The Over 55s Pairs Competition was held at Kingsway today — thanks to Chris Evans for his spellbinding organisation, and to everyone for your enthusiastic participation. A perfect 16 teams took part in the round robin.
As usual, the best and runner-up pairs from the morning session progressed to the first knockout round. (And yes, please leave those mats out — we still needed them!)
Four pairs emerged triumphant from the knockouts:
- Two from Tewkesbury
- One from Kingsway
- The “original” pairing from Longhope
Previous years’ winners and runners-up were still very much in contention. (Now you can put those two mats away!)
Then it was time for the final:
Julian Kellett and Margaret Willis (the Longhope Originals) versus Phil Jennings and Ian Broderick (winners in 2022 and runners-up for the past two years).
The mat was laid at a rakish angle across the hall, and the spectators settled in with their chairs. Julian opened the scoring with a fine draw to the jack on his first bowl, but Phil was unfazed — immediately drawing two in. This set the tone for the next few ends.
A voice from the crowd heckled, “Is Julian even old enough to play?” (We did the maths — 1969 — and carried on.)
Under relentless pressure from Phil’s superb drawing game, Margaret and Julian decided to swap positions. They managed to pick up a three, but it wasn’t quite enough. Julian tried every skip’s shot in the book, but the numbers just wouldn’t add up.
It was an absolutely fantastic day of bowls, and Phil and Ian proved worthy winners.
A huge thank you to everyone who helped, to those who brought tea and refreshments, and for your kind donations into the bowl.
Next up — County Singles on 29 November. See you there!
