ECBA Carpet Bowls Festival 2024
Monday 29th to Friday 3rd May

There was another uptick in numbers this year, with several first-timers. Once again we were joined by a group from Norway, with 12 players taking part.

RINKS The week's competition started on Tuesday with the Rinks group games. There were 6 groups, with the winners, runners-up and 4 best third placed teams going forward to Thursday's Knockout Rounds. Group 1 Two teams finished on 6 points, with 3 wins and a loss, they were Cousins-Newling-Clemmet, who topped the group wth 38 shots, while Bentley-Clark-Kelly-Newby were on 29 shots. Group 2 Three teams finished up on 6 points, Edmead-McNeil-Myall-Parrish (58 shots), Butler-Greaves-Webb-Webbley (31 shots), and Tilbrook-Game-Daniels (23 shots). All 3 qualified. Group 3 Goodrich-Hobbs-Jolly won all their games to top the group, while second place went to Knox-Joy-Sutton-Wingfield, who lost just one of their games. Group 4 Agnew-Jones won 3 out of 4 to win the group. Behind them were 3 teams on 4 points, the best of which was Kelly-Foley-Eccles-Long, on 30 shots, and McCabe-Hill-Thompson, with 25 shots, which was enough to go through as a best third. Group 5 Templeton-Meldrum-Clark completed a clean sweep of their games to win the group. Second place went to Collins-Fisher-Chamberlain-Farley, who lost just once, while Whiting-Stokes-Clarke's 4 points and 31 shots was enough to see them through as well. Group 6 Campbell-Laydon-Wilson were group winners, having won all their games, Edge-Frost lost once and were second, while third were Pullar-Runnacles on 4 points and 38 shots.   Knockout Stages Quarter Finals Templeton-Meldrum-Clark picked up a 3 on the first end and were never at risk, as the went on to beat Cousins-Newling-Clemmet 10-2. Edmead-McNeil-Myall-Parrish were also off the mark with a 3, but Bentley-Clark-Kelly-Newby pulled it back to 4-4, only to then go behind again, and fall to a 5-7 loss. Pullar-Runnacles led 5-2 with 2 ends to go, but Butler-Greaves-Webb-Webbley pulled back to square the game on the last end, and then won the extra end, taking the game 7-5. Campbell-Laydon-Wilson took a comfortable win over Agnew-Jones, 10-1, with an end to spare. Semi-Finals Edmead-McNeil-Myall-Parrish picked up 6 shots over 3 ends in the middle part of the game against Templeton-Meldrum-Clark, going on to win 8-3. It was another comfortable win for Campbell-Laydon-Wilson, edging away to beat Butler-Greaves-Webb-Webbley 9-2. Final Martin Campbell, Stephen Wilson, Adam Wilson & Michael Laydon v Sue Parrish, Robert Myall, Lisa Edmead & Stuart McNeil Michael's team made the best start, winning the first 2 ends to lead 3-0, but Stuart's team hit back, and with 4 ends played, it was 3-3. There was never much in it after that, just one shot each end, but they all went to Michael, handing them a 6-3 win to regain the title they won in 2022.

PAIRS The round robin games for the Pairs were played out on Wednesday, the winners of each of the eleven groups would automatically qualify for the last 16, and would be joined by the 5 winners of the preliminary round games between the 10 best runners-up. Group 1 Ryan Meldrum & Stephen Templeton had 4 comfortable victories to easily win the group, while Marcus & Val Whiting lost just the one game to go through as runners-up. Group 2 David Templeton & Ian Clark were undefeated, although they did drop one point in a remarkable 11-11 draw. They won the group by a point over Sam & Trish Agnew, who were also through. Group 3 Two teams went through unbeaten from the group, both on 7 points, Marion Joy & Arthur Wingfield finished top on shots, ahead of Ray Stokes & Heather Clarke. Group 4 Patricia Clark & Charlie Newby won the group, winning all their games, while Michael Webb & Ann Butler were also through, with 3 wins and 1 loss. Group 5 Both Neil Jolly & Jim Goodrich and David Clemmet & Angela Newling finished on 6 points, both would go through, with Neil & Jim winning the group thanks to 10 extra shots. Group 6 This group was also settle on shots, with Chris & Shirley Tilbrook and Kerr Clement & Maggie Gibbs each winning 3 times. Chris and Shirley won the group by 6 shots. Group 7 Val Game & Paul Daniels won all 4 of their games, but behind them no one could do better than 2 wins, and so the runners-up in this group were the one to miss out on qualification. Group 8 Josie Long & Ray Collins finished on 7 points, while Lisa Edmead & Stuart McNeil's 5 points and 28 shots was just enough to see them though in second. Group 9 Sally Goodrich & Ally Hobbs took a clean sweep of their games, finishing 3 points clear of second placed John Ballinger & Maureen Darvill. Group 10 Another group where the top positions were decided on shots, as both Michael Laydon & Adam Wilson and Peter & Sue Jones took 3 wins and a draw. Michael and Adam won the group on shots. Group 11 Paul & Sue Cousins won all 4 of their games, while Stephen Wilson & Martin Campbell lost just the one game to finish second. Knockout Rounds Quarter Finals Neil Jolly & Jim Goodrich, and Chris & Shirley Tilbrook had a game that went back and forth several times, 3-0 to Neil & Jim, back to 3-3, back out to 6-3, and then all square at 6-6, requiring an extra end, which went to Neil & Jim, as they won 7-6. Val Game & Paul Daniels just had the better of the game against Lisa Edmead & Stuart McNeil over the first few ends, but it was enough to build a small advantage. They led 5-1 with 2 ends to go, but a 3 for Val & Paul finished the game off, 8-1 with and end to spare. As was to be expected there was nothing to tell between Michael Laydon & Adam Wilson and David Templeton & Ian Clark, with never more than a shot separating them. Each team led at some stage or another, and it was all square with one end to go, but it was Michael and Adam who just came home in front, winning 5-4. A great start for Marcus & Val Whiting as they led David Clemmet & Angela Newling 6-1 after 3 ends. But it wasn't enough, and 2 ends later they were behind, as David & Angela came from behind to win 10-6. Semi-Finals Having had to fight back in their previous game, this time it was David Clemmet & Anglea Newling who had the better start, against Michael Laydon & Adam Wilson, leading 5-2 after 4 ends, but this time they fell foul of a resurgent oppostion, as Michael and Adam won the last 3 ends to reach the final with an 8-5 victory. Val Game & Paul Daniels had the early lead against Neil Jolly & Jim Goodrish, but had fall behind, 4-3 after 5 ends. However, Val & Paul regained the lead with a 3, and finished the game off with a 2 on the last, to win 8-4. Final Val Game & Paul Daniels v Adam Wilson & Michael Laydon Val & Paul's good start (2 on the first end), didn't last long. Michael & Adam were ahead with a 3 on the next, and proceeded to tick off the next 4 ends to lead 7-2 going into the final end. That presented an almost impossible task, with Michael & Adam doing exactly what they needed to make sure an unlikely comeback was out of the question. Val & Paul did manage to win that last end, picking up 3 to make the score look respectable, as Michael & Adam took the title, Adam's first and Michael's third, in the Pairs.

SINGLES 66 players started out in the Singles, which is played on a straight knockout basis. Quarter Finals Paul Daniels worked his way out to a 5-0 lead over Trish Agnew, but in 2 ends Trish levelled the game to make it a one end shoot-out, which Paul just edged to win 6-5. Chris Tilbrook had a 4-0 lead over Adam Wilson after a couple of ends, but it was 4-4 two ends later. Chris retook the lead with a single, but the 6th end saw Adam pick up a full house. Chris won the last end, but could only get two. Adam took the game 8-7. Arthur Wingfield found himself 4-1 down after 2 ends against David Clemmet, pulled it back to level, only for the game to drift away from him as David brought it home for an 8-4 win. Having picked up a 4 to lead 5-2, Michael Webb promptly dropped the same number of shots to Ian Clark on the very next end. After that it was all one-way traffic, as Ian went on to win 11-5. Semi-Finals Ian Clark v Adam Wilson This was a game which was all but over after 2 ends, if not one. Ian picked up all 4 on the first, and followed that up with a 3 on the next. After that there was no way back for Adam, as Ian took the game 9-4. David Clemmet v Paul Daniels David won the first end with a 2, but Paul proceeded to pick up the next 4 ends to lead 8-2, doing enough over the last 2 ends to keep ahead of David, winning the game 8-4. Final Paul Daniels v Ian Clark There was very little to tell between the two players, with just one shot being scored on each of the first 5 ends, and Paul holding a 3-2 lead. The 6th end, though, was crucial, as Paul picked up a 3. Ian was going to need all 4 to take the game to an extra end, while Paul just needed to make sure that didn't happen, and he did just that, leaving Ian in an impossible situation with his final wood. Paul took the game 6-4 for his first Festival Singles win.

NORWAY RINKS None of the Norwegian teams had a great start to the day, but they had a much better afternoon. Brekke-Esbensen-Anderesen-Lier won their final game 8-2, and it was the same for Langhus-Ødegaard-Wattum who won their last game 8-3. Unfortunately those were the only winning games for the Scandinavian contingent. PAIRS There were some very respectable showings for the Norwegian Pairs, now that they had started to get used to the mats. Ole Petter Lier & Arild Johansen won 2 of their game, including a huge 15-0 win. Øyvind Langhus & Trond Bekke drew one game 5-5, lost one 5-7, another one 5-6, and could easily have qualified but for the odd shot. Eva & Terje Ødegaard picked up an impressive 7-6 win over the team that had beaten the winners of their group. Jorun Wattum & Øystein Andersen only lost one of their games, winning once, 8-3, and drawing two others, 6-6 and 5-5, again, they came very close to qualifying. Sadly none of the teams qualified for the knockout rounds, but more than one could very easily have done so. Hopefully that will change next year when we are promised they will return once more.

Many thanks to everyone who joined us, congratulations to all the winners, and we hope to see you all again next year.

You can view the entire week's results here. And videos of games here.