THREE-WOOD PAIRS

Monday to Wednesday, August 12 to 14, saw the annual Ladies Open Three Wood Pairs being staged at Tenby Bowling Club, with teams playing for a first prize of the Kath Cole Cup and £300, second prize, the Winnie Lamb salver and £100, third prize £60 and fourth prize £40.

The competition, sponsored by the Tenby House Hotel and the Famous Tenby £1 Shop, was played in the new round robin format which is proving very popular these days.

Sixty ladies beavered away from 9 am on the Monday until lunch on the Wednesday, with the usual crop of fancied pairs succumbing to no-hopers, and some of the section winners had to wait until virtually the last games to be established.

The section winners and runners-up progressed to the quarter-finals which proved equally enthralling, results being:

L. Evans and I. Newth 4, V. James and P. Barnikel 8. Lon Evans and Irene Newth were impressive, winning their section, so Val James and Pauline Barnikel had to raise their game to succeed.

A. Davies and B. Lewis 1, E. Dadds and B. White 12. The Saundersfoot duo of Beryl Lewis and Anne Davies were majestic, winning their section unbeaten, so it was quite a shock to see them blow-it in the first knock-out round.

V. Pope and J. Owen 8, L. Thomas and R. Rees 7. Vera and Joan had their hands full against the Swansea pair of Linda Thomas and Rita Rees, who bowled accurately over the three days, just failing to progress to the semi-finals.

J. Davies and Mair Evans 11, E. Bowen and B. Walker 8. Janet and Mair, of the Carmarthen club, maintained their form against Edna Bowen and Betty Walker from Llanelli, easing them out in a high quality game.

Semi-finals: V. Pope and J. Owen 3, V. James and P. Barnikel 9; E. Dadds and B. White 12, J. Davies and M. Evans 1.

Val and Pauline were inspired in their progress to the final, as were Ena Dadds and Bobby White.

Final: E. Dadds and B. White 13 V. James and P. Barnikel 5.

The actual score in the final for the Kath Cole Trophy belies the very high-class bowling by both pairs, but Bobby White proved to be a match-winner time after time with her immaculate drawing and conversions in a game worthy of a final.

Play-off third and fourth places: V. Pope and J. Owen 8 J. Davies and M. Owen 6.

This game was equally exciting with Vera and Joan just pipping Janet and Mair.

We were fortunate to have at the trophy presentation ceremony Mrs. Lesley Fisher, proprietor of the Tenby House Hotel, one of our main sponsors and Mrs. Winnie Lamb to present her runners-up trophy, the Winnie Lamb Silver Salver. Due to pressure of work, Colin Sharp, of the Famous Tenby £1 Shop, the other main sponsor, apologised for his absence.

Chairman of the Tenby club, Pauline Barnikel, presented the Kath Cole Cup to the winners, Ena Dadds and Bobby White, and Lesley Fisher presented the substantial prize money of £300. Winnie Lamb then took great delight in presenting her runners-up salver to Valerie James and Pauline Barnikel; they also received £100 from Lesley. Vera Pope and John Owen received third prize of £60 and fourth prize of £40 went to Janet Davies and Mair Evans.

Ena and Bobby were ecstatic with their win, having come close on other occasions.

Val and Pauline were equally thrilled with the runners-up spot.

All the ladies seemed impressed with the new format and the set-up in the Tenby club.

TWO-WOOD

MIXED TIPLES

Thursday and Friday, August 15 and 16, heralded the Open Two Wood Mixed Pairs, with teams playing for a first prize of the Keith de la Bertouche Cup and £300, a second prize of £120, third prize £60 and fourth prize £30.

It was again played in the round-robin format from 9 am to lunch on Friday and then to the knock-out stage.

The mixed triples was generously sponsored by Grandiflora (St. Florence) and HSBC (Tenby).

Bathed in brilliant sunshine, to the relief of the organiser, 90 bowlers launched into a hectic two days of bowling, thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Quarter-final results were:

N. Davies, H. Thomas, C. Court 12, M. Donoghue, R. Rees, W. Rees 2.

N. Morgan, K. Evans, C. Davies 11, M. Morris, M. Marquiss, R. Holly 6.

P. Jones, M. Davies, W. Samuel 9, A. Evans, R. Davies, J. Davies 6.

H. Smith, M. Shearsby, S. Jones 10, L. de la Bertouche, D. Spencer, A. Muskett 9 (after an extra end).

All the section winners maintained their good form to progress to the semi-finals, although the losing trio of Lynn de la Bertouche, Dai Spencer and Andrew Muskett (sub for Patrick Currie) only just succumbed after an exhilarating game and an extra end.

Semi-finals: H. Smith, M. Shearsby, S. Jones 7, N. Davies, H. Thomas, C. Court 8.

P. Jones, M. Davies, W. Samuel 13, N. Morgan, K. Evans, C. Davies 3.

Imagine the surprise of Hannah Smith, Matthew Shearsby and Stan Jones, all bowling superbly and having got to 7-3 with one end to go, to suddenly find their scores level after a telling conversion by in-form Chris Court. In the extra end, Chris proved his drawing skills with an immaculate inch perfect last bowl to enter the final.

In the other semi, Wyn Samuel's trio proved too much for the talented side of Nikki Morgan, Keith Evans and Colin Davies.

Final: Nigel Davies, Hannah Thomas, Chris Court 8, Pat Jones, Manfred Davies and Wyn Samuel 3.

This was a game of very high tension, so imagine the delight of Nigel Davies, so mathematically precise, young and quiet Hannah Thomas and bubbly Chris Court, as they squeezed out a magnificent win over the very talented trio of Patricia Jones, Manfred Davies and Wyn Samuel.

Play-off third and fourth: N. Morgan. K. Evans, C. Davies 8, H. Smith, M. Shearsby, S. Jones 3.

Colin's trio picked themselves up, after the disappointment of the drubbing in the semi-final, to capture third place.

At the trophy presentation ceremony late on Friday, Bert Barnikel, organiser, stated that it was a pleasure to be involved with such delightful company and excellent sports.

On behalf of the Tenby club, Bert acknowledged the generous support of the sponsors, Grandiflora (St. Florence) and HSBC (Tenby) in association with this popular mixed triples tournament. Mr. and Mrs. Hainsworth, of Grandiflora (St. Florence), were unable to attend, due to pressure of work, but the HSBC (Tenby) manager, Mr. Alan Bennett, was pleased to hand out the substantial prize monies.

Lyn de la Bertouche and family friend, Mr. Archie Rafferty, donors of the first prize, the Keith de la Bertouche Cup, celebrating Keith's life and love of bowling, were present to present the winners, Nigel Davies, Hannah Thomas and Chris Court, with the cup, individual mementoes, plus £300.

In a very short but brave speech, Chris thanked the Tenby club for an excellent bowling surface and a well organised tournament, and Bert was thanked by Mrs. Valerie James for a job well done.

All bowlers were advised that the Ladies Week would be one week later in 2003, the dates being from Monday to Friday, August 18 to 22.

One good feature of the week was the number of talented young bowlers taking part, boding well for the future of our sport of bowling.