National Area Finals

Andy Thomson MBE (Cyphers) v Alan Binns (Croydon)

I marked a fabulous match last night between Andy Thomson MBE and Alan Binns.

This was the EIBA National Singles Area 21 Final and was played at Donyngs Indoor Bowls Club in Redhill, my local. The game was well advertised at the club and drew quite a crowd which was great to see.

Alan seemed to have the upper hand for the second half of the match and came within a few millimetres of picking up a 4 to win the match. However, Andy kept plugging away and eventually clinched the game at 20-20 after Alan pulled his last bowl a fraction tight to miss the head.

Great game both players and good luck in the National Finals Andy.

World Indoor Championships - Final Day

Sunday 26^th January

It’s finals day. Mervyn King from Norfolk took on Darren Burnett from Arbroath in a thrilling final.

This morning we had a Potters Leisure Resort Champion of Champions which I umpired. Throughout the season players from all over the country play in a fours competition at Potters. The final is played on the portable rink on the final day of the World Championships. In this years match, Bassetlaw Bowls Club from Yorkshire played Colchester Bowls Club from Essex. All players mastered the tricky portable rink quite well and the match went to an extra end after a 6-6 draw at 8 ends. Bassetlaw scored 1 on the extra end to secure the win.

Sandra, Bryan and I ready
for the 2014 World Final

Before lunch I had time to relax and start packing. I will be driving home after the Gala Dinner tonight. Mike Davies left this morning feeling unwell. We all wish him a speedy recovery. A light lunch was in order today prior to the final. The food at Potters is superb and there is so much available. It is difficult to resist as you can probably tell from the additional weight I am carrying on the rink. Diet starts tomorrow!!

Prior to the World Final the spectators start queuing early and by the time we arrive to start the pre-match checks, the line is already streaming through the Bowlers Bar in to the reception and back. The Potters Theatre Company put on a little show on the rink for about 30 minutes before the match starts. The crowd get warmed up and the atmosphere is fantastic. Shaun Williamson did a 5 minute comedy slot followed by a fantastic rendition of “Something Inside So Strong”. Butterflies and Adrenaline start to kick in and I tend to hide away in a corner until I am needed about 5 minutes before the match starts.

Shaun Williamson paid us a visit

There was an amazing atmosphere and the noise was deafening when both players nailed the jack. Mervyn won the first set and although not quite playing the same exceptional standard that he did in the Semi-final, he persisted with the draw shot whilst Darren was chasing shots. In a very tight second set it was all square going into the final end. Tension was rising and Darren just managed to win it on a measure. The tie break was electric and there were a couple of occasions where I had to quieten the crowd as the player stepped on the mat. When they are playing to the shot clock it’s important to maintain some control so they do not get disturbed. Darren finally lifted the title of World Indoor Bowls Champion 2014. I was very happy with the way I marked the game which is a great confidence booster.

Following the match us officials cleared all the rink equipment away ready for the next tournament, gave each other a hug (we do that now and again!!) and got ready for the Gala Dinner.

I hope you have enjoyed reading these blogs and they have given you a bit of an insight into what a World Bowls Tour Official does during the biggest tournament on the Bowls calendar.

Feel free to send me any comments or questions and I will do my best to answer them.

Bye Bye from Potters Leisure Resort.

World Indoor Championships - Day Seven

Saturday 25^th January

Well, you don’t see that every day, indeed we have not seen it for 3 years since it was introduced. During the second set in last nights’ match between Jonathan Ross and Mervyn King, Jon won £4000 for getting 4 touchers in a single end. This incentive was introduced 3 years ago and was won in the first tournament after its introduction by Robert Paxton. The rule only applies to Quarter-Final stages onwards of televised tournaments run by WBT. The 4 touchers must occur in one end and be chalked as touchers by the marker. If you are not sure, a toucher is a bowl that comes into contact the jack after it has been delivered. The Marker will spray a little chalk mark onto the bowl to indicate that it is a toucher.

Later in the evening after another disappointing Bingo session, we spotted the actor Shaun Williamson (Barry from Eastenders). Shaun is a great supporter of bowls and has appeared a couple of times at tournaments in the past. He is a great guy and it was good to see him at Potters.

So it was the penultimate day and it is Semi-Finals day. First on this morning was a junior final. Young bowlers from local clubs compete throughout the season to earn a place in a final played on the portable rink in front of a packed crowd. It is fabulous to watch the skill these kids have on the bowling green and it is an inspiration to all youngsters to achieve what they do. It also helps the image of our sport to have young talented players such as these and the new World Ladies Matchplay champion.

The first semi-final this morning was between Darren Burnett and Robert Paxton. A top quality game as you would expect for a place in the Final. Darren came out the winner in a straight sets victory playing arguably the best he has even done at the World Championships.

An Umpires eye view of the
rink with Sandra marking

Following this semi-final we welcomed the legend, Willie Wood, on to the rink for a 3 end challenge against Welshman Robert Weale. This game was a Commonwealth Games promotion that the BBC will show during tomorrow’s broadcast. The Commonwealth Games will be hosted by Glasgow in July.

Unfortunately, today we were a man down in the officiating team. Poor Mike Davies is suffering from a DVT and took himself down to the hospital. Luckily we are down to just a couple of games per day and Bryan, Sandra and I will be covering these through to the end now. We wish Mike well and hope to see him back to full strength soon.

This afternoon’s match between Paul Foster and Mervyn King promised to be one of the best of the tournament. Both Mervyn and Paul showed outstanding form to win their Quarter-finals and it was a really hard game to call. It certainly lived up to that. Mervyn was incredible and really didn’t let Paul settle. Paul eventually waved the white flag in the second set and Mervyn progressed to the final to met Darren Burnett.

After this thrilling match we had a short challenge match to launch a new WBT Tournament, “Super-Bowl”. John Price and Andy Thomson took on two of the world best crown green players, Danny Barwise and Chris Brown, in a 9 end match. There was a lot of banter on the rink and with the watching crowd but Andy and John were just too strong for the crowners.

Tonight, after dinner, we have our annual Potters versus WBT game. Us officials and other members of the WBT team play (using that word loosely) a fun roll-up against some of the Potters staff. It’s always good fun and is about the only time I get to put a bowl up on the portable rink. The camera crew are also onsite tonight so we will have a few jars with them in the bar.

Wow, what a day. It has been a bit manic but tomorrow is the big one, the World Final. I will be Marking and Bryan Daly will be Umpiring with Sandra operating the 30 second shotclock. It promises to be a fabulous game and will be live on BBC throughout the afternoon.

World Indoor Championships - Day Six

Friday 24^th January

Alex dominated the game last night against Gary R Smith and that win saw him through to the Quarter final clash with Paul Foster. After the game the officials relaxed with a game of Bingo in the Atlas Theatre, unfortunately no winners this time. We then watched the excellent show.

Today was Quarter finals day and I was marking the first game between Andy Thomson and Robert Paxton. Bryan Daly was the Umpire and Mike was on the shot clock. It was a great game with a huge variety of shots played and there were plenty of measures as well. Robert played exceptionally well and earned a place in the semi-final.

The umpire and marker work very closely during a game and remain in constant communication with each other. The umpire keeps the scorecard, determines the jack length and measures any disputed shots. As part of the scoring duty the umpire maintains a record of the number of time outs played. This information needs to be relayed to the marker so that when a time out is called, the number remaining can be relayed to the spectators. Also important is to confirm with the marker the number of shots required by a player to win a set, stay in a set or indeed to win a game. When it comes to measuring, it is usually the marker that wedges the bowls where possible so that the umpire simply has to walk on do the measure and walk off. However, we do talk to each other to avoid any confusion over what is required in the measure. Sometimes we even have a quiet bit of banter as well.

I managed to escape for a couple of hours for a walk and skipped lunch. It was the only nice day we have had and although it was cold it was nice to get out for some fresh air.

The afternoon games were an all Scottish affair. The first being reigning champion taking on Darren Burnett. Darren raised his game to take out the defending champion and progresses to the semi-final. This match was followed by the clash of the titans – Paul Foster versus Alex Marshall. It was a high quality game as expected and went all the way to a tie-break. Paul secured the win – just!

The relaxing atmosphere of the Bowlers Bar

This evening we have a “Bucks Fizz” reception where players and officials meet and chat with some of the guests over a glass of the fizzy stuff (or orange juice for us officials). It is a great opportunity for the guests to ask those burning questions to share their bowling experiences with us.

The final game tonight sees local star Mervyn King taking on Jonathan Ross in the last quarter final of the day.

Tomorrow is semi-finals day. Always tense games as the final four battle it out for a place in the World Final. Darren Burnett versus Robert Paxton is the first game on followed by the winner of tonight's game up against Paul Foster.

World Indoor Championships - Day Five

Thursday 23^rd January

Well what a game last night between Greg and Darren. It had everything. The first set was a little one sided in Darren’s favour, but Greg found his mojo in the second taking the match to a tie break. The 3 end tie break was a tense affair with very little separating the two players. We had tactical use of “time outs” as well as the third end being killed. Under WBT rules a player may nominate any of their bowls to kill the jack in the third end of the tie break only. If they are successful in getting the jack off the rink, then the bowls would be carried back and replayed. However, they can only kill the end once each.

This mornings’ game was between the two old statesmen of the sport, Andy Thomson and John Price. I was the Marker for this match with Sandra Mcleish as Umpire and Mike Davies as Shot Clock operator. On one end in the second set John opted for a drive shot but took a little too long on the mat and failed to deliver the bowl before the 30 second buzzer sounded. Mike shouted down to me that it was a dead bowl and it was down to me to stop it. It had a fair amount of weight behind it and it did sting a little when I stopped it in its tracks with my foot. It certainly entertained the crowd.

I got one call wrong declaring that John held two shots but on measure it was only one – oh well we are only human. There is added pressure with the shot clock to make a call and we don’t have the luxury of taking our time looking from both sides. It gave “Corky” something to talk about anyway and he does give me a bit of ribbing when I get it wrong, thankfully not very often.

 The match went to the third end of the tie break with both players using all their “time outs”. Eventually Andy came out on top and progresses to the Quarter Final.

Katherine Rednall receives
her Langham Glass Goblet

It was Ladies Finals day today with Rebecca Field from Norfolk and 18 year old Katherine Rednall from Suffolk competing for the World Ladies Matchplay Champion title. There was a capacity crowd in the arena for this final creating a fabulous atmosphere for these two local girls. Katherine dominated the match from start to finish and unfortunately Rebecca could find no reply to her relentless drawing bowls. Katherine is the new World Indoor Ladies Matchplay Champion 2014.

The capacity of the arena is approximately 1000 seats with both stands and the portable rink itself built on top of an 8 rink green. The rink sits within the confines of the underlying green making it slightly shorter than a normal green at just under 36 metres. It is the maximum width with the boundaries set at 5.8 metres wide. There is about ½ metre of rink outside of the boundary lines.

The match after the Ladies final saw World number 1, Paul Foster playing Danny Dennison for a place in the Quarter Final. I was on the shot clock for this one and it was an uneventful game for us officials. Paul won the match in a straight 2 set win over Danny meaning we had an early end to this afternoon’s session.

Tonight we have the last second round match between Alex Marshall and Gary R Smith which promises to be a cracker. The winner will proceed to the quarter final to meet Paul Foster.

Tomorrow is quarter finals day and we are expecting a packed house and some fabulous matches.