Stef Branfield and Lewis King enjoyed great starts to their World Champion of Champions Singles campaigns in New Zealand. Lewis quickly found the pace and beat Singapore’s Edmund Lin Jinsheng in straight sets. He then played Wattana Kadkhunthod from Thailand. Lewis edged the first set 7-5, but his opposition fought back in the 2nd set to win 3-6. The tie break was tense but Lewis dug deep, pulling out several top quality bowls to win the tie break and claim the match.

Stef Branfield only had one match today and found herself drawn on a very tricky end rink, made worse by swirling wind. Her opponent from Namibia took the first set but Stef fought back and deservedly won the second set. The tie break was dominated by Stef who scored 5-0 to win the match overall.

After the first day, Stef sits third in Section 3 of the Women’s Singles. Lewis is currently placed second in Section 2 of the Men’s Singles.

Women’s Singles – Stef Branfield

Won 2-1 versus Amanda Steenkamp (Namibia) – 4-5, 5-3, 5-0

Men’s Singles – Lewis King

Won 2-0 versus Edmund Lin Jinsheng (Singapore) – 11-3, 11-2
Won 2-1 versus Wattana Kadkhunthod (Thailand) – 7-5, 3-6, 4-0

Please note: Matches are three sets of five ends.

It was a brilliant day for England as both Stef Branfield and Lewis King claimed wins in both of their matches. Stef’s first match was against Anneke Scheepers of South Africa in what turned out to be a very tight game. After losing the first set 3-7, Stef dug deep to win the second set 6-5 and then impressively won the tie break 5-0.

The second game was a similar story against Philomena Goh Quee Kee (Singapore), losing the first set 5-8, winning the second set 13-0, and then producing some brilliant bowls to win the tie break 5-0.

Lewis took on the USA’s Charlie Herbert in his first match of the day. Lewis settled quickly and took the first set 6-1, and although USA squeezed the 2nd set 5-4, Lewis dominated the tie break to win the match.

Next up for Lewis was Ross Owen from Wales in a battle of the Home Nations.
Lewis dominated set one winning 10-3, and played a brilliant last end of the second set to win 5-4 and the overall match.

Stef climbs up to second in Section 3 of the Women’s Singles. Lewis remains in second place in Section 2 of the Men’s Singles.

Women’s Singles – Stef Branfield

Won 2-1 versus Anneke Scheepers (South Africa) – 3-7, 6-5, 5-0
Won 2-1 versus Philomena Goh Quee Kee (Singapore) – 5-8, 13-0, 6-0

Men’s Singles – Lewis King

Won 2-0 versus Charlie Herbert (USA) – 6-1, 4-5, 5-0
Won 2-1 versus Ross Owen (Wales) – 10-3, 5-4

Please note: Matches are three sets of five ends.

Stef Branfield and Lewis King continued their winning ways, putting them in a great place to qualify for the play offs with only 2 more sectional matches to play.

Both players did extremely well in the scorching heat and on greens running at 19 seconds. Tough conditions, but both impressed with their grit and determination.

Lewis had a tough day with three back to back matches, but won all three.

Stef managed two wins from her two matches today, albeit both after tie breaks.

Stef remains in second in Section 3 of the Women’s Singles. Lewis now sits top of Section 2 in the Men’s Singles.

Both players have their final two section matches tomorrow and are in a good position to reach the knockout stages.

Women’s Singles – Stef Branfield

Won 2-1 versus Connie Rixon (Malta) – 6-3, 7-9, 2-1
Won 2-1 versus Nor Farah Ain Abdullah (Malaysia) – 6-8, 10-4, 4-3

Men’s Singles – Lewis King

Won 2-1 versus Munesh Kumar (Fiji) – 10-2, 6-8, 3-1
Won 2-1 versus Ross McMullan (Ireland) – 7-2, 3-8, 5-0
Won 2-0 versus Keith Papani (Niue) – 11-1, 9-4

Please note: Matches are three sets of five ends.

It was a day of mixed emotions and ups and downs, but both Lewis and Stef made it into tomorrow’s quarter-finals.

Lewis had a convincing 13-1 and 6-3 win against Cyprus’ Loukas Paraskeva, then won the final sectional match against India’s Putul Sonowal.

A fantastic achievement by Lewis to win all nine matches in his section, ending up top of the table.

Stef’s journey to the quarter-final was not as straight forward and had everyone on the edge of their seats.

She played Japan’s Midori Matsuoka in her first match of the day. She lost the first set, but bounced back to win the second set, setting up another tie break. Although having won the previous 6 tie breaks, this one went against her, resulting in her first defeat.

Stef’s final match against top of the table and last years winner Anne Nunes (USA) was a tense and tight affair. A win would have sealed a place straight into the knockout stages but Stef had to settle for a first set draw, and then lost the second set.

Finishing third in the section got everyone scratching their heads to work out if it was enough to go into the knockout stages.

More drama then followed with Stef having a play off against Niue’s Joy Peyroux with the final place in the quarter-finals for the taking. Stef held her nerve to win in straight sets and joined Lewis in tomorrow’s quarter-finals.

Women’s Singles – Stef Branfield

Lost 1-2 versus Midori Matsuoka (Japan) – 5-8, 8-7, 1-3
Lost 0.5-1.5 versus Anne Nunes (USA) – 5-5, 4-6
Play-off | Won 2-0 versus Joy Peyroux (Niue) – 8-3, 7-6

Quarter-final | versus Nayan Moni Saikia (India)

Men’s Singles – Lewis King

Won 2-0 versus Loukas Paraskeva (Cyprus) – 13-1, 6-3
Won 2-1 versus Putul Sonowal (India) – 4-5, 8-4, 3-0

Quarter-final | versus Aiden Takarua (New Zealand)

Please note: Matches are three sets of five ends.

Lewis and Stef were disappointed not to make it to the finals of the World Bowls Champion of Champions, but should feel proud of their magnificent efforts.

Lewis lost his quarter-final against New Zealand’s Aiden Takarua. It was a tight game but Takarua did enough in the second set to take the game away from Lewis. The defeat was Lewis’ first in the event after his incredible nine wins in the group stage.

Stef beat India’s Nayan Moni Saikia in the quarter-final by winning the first set and holding onto a draw in the second.

She then faced Milika Nathan of Tonga in worsening conditions with the greens beginning to flood. Stef won the first set 7-4 then all players had to leave the green for the standing water to be swept off.

When play resumed, Nathan found a great weight straight away and took the second set, sending them into a tie break. After the three ends and with the score 4-4, another extra end was needed. The winning shot was scored Tonga’s Nathan to secure a place in the final.

It was a challenging game in poor conditions but Stef claimed a Bronze medal for her semi-final finish.

Women’s Singles – Stef Branfield

Quarter-final | Won 1.5-0.5 versus versus Nayan Moni Saikia (India) – 9-4, 6-6
Semi-final | Lost 1-2 versus Milika Nathan (Tonga) – 7-4, 2-14, 4-5

Men’s Singles – Lewis King

Quarter-final | Lost 0-2 versus Aiden Takarua (New Zealand) – 1-10, 4-7

Please note: Matches are three sets of five ends.