Andalucian Championships 2009- 2nd until 9th February

This was the 7^th annual Andalucian Championships, which alternate between the Malaga and Almeria provinces. Over the years the disciplines have changed for various reasons. Currently, the format is Fours and Pairs with any combination of men and ladies and separate Ladies and Men’s Singles. Only the Ladies singles was played at the co-hosts, Indalo B.C, all other competitions were played at Cabrera L.B.C.

The opening of the Championships took place at the main hosts bowling club Cabrera on Sunday evening 1^st February. Bryan Redington the Delegate of the Almeria Province and Competition Secretary opened the meeting by welcoming all players who had attended and in particular the small contingent from Costa del Sol, a team of 4 ladies from the Los Amigos B.C. He proceeded to outline the arrangements for the championships and requested all players to keep an eye on notice boards. Finally he wished all competitors a good competition and invited everybody to enjoy the refreshments available.

There were 33 Four’s and 69 Pairs teams, 61 Men’s Singles and 44 Ladies Singles entries.

An electronic draw took place on 10^th January at Cabrera by Bryan Redington in the presence of a number of local clubs members.

Weather forecast was not good but apart from being cold for the time of year and at times very strong winds, there were only a few showers of rain on one morning.

The first Fours Semi-finals was between Pat Beattie, Pat Tonkin, Roy Tonkin and Colin Wright (Almeria LBC) versus Geoff Weaver, Stan Milton, John Dedman and Mick Johnson (Indalo BC), Mick is also a member of the National squad. This could have gone either way but Mick’s team won by 2 shots. The second Semi-final was between Dean Tew, Dennis Leigh, Ray Male and Matt Tew (Indalo BC) versus Roy Savage, Andy Cooper, and Tony Millington and Dave Brannon (Cabrera LBC). Again both teams played their hearts out but Matt’s team never let Dave’s team get ahead and won comfortably.

These resulted in a Fours final between the two Indalo teams skipped by Matt Tew and the other by Matt’s pair partner Mick Johnson. As expected it was a very close and exacting game, with Matt’s team winning by 3 shots.

The first Pairs Semi-final was between a team from Cabrera, Mia Woods and Brian Marsh versus an Indalo team of Spanish National players, Jan Dando and Debbie Colquhoun, won comfortably by the two ladies. The second Pairs Semi-final was between an Almeria team of Colin Wright, Pat Beattie versus an Indalo team of Matt Tew and Mick Johnson. This was a close game won by the Indalo pair. The final was delayed until after the singles finals on the last day because of involvement of some of players in the singles. However, in the final, Matt Tew and Mick Johnson had a comfortable win over Jan Dando and Debbie Colquhoun.

The Men and Ladies’ singles took place during the last weekend.

The ladies semi finals were Debbie Colquhoun (Indalo BC) versus Diane Chambers (Los Amigos BC), and Jan Dando (Indalo BC) versus Dorothy Pilmoor (Los Amigos BC). The first was won by Diane Chambers and the second by Jan Dando. Thus the Final was between Jan from Indalo and Diane from Los Amigos. Unfortunately for Jan, Diane was in a determined mood and took the Championship.

The first Men’s semi final was between the 2007 winner, Ian Brewster (Cabrera LBC) and Matt Tew (Indalo BC), which Matt won with a final surge. The other semi final was between Mark Naylor (Indalo BC) and a new player from Almeria LBC, Graham Patrick, who had done well to get to this stage. However, as could be predicted, Mark won. The final between Mark Naylor and Matt Tew was a different matter, with Matt starting with a good lead, but Mark clawed his way back to 20/20 to win on the next end after a game lasting three hours twenty minutes. This was a game that will not be forgotten for some time.

The last playing action of the Championships was the Pairs Final – reported above – followed by the Closing Ceremony during which Bryan Redington thanked John Colquhoun, Vic Parsons and John Dedman for assisting with the organisation of the competition, Ruth Compton for umpiring, and the markers, without which the singles competitions could not happen. He also thanked all back up services that include the ground, bar and catering staff. Bryan then presented the trophies to the winners and finalists.

Vic Parsons – Federation PR