of Hingham lost two games and drew one in Group 1 and Rob Howlett of Bob Carter & Sheila Hook of Saxlingham Nethergate lost all their three games in Group 2 with neither pair qualifying. Round Two saw both surviving Norfolk pairs win again as Turner & Willies beat Gloucestershire’s Phil Jennings & Chris Evans 9-7 and Ottewell & Smail beat Sally Crouch & Peter Winter of East Sussex 12-5. More success followed in the Last 16 round as Turner & Willies beat Cambridgeshire’s Linda White & Joe Peters 8-6 while Ottewell & Smail beat Kent’s Gary Allard & Alan Harwood 10-6. The Quarter-Finals saw the end of the road for Tony Ottewell & Mike Smail as they went down 10-6 against Jeff Branch & Dennis Mack of Hertfordshire but Turner & Willies made no mistake disposing of West Sussex pair Peter Whale & Denise Kirby by 13-7. After a semi-final win against Cornwall’s Dave Studden & Nigel Nicholls the East Tuddenham pairing found themselves up against all too familiar opponents Chris Hopkins & Steve McAllister of Northamptonshire. England Manager Steve McAlister has won most of what there is to win in short mat bowls while Chris Hopkins is always a wily and dangerous opponent never shy of attacking the jack. The early ends saw the Northants pair put clear blue water between themselves and the Norfolk pair establishing an 8-1 lead after six ends. Two shots to the Norfolk pair on the seventh end gave them hope of a comeback but singles to Hopkins and McAlister on the next two ends earned the Northants pairing the title with a 10-3 win. There was less success for Norfolk in the Mixed Fours event. Jenny Walker of Thorpe Marriott and Halvergate’s Donna Lamb, Ryan Fox & David Lamb started well winning Group 5. They swept to a 14-1 win against Darren Stanford’s Hertfordshire rink and beat Jack Knight’s Dorset rink. This was followed by a bye through to the Last 16 round and this may not have helped their cause as they went down 11-7 against Devon’s Carol Dummett, Nick Wyatt, Chloe Randle & James Trott. The Devon rink made it through to the final where they lost an all Devon match by 8-5 to Kim Wright, Sandra Weston, Barry McPhillips & Eric Pavey.
John Turner & Simon Willies - National Over 55 Pairs runners-up
National Over 55 Pairs Champions - Chris Hopkins & Steve McAlister
The new National Mixed 4's Champions from Devon
(photos courtesy of the ESMBA)