Carpet Bowls
Around the World
Norway Follows EBCA
Lead By Getting Involved With The Special Olympics
Trevor
Rayner of New Zealand has been good enough to let us have a copy
of his report on the international match which took place during
the Festival of Bowls.
MANAGERS REPORT
INTERNATIONAL v. ENGLAND & NORWAY and ECBA FESTIVAL OF BOWLS
HELD AT POTTERS RESORT, HOPTON-ON-SEA NORFOLK, ENGLAND 15 to
17 May 2018
LOCATION:
Potters Resort at Hopton-on-Sea, Norfolk, England is an upmarket
holiday resort oriented towards bowls. It has an association
with the English Carpet Bowls Association and hosts an annual
Festival of Bowls week annually in May. A requirement of participation
is that contestants must book into the resort for the week.
THE TEAM:
The Team was selected at the end of July after nominations were
called for during the Nationals at Taupo. 19 nominations were
received and all were prepared to pay a levy of $1,000 per person.
The caliber of nominees was very high which was pleasing and
2 teams of 4 players were selected with the primary purpose of
winning the International with participation in the Festival
of Bowls an added bonus.
The players selected were:
Team 1: Grant lAmi (North Taranaki),
Avon Compton (North Wellington), Gary Low (Southland), Teri Anderson
(Waikato).
Team 2: Ashley Diamond (Upper Hutt Valley), Paul Wright (Auckland),
Sheree Holmes (Upper Hutt Valley), Suzanne Mackie (Southland).
Manager: Trevor Rayner (North Wellington)
TRANSPORT
The bulk of the Team left Auckland on 11 May flying Royal Brunei
Airlines. Gary Low and Suzanne Mackie left with their support
group a week earlier as did the Manager. The team arrived at
Heathrow airport on Saturday 12 May and were joined by the earlier
arrivals to travel by coach to Potters a 3.5 hour trip. On the
return trip to Heathrow a number of players and supporters who
were travelling to Paris were dropped at Epping station to catch
the underground.
ACCOMMODATION
The Team was accommodated at Potters Resort in Chalet accommodation
which was adequate in some cases, excellent in others. However,
food was included in the accommodation and there was certainly
no complaints about the quality or quantity.
PRACTICES
The ECBA President arranged for the facility to be set up from
Saturday afternoon to allow the team to practice. It was impressive
that all the team, despite 36 hours travel for the majority turned
up to practice on Saturday afternoon and evening. This was followed
by further practice on Sunday when a practice game against Suffolk
was arranged by the ECBA. The team practiced again by itself
on Sunday evening and again on Monday morning and afternoon with
an evening practice being optional. Because of illness Ashley
Diamond was unable to practice on Monday and his place was taken
by Graham Low who was asked to be reserve in case Ashley was
unable to play.
PERFORMANCE
INTERNATIONAL
Round 1:
Grant lAmi, Avon Compton, Gary Low, Teri Anderson b. Neil
Jolly, Paul Daniels, Ally Hobbs, Sally Goodrich (England) 11-2.
Ashley Diamond, Paul Wright, Sheree Holmes, Suzanne Mackie b.
Arne Bjerke, Leif Stubbendlien, Kolbein Kroglund, Finn Andresen
8-3.
Michael Laydon, Sue Gilder, Jane Debatista, Martin Campbell (England)
b. Odd Taiet, Nina Taiet, Khmel Tamara, Trond Bekke (Norway)
14-3.
Round 2:
Grant lAmi b. Odd Taiet (Norway) 22-2.
Neil Jolly (England) b. Ashley Diamond 7-5
Michael Laydon (England) b. Arne Bjerke (Norway) 17-3.
Round 3:
Grant lAmi b. Arne Bjerke (Norway) 20-3.
Ashley Diamond b. Michael Laydon (England) 6-5.
Neil Jolly (England) b. Odd Taiet (Norway) 20-0.
Round 4:
Grant lAmi b. Michael Laydon (England) 9-2.
Ashley Diamond b. Odd Taiet (Norway) 15-1.
Neil Jolly (England) b. Arne Bjerke (Norway) 12-4.
New Zealand 7 wins, England 5 wins, Norway
0 wins.
FESTIVAL OF BOWLS (Including Supporters)
SINGLES:
Round 1:
Martin Nordqvist l. Jean Cook (Suffolk) 5-8.
Round 2:
Sheree Holmes b. Ragne Storseth (Norway) 19-2
Ashley Diamond b. Jane Debatista (Norfolk) 12-6
Linda Rayner b. Mike Daniels (Suffolk) 8-6
Paul Wright b. Joe Debatista (Norfolk) 11-6
Jenny Stockford b. Diane Marshall (Norfolk) 8-1
Gary Low b. Peter Masters (Suffolk) 7-6
Grant lAmi b. Finn Andresen (Norway) 7-6
Teri Anderson b. Rolf Stubbendlien (Norway) 21-0
Bev Diamond l. Stephen Weeks (Cambridgeshire) 5-9
Suzanne Mackie l. Sam Runnacles (Suffolk) 3-10
David Philpott l. Carl Pearson (Durham) 2-13
Avon Compton l. Jane Evans (Suffolk) 6-7
Graham Low l. Michael Laydon (Sunderland) 3-9
Jan Low l. Don Allum (Suffolk) 3-6
Round 3:
Sheree Holmes b. Pat Joy (West Sussex) 9-6
Ashley Diamond b. Peter Crump (Bedfordshire) 9-5
Paul Wright b. Carl Pearson (Durham) 8-3
Jenny Stockford b. Richard Charleton (Sunderland) 6-3
Grant lAmi b. Bill Laidler (Sunderland) 14-2
Linda Rayner l. John Joy (Norfolk) 4-11
Gary Low l. Martin Campbell (Sunderland) 5-6
Teri Anderson l. Michael Laydon (Sunderland) 3-9
Round 4:
Ashley Diamond b. Sheree Holmes 8-5
Paul Wright b. Jane Evans (Suffolk) 8-3
Grant lAmi b. John Thompson (Northumberland) 9-6
Jenny Stockford l. Daniel Walker (Bewdfordshire) 5-6
Last 16:
Grant lAmi b. Jim Goodrich (Suffolk) 6-3
Paul Wright b. David Harr (Suffolk) 7-6
Ashley Diamond l. Phyllis Sutton (Norfolk) 2-7
Quarterfinal:
Grant lAmi b. Michael Laydon (Sunderland) 7-2
Paul Wright b. Sue Isles (Suffolk) 19-1
Semifinal:
Grant lAmi b. Daniel Walker (Bedfordshire) 5-3
Paul Wright b. Sam Runnacles (Suffolk) 6-2
Final:
Grant lAmi b. Paul Wright 8-4
PAIRS
QUALIFIERS (SECTION WINNERS)
Gary Low, Teri Anderson 4 wins
David Philpott, Bev Diamond 2 wins, 2 draws.
QUALIFIERS (BEST LOSERS)
Graham Low, Jan Low 3 wins +26 differential
Grant lAmi, Suzanne Mackie 3 wins +30
Avon Compton, Paul Wright 3 wins + 19
DID NOT QUALIFY
Ashley Diamond, Sheree Holmes 3 wins +12
Jenny Stockford, Linda Rayner 3 wins +11
Martin Nordqvist, Jenny Nordqvist 3 wins + 9
POST SECTION
Round 1:
Grant lAmi, Suzanne Mackie b. Joe Debatista, Jane Debatista
(Norfolk) 8-4
Gary Low Teri Anderson b. Dave Philpott, Bev Diamond 8-7
Avon Compton, Paul Wright b. Stephen Weeks, Conor Weeks (Cambridgeshire)
6-5
Graham Low, Jan Low l. Sue Davey, Graham Davey (Suffolk) 2-10
Last 16:
Grant lAmi, Suzanne Mackie b. Gary Low, Teri Anderson 6-4
Avon Compton, Paul Wright l. Ally Hobbs, Sally Goodrich (Suffolk)
7-8
Quarterfinal:
Grant lAmi, Suzanne Mackie b. Steve Isles, Sue Isles (Suffolk)
11-6
Semifinal:
Grant lAmi, Suzanne Mackie l. Paul Cousins, Sue Cousins
(Suffolk) 4-10.
RINKS:
QUALIFIERS (SECTION WINNERS)
Martin Nordqvist, Jenny Stockford, Linda Rayner, Jenny Nordqvist
3 wins 1 draw
Ashley Diamond, Paul Wright, Sheree Holmes, Suzanne Mackie 4
wins
QUALIFIERS (BEST LOSERS)
Grant lAmi, Avon Compton, Gary Low, Teri Anderson 3 wins
+29 differential
DID NOT QUALIFY
David Philpott, Graham Low, Jan Low, Bev Diamond 1 draw.
POST SECTION
Last 16:
Ashley Diamond b.Martin Nordqvist 14-4
Grant lAmi b. Carl Pearson (Durham) 7-3
Quarterfinal:
Ashley Diamond b. Paul Daniels (Suffolk) 8-5
Grant lAmi b. Cutts (Tyne on Wear) 7-5
Semifinal:
Ashley Diamond b. Grant lAmi 8-3
Final:
Neil Jolly, Ally Hobbs, Jim Goodrich, Sally Goodrich (Suffolk)
b. Ashley Diamond, Paul Wright, Sheree Holmes, Suzanne Mackie
8-7.
This event is unique in that it is hosted
by Potters and the timings revolve around mealtimes which are
immovable. The result is that the Festival of Bowls events are
adjusted to meet the time available. Singles were 4 bowls, 8
ends or 20 minutes, Pairs 2 bowls 9 ends 25 minutes and Rinks
7 ends or 40 minutes. The Singles were played as a straight elimination,
Pairs in 24 sections with section winners and 8 best losers and
Rinks in 11 sections and 5 best losers. The Internationals were
solely rinks played over 9 ends with no time limit. Games commenced
at 8pm on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings after a full days play.
PUBLICITY
ECBA are involved in a Bowls magazine which exclusively covers
Short Mat and Carpet Bowls. I spoke with the editor and gave
him Delwyn's contact details as he was interested in receiving
contributions from NZ. The team also had photos taken with the
West Sussex team for an article in their local paper. The main
contribution was that I was able to livestream a number of games
involving New Zealand on Facebook. This was very well received
by followers in New Zealand, Australia and Britain at one stage
had over 500 people watching. The feedback to my amateurish efforts
was extremely positive and people were pleased they were able
to be involved as it happened. The videos have been collated
by Alex Reed and are available on NZIBs YouTube page. Some
Districts, especially Southland had before and after stories
published in their local papers featuring New Zealand players.
CONCLUSION
I was proud to be Manager of this team. They arrived focused
on the International matches with the Festival of Bowls events
as an aside. Practices went very well and the team adapted very
quickly to the requirements of the mat and the strategies required.
Avon Comptons input and experience was valuable but it
was obvious the players had studied videos and knew what was
required. The supporters were awesome. Those who played in the
Festival of Bowls events acquitted themselves well and the support
of them and the non-players was greatly appreciated. The comment
was made that they never imagined that they would supporters
chants at a carpet bowls match. This was England's first ever
international and their nerves showed in the first round. Norway
is new to the sport and have a little way to go to be truly competitive.
They have some good players but dont have the depth that
New Zealand and England have.
I feel this expedition, and our success will open a floodgate
of opportunity. After 50 years England are talking to Scotland,
the Isle of Man and Ireland with a view to having an International
event at Potters each year. I advised that while individuals
may attend each year it was likely that it would be 4 years before
we returned and I strongly recommend that this event is included
in our calendar on a four yearly cycle.
I also believe that this event also provided
an opportunity for our elite bowlers to challenge themselves
and this is reflected in the caliber of the players who made
themselves available for this team.
Trevor Rayner
Manager
You can find footage from the Festival
on New
Zealand Indoor Bowls' YouTube channel
Norway
Introducing Carpet Bowls to Lithuania
These pictures are from
my demo for a Latvian youth group who recently visited Norway
for a Summer Camp that is arranged by the Red Cross here in my
home town.
They enjoyed it very much
and had lot of questions to ask.
Regards
Frank Sørqvist
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