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COSTA DEL SOL LAWN BOWLS

WINTER CHAMPIONSHIPS

7th - 17th April 2011

Sponsored by: Logo

WINTER CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE A SHOWCASE FOR BOWLING!


Since 1987 the premier bowling event in the calendar on the Costa del Sol has been the Winter Championships. The event is held in the spring and is only open to members of clubs on the Costa del Sol, it traditionally attracts the largest entry of any competition on the coast. This years competition, sponsored by Lloyds Bank International (click on the link to visit their website), were held at Miraflores Bowls Club from 7th to 17th April with everything coming together to make the premier tournament in the bowling calendar a special one to remember. Firstly, the weather was outstanding throughout the 11 days of the competition. Secondly, despite the current economic climate we saw an increase on last year's entry, particularly in the Mixed 4's and Triples events. Thirdly, the schedule fell in place in such a way that all finals were programmed for different timings, thereby avoiding the usual problems that arise if any competitor qualifies for more than one final (which as you will see was most definitely the case). Finally, and most importantly the quality of the bowling and the spirit in which the matches were played was exemplary, this was demonstrated by the number of matches which went to an extra end to determine a winner.
 
The structure of the competition is that 7 disciplines are contested, namely, Mixed 4's, Men's & Ladies' Triples, Men's & Ladies' Pairs and Men's & Ladies' Singles. This put a potentially exhausting commitment for any player entering multiple disciplines and being consistently successful.

Winter Championship trophies on display before the presentations

Umpire & Singles finals markers (From L to R): Graham Rowley, Bill Mann & Dorothy Pilmoor.
 
Mixed 4's

In the Mixed 4's we saw a number of strong teams entered but in the end the Final was contested between Mike & Mary Detheridge, Bill Gregory & Maureen Robertshaw of Benalmadena BC and Frank & Pauline Ball, Claire Dye & Terry Morgan of Lauro Golf BC, both fours being a mix of very experienced and less experienced players. The match was closely contested with excellent bowling on both sides and Mike's team held a narrow 13-9 lead after 12 ends, Frank's team picked up 10 shots over the next 4 ends to go into the last end 19-14 up. The seemingly impossible almost happened with Mike's team holding 4 shots and a possible measure to force the extra end but Frank bowled a beautiful last bowl to take shot and win the match 20-14.

Mixed 4's winners (From L to R): Terry Morgan, Claire Dye, Frank Ball, Pauline Ball, Clayton Hopley (sponsor).

Mixed 4's runners-up (From L to R): Bill Gregory, Maureen Robertshaw, Clayton Hopley (sponsor), Mary and Mike Detheridge.

Ladies' Triples
 
The Ladies' Triples final was between Pam Cole, Dine Warne & Linda Hall of Mijas BC up against Claire Dye, Jenny Parkin & Margaret Bicknell of Lauro Golf BC. The Lauro girls took an early 6-1 lead but Linda's team pulled their way back taking the lead 9-7 after the 10th end, from there onwards the game was finely balanced but Margaret's team were unable to regain the initiative, leaving Linda's triple to run out 14-11 winners, although the fact that both teams won 9 ends apiece is testimony to how close the match was.

Ladies Triples winners: Clayton Hopley (sponsor), Dine Warne (Linda Hall and Pam Cole were not available).

Ladies Triples runners-up (From L to R): Jenny Parkin, Margaret Bicknell, Claire Dye & Clayton Hopley (sponsor).

Men's Triples
 
In the Men's Triples the final was between Tony Frowd, Mike Detheridge & Bill Gregory of Benalmadena BC and Gordon Kain, Murray Johns & Alan Turner of Santa Maria BC. Once again a very closely contested match with the scores level at 9-9 after 10 ends, Gordon's team built up a head of steam and led 19-13 after 16 ends. Tony's team fell just short of forcing the extra end despite picking up 5 shots on the last 2 ends to leave the Santa Maria trio winners 19-18.

Men's Triples winners (From L to R): Alan Turner, Gordon Kain, Clayton Hopley (sponsor), Murray Johns.

Men Triples runners-up (From L to R): Mike Detheridge, Tony Frowd, Bill Gregory, Clayton Hopley (sponsor).
 
Ladies' Pairs

The Ladies' Pairs final saw Wendy Wood & Erica Hooper of Miraflores BC taking on Kate Morris & Amber Dineen of Benalmadena BC. Kate & Amber took an early 6-0 lead before Wendy & Erica pulled back to 6-5. Disaster struck in the 9th end for the Miraflores girls when Kate & Amber picked up a 6, this was followed by a 5 on the 13th end, giving them an unassailable lead. Those 2 ends proved to be the difference between the 2 sides as the final score was 22-14 to Kate & Amber.

Ladies Pairs winners (From L to R): Amber Dineen, Kate Morris & Clayton Hopley (sponsor).

Ladies Pairs runners-up (From L to R): Wendy Wood, Clayton Hopley (sponsor), Erica Hooper.
 
Men's Pairs

In the Men's Pairs final Don Smith & Kevin Bloe of Mijas BC took on Mike Detheridge & Bill Gregory (Benalmadena BC). Don & Kevin played some excellent bowls against Mike & Bill who never seemed to get going and the Benalmadena pair conceded after 16 ends with the score at 18-8.

Men's Pairs winners (From L to R): Don Smith, Kevin Bloe & Clayton Hopley (sponsor).

Men's Pairs runners-up (From L to R): Mike Detheridge, Clayton Hopley (sponsor), Bill Gregory.
 
Ladies' Singles

The Ladies' Singles final was between Margaret Kain of Santa Maria BC and Geraldine Robinson of Mijas BC. Margaret stormed into a 9-1 lead before Geraldine got going and started to reduce the deficit. Margaret continued to pick up shots but Geraldine was determined not to be left behind and pulled back to 17-18 before Margaret won the last 2 ends to take the match.

Ladies Singles finalists (From L to R): Geraldine Robinson (runner-up), Margaret Kain (winner) & Clayton Hopley (sponsor).
 
Men's Singles

The Men's Singles final was between Tony Frowd & Mike Detheridge (both of Benalmadena BC). This proved to be an exceptional match with excellent bowling by both men and scores level at 19-19 after 25 ends, In the following end with Tony holding shot Mike bowled with weight with his last bowl to try to remedy the situation and in the process knocked one of his own bowls out of the head to give Tony the 2 shots he needed for the match.

Men's Singles finalists (From L to R): Mike Detheridge (runner-up), Clayton Hopley (sponsor), Tony Frowd (winner).

Singles Champions (From L to R): Tony Frowd, Clayton Hopley (sponsor), Margaret Kain.
 
At the presentation ceremony afterwards, Derek (club president) thanked the sponsors Lloyds Bank International for their support,  the players for the quality and spirit of play, the umpires and especially the markers for volunteering to help and finally the large group of spectators both on finals day and throughout the tournament who had given the event a special atmosphere. He then said he hoped to see everybody back at Miraflores in 2017 when we will next be hosting the event!
 
The presentations of the trophies and prizes were then made by Clayton Hopley of Lloyds Bank International, following which the Men's singles champion, Tony Frowd said a few words echoing Derek's sentiments of thanks for all involved and concluded by offering sincere commiserations to Mike Detheridge who having qualified for all 4 finals for which he was eligible went on to be runner-up in them all, the crowd demonstrated their support for his thoughts with a round of applause.
 
Should anyone want a copy of any of the photos on this page, please email: info@mirafloreslbc.com .