THE ISLE OF WIGHT under-18s open bowls championship proved to be one of the most closely contested competitions ever held among the Island’s junior bowlers.
Young bowlers, aged between 12 and 17 years of age, from clubs all over the Island, converged on Shanklin BC and played some of the finest bowls by this age group on the island for many years.
Spectators were treated to some very close competitive games in which all the players supported each other. Winners and losers all showed a great deal of composure and etiquette which was a great credit to their coaches and clubs.
The competition was played on a Round Robin basis over 7 ends per game, with the top two going through to contest the final which was played over 10 ends.
The first round games were closely contested with Lucas Trigg, Ryan Trigg, Josh Berry and Jack Berry winning their first games. The second round saw Jack continue his winning ways with a 7 shot to 2 win over Josh and Travis Meller coming into the frame with a win over Peter Wheeler by 8 shots to 6.
In the third round Travis and Jack met, and with Travis losing his first round match he had to win this game to have a chance of being in the frame for the final. This was a close encounter and Travis managed to win by 7 shots to 4. Josh Berry had a convincing win over Liam Westmore as did Ryan Trigg over his younger brother Lucas. Josh then went on to beat Lucas in the fourth round to keep himself in the hunt for a place in the final however, both Travis and Jack continued their winning ways and although Josh played well he ended up in third place behind Jack and Travis who both had equal points at the end of the Round Robin section.
The final between Jack and Travis proved to be a close affair between two very good competitive young bowlers. Jack took an early two-shot lead and Travis hit back with three shots on the second end. The score was all square at five shots each at five ends and Travis then took the lead at the seventh end to lead by seven shots to six.
Jack played a superb eighth end to pick up a full count of 4 shots and then a single shot on the ninth end to have a 4 shot leading into the final end. Travis tried everything in his armoury to try to pick up the four shots he needed to take the game into an extra end, but Jack, playing some good positional bowls restricted Travis to two shots and won the match by 11 shots to nine, and the title of Bowls Isle of Wight U18’s Champion 2010.
By the end of the day both Travis and Jack had played 52 ends of bowls over five hours proving that fitness, stamina and concentration has a major part to play in this type of competition and it was a credit to both players how well they performed throughout the day.
Mrs. Maureen Hastings, the Lady President of Bowls Isle of Wight presented Travis with his runners up trophy and Jack with the Kompan Cup.
