2008 Spanish National Championships

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May 2008- S. Alicante

Report & photos by Rick Wills & "The Leader".

Opening Ceremony

There was a great turnout for the opening ceremony of the Spanish National Bowls Championships which took place at the Quesada bowls club on Saturday 10th May, with over 400 competitors parading on the green.As with all major events there is a considerable amount of planning and preparation put in beforehand and great credit goes to the members of Quedada and the organising committee, as everything went like clockwork on the day. Even the rain just held off until just after it was all over.

Each of the clubs marched on in turn, in time to some stirring music, courtesy of the Torrevieja Corps of Pipes and Drums, whose lone piper also played the Spanish national anthem. The competitors and the guests of honour received a warm welcome from the spectators. Once everyone was in position, providing a great spectacle with the range of colours worn, they were welcomed by the Valencian Bowls Federation's delegate, Steve Westall, who in turn was only slightly embarrassed to receive a rendition of Happy Birthday from the gathered throng, as he became a pensionista on the day.

 Brian Pocock, the Assistant Director of the Spanish Bowls Federation, thanked the sponsors, the organising committee and the Leader for producing the programme again this year. The championship committee chairman, Rick Wills, thanked his fellow committee members for their hard work in preparation for the tournament. He introduced the sponsors present, Gill Mills and David Billings from Avalon and David Bance from 1Car1, thanking them and the other sponsors, Bancaja, the Ayuntamiento of Santa Pola and the Bowls Shop at Javea / Los Montesinos. Without their backing, the tournament would be nigh on impossible to stage. Pietro and Louisa Scanaliato, the owners of the Quesada and La Marina clubs, were honoured guests on the day.

Last but not least, he introduced the Mayor of Rojales, Antonio Martinez Canovas and his colleagues, Colin Timms and the councillor for sport Pepe Garcia. The Mayor said how pleased he was to be present and officially opened the tournament in the traditional manner, when he and Pepe went onto the green to bowl a couple of woods each.

The competitors retired for some welcome refreshment before leaving to prepare for the commencement of the tournament on Sunday. This year there are about 550 entrants and for the successful ones this will be an arduous two weeks, while for those not so lucky there is always the opportunity to renew old acquaintances and make new friends. The tournament runs from Sunday 11th until Friday 23rd May and the greens being used are those at La Marina, Quesada, La Siesta, San Luis, Monte Mar and Greenlands.

The Leader will of course be affording the Nationals special attention over the next few weeks. The best players in Spain are taking part and no matter where you look, the draw has thrown up some intriguing matches, even in the early rounds, so go along to any of the venues mentioned and lend your support.

Favourites topple in Nationals

Week one of the 2008 Spanish National Bowls Championships saw many of the favourites making an early exit. As it turns out, whether because teams have lost in the early stages this year or have broken up for different reasons, it can already be seen that none of the individual or team winners in 2007 will be repeating that feat.

The 2007 mens singles champion Nick Cole is unable to take part his year, which left two time winner Keith Jones as the favourite. He has duly gone through to the quarter finals and remains the one to beat, although he faces tough opposition in his next game in the form of Mike Detheridge, from the Costa del Sol. A terrific win by Roy Pickin over one of the main contenders, Russell Marks, leaves that half of the draw wide open.

Last year‘s ladies winner, Ann Eagle, faced her opponent in that final, Angie Goodfellow, in the second round of the ladies singles. This time it was Angie who came out on top and faces international squad colleague Carol Meare in the quarter finals. Still going in the bottom half of the draw, at the time of writing, are Sabrina Marks and the recent Costa Blanca champion of champions winner Peta Rhodes.

Ann and Sabrina will not be defending their pairs title, having gone out to Norma Lamberton  and Veronica Sale. It’s almost impossible to pick the likely winners in this discipline, so evenly matched are the remaining pairs. The men’s pairs have only just got underway, likewise the ladies triples, so we will have to see what develops during the coming week.

In the mens triples, last year's finalists Derek Toozer, Bill Pain and Pete Bonsor are still going strong and will be hard to beat, although there are plenty of good trios still left in, including Keith Jones, Sam Russell and John Withers, while Jackie Breslin and his team mates Tony McKenna and Alan Sharp cannot be ignored.

In both the men’s and ladies rinks, the 2007 winners are no longer together. Looking through the last 16 of both, once again there are so may strong teams that any predictions are difficult. What we can be sure of is that there will be some great matches on the way to the final.

We now look forward to the latter stages of the event, culminating in finals day at Monte Mar on Friday. That promises to give us a feast of superb bowling to enjoy, so come along and support everyone who has fought so hard to reach the finals.

The Finals

The second week of the National Bowls championships surpassed all expectations by supplying a mixture of unexpected results, many new champions and some fantastic bowling.

The semi-finals and finals were played on the excellent surface at the Monte Mar club in Gran Alicant, which ensured that players reaped the rewards if they bowled well. Even at that stage, many of the favourites to progress to the finals fell by the wayside. Some of the games were so close it was unbearable watching, let alone playing, with a fair number of them seeing a team come from behind to snatch victory right at the death.

Notable were the wins in the mens rinks by Brian Manser’s team from Javea over the strong favourites from Greenlands, led by Pete Bonsor, closely followed by Mary Cockle’s Benitachell triple tense battle with Carol Rudge’s trio from San Miguel. The big match was in the mens singles, where Tony McKenna took on two times champion Keith Jones and beat him over the last couple of ends, after it had been too close to call throughout. In the other mens singles semi, the veteran Roy Pickin came from behind to snatch a last gasp win over Dominic Mills.

The finals themselves were no less exciting. In the mens fours, Brian Manser’s side were up against an experienced Finca Guila quartet, but they recovered from a bad start to take control towards the end and won 22 - 16. The ladies fours result was similar, although in that one Carol Meare’s side were always just that bit better then the La Siesta four led by Crystal Toleman, going on to win 22 - 18. Neither triples games were quite as close. The mens was won by Jackie Breslin’s trio, who were just too good for the opposition from Emerald Isle, led by Brian Hawthorn, who had quietly passed through every round, upsetting some big names on the way. Similarly in the ladies final, Sheri Fletcher’s triple was better on the day than Mary Cockell’s outfit, who put up dogged resistance before finally succumbing towards the end.

The mens pairs final had to be played a day later than the rest because of  Tony McKenna's involvement in 3 finals. That turned out to be a one sided affair as he and Jackie Breslin ruled the roost against Joe Ridley and Bill Young from Monte Mar, running out as comfortable winners. The ladies pairs final pitted Shirley Verity and Sheila Cammack against Dorrian Ives and Susan Walker from Los Amigos on the Costa del Sol, who I believe were the only entrants from that club. The Amigos were in front right until the last end, when the Country Bowls pair picked up 3 shots, after the closest of measures, to claim the first ever Nationals title for their club.

The ladies singles ended with much the same scenario, with Peta Rhodes recovering from being almost down and out to win the last few ends, so depriving Wendy Symonds, by a single shot, of a second title to add to her success in the fours. In the mens final, Tony McKenna was in majestic form as he claimed a 21 - 11 over win over Roy Pickin, who himself performed well, but was quite simply outplayed on the day.

Presentation of the trophies were made by representatives of the sponsors, who were roundly applauded for their vital support of the championships. David Bance of 1Car1, Elisa Diez and Juan Julianni from Bancaja, John Roberts from Avalon and from Santa Pola Council, Ana Blasco, the councillor for the Treasury, together with the Gran Alicant councillor, Loreto Cascales, were all present to present the finalists with their medals.

There was no dispute as to who would be named the ‘Avalon’ Player of the Tournament. Tony Mckenna reached the finals of the singles, pairs and triples and won all three.

Results

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