ALVOR BOWLS CLUB
4th ANNUAL AUSTRALIAN PAIRS COMPETITION
The fourth Alvor Australian Pairs Competition took place last week from Monday the 28th
March to Saturday the 3rd of April. The tournament this year attracted the biggest ever entry with 40 pairs from
various parts of Europe taking part in the main competition and non - qualifiers then went into the Plate Competition later
in the week. Total prize money this year was also a record at 3600 euros.
There were ten groups of four pairs, playing a round robin basis of eighteen ends each match. The ten winners plus
the best six runners up went into the last sixteen, which then became a straight knockout tournament. The weather was lovely
throughout the week and all matches went off without any delays or problems. Some excellent bowling through the early part
of the week saw sixteen pairs qualify, including all three winners of the previous three tournaments, John and Chrissie Laskey,
Mike and Catherine Webb and Alan Clarke and Ian Watson, last years winners'. The last sixteen on Thursday morning saw eight
pairs qualify for fridays' quarter finals.
The quarter finals drew
a healthy crowd who enjoyed all four matches. Chris Panther and Barry Holbrook from Essex defeated local fancied pair John
and Maggie Dance by 22-8. John Jones and Meurig Evans had been playing well all week and had a titanic battle against another
Essex pair of Ian Christie and Martin Heath. This went to an extra end which enabled Ian and Martin to edge home. In the third
match Geoff and Liz Cole from Jersey defeated locals Geoff and Judy Drewer 24-7 and finally holders Alan Clarke and Ian Watson
defeated Catherine and Mike Webb by 32-6 in very tricky conditions.
The
semi - finals were played on the Saturday morning and Liz and Geoff Cole continued their good form defeating Alan Clarke and
Ian Watson by 17-15 on another difficult rink, thereby snuffing out Alan and Ians' hope of retaining the title. The other
semi - final was also a tense affair which saw Ian Christie and Martin Heath narrowly defeat John and Maggie Dance by 22-20
to go through to their first final.
The final was also a nail - biter
and went to an extra end, just as it did last year. Despite staging a valiant comeback, Liz and Geoff Cole finally went down
to Martin Heath and Ian Christie by 19-18.
The third and fourth
place play - off was won by Ian Watson and Alan Clarke who came from behind to edge out John and Maggie Dance 14-13 after
fifteen hard fought ends. Commiserations to all those that came so close, especially Liz and Geoff Cole who have played well
throughout the week. Finally,many congratulations to our worthy winners this year, Martin and Ian, who have promised to return
next year to defend the prestigious title.
The Plate
All pairs not qualifying for the last eight were eligible for the Plate competition,
in which each pair played three games of nine ends each, the four with the best records progressing to the semi - finals and
final, to be played over 15 ends on the Saturday. After much tense arithmetic, the four qualifiers were Terry Hughes and Malcolm
Peters from Sussex, Terry Ewart and Colin Skinner from Essex, John and Chrissie Laskey from Alvor and Angie Fish from Alvor
with Jenny Jones from the Valverde club. Angie and Jenny have played well together in each game and continued this with an
excellent win over John and Chrissie Laskey by 16-13 to reach the final. In the other semi, Terry Ewart and Colin Skinner
proved too strong on the day for Terry Hughes and Malcolm Peters, winning by 20 shots to 7.
The final saw Terry and Colin claim the Plate title with a 20-13 victory over Angie and Jenny.
In conclusion then, a memorable week and an excellent tournament, which continues
to stake its' claim to be the best quality competition on the Algarve. Once again thanks to Connie and her team at the Alvor
Club for looking after everyone so well throughout the week and for the excellent organisation and smooth running of the competition.
We are already starting to plan for next year, when the Tournament promises to be even better for everyone.
Alan Clarke
