TEN Island youngsters travelled to the Wey Valley Indoor School, Guildford to compete in the Junior Bowls Regional School of Excellence finals.

The under 15s were represented by Josh Berry, Ryan Selby, Lucas Trigg, Tansy Wheeler and Liam Westmore and the under 18s were Jack Berry, Adam Clark, Sam Lines, Travis Meller and Peter Wheeler.

It proved a highly successful competition for the locals, particularly Ryan Selby who went on to win the junior final, and Tansy Wheeler who emerged top junior girl.

Young bowlers from the southern region – Kent, Sussex, Middlesex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight – carried out a series of skills exercises and round robin singles who compete for a place in the National finals in October.

In the senior skills competition Adam was second, Jack fourth, Sam fifth, Peter eighth and Travis 10th. However, with results not going for Jack, Sam and Travis in the round robin section, Adam and Peter went through to the semi-finals. Nevertheless it was still an excellent achievement to have two of the four semi-finalists from the Island.

In the first semi final Peter played an inform Lewis Jones (Lodden Vale IBC) and narrowly lost by 7 shots to 3 while Adam lost to the eventual overall senior winner, Marcus Street (Wey Valley IBC) by 8 shots to 2.

Overall senior placings were: Adam Clark third, Peter Wheeler fourth, Sam Lines fifth, Jack Berry sixth and Travis Meller 10th.

In the junior skills the Island youngsters did well, with Ryan second, Tansy third, Josh fourth, Lucas 10th and Liam 15th. With their results in the round robin singles being added to their skills scores, Ryan, Tansy and Josh competed in the semi finals of the singles. Having three out of the four overall competitors reach this stage was a tremendous achievement for the island youngsters.

Ryan was drawn to play Tansy in the first semi-final which Ryan went on to win by 8 shots to 4. Josh played Lodden Vale-based Ashley Nethercliffe and was unlucky to lose by 5 shots to 4. shots. The junior final between Ryan and Ashley was a good tussle with Ryan going on to win by 8 shots to 1.

Overall junior placings were: Ryan Selby firth, Tansy Wheeler third, Josh Berry fourth, Lucas Trigg 13th and Liam Westmore 14th.

The final results of the day resulted in Ryan Selby being awarded the medal for overall junior winner and Tansy Wheeler being awarded the medal for top junior girl overall.

County Coach, Richard Lovell said:

“This confirms that the hard work and training they have put in throughout the past year has helped the young bowlers gain these excellent results.”