England’s lawn bowlers struck gold at the Atlantic Championships in Wales today achieving two more individual gold medals, as well as securing silver in both the men’s and women’s team events.
Jamie Walker retained the men’s singles title when he defeated Scotland’s Darren Burnett 21-19 in a repeat of the final four years ago in Cyprus.
Jamie-Lea Winch, Lorraine Kuhler and Sian Honnor won gold in the women’s triples with a 23-13 win in the final against Scotland’s Hannah Smith, Claire Johnston and Caroline Brown.
The two golden victories, together with the gold medal secured by Steve Mitchinson and Walker in the men’s pairs earlier in the event and the bronze medals won in the women’s singles (Natalie Chestney), women’s pairs (Rebecca Wigfield and Chestney) and men’s triples (Ian Lesley, David Bolt and Sam Tolchard), secured silver in both men’s and women’s team trophies and ensures that England will participate in all eight disciplines at the World Championships to be held in Australia next year.
Walker, still aged just 27, won nine of his 10 group matches where a loss to Wales’ Dan Salmon was his only blemish from a perfect round-robin. He made amends in the semi-final by defeating Salmon 21-17.
Winch, Kuhler and Honnor reached the knockout stages with seven wins from their nine group matches and then beat Wales and South Africa to reach the final.
In the women’s pairs, Wigfield and Chestney reached the semi-final with an impeccable group stage campaign, winning all eight of their matches with a +92 shot difference, before losing out to Guernsey in the last four.
Steve Mitchinson, Ian Lesley, David Bolt and Sam Tolchard won five of their eight men’s fours group matches, narrowly missing out on a place in the knockout stages.
England results from week two:
Men’s Singles (Jamie Walker):
Group stages: beat Netherlands 21-10; beat Botswana 21-14; beat Isle of Man 21-10; beat France 21-14; beat Jamaica 21-7; beat Guernsey 21-17; lost to Wales 13-21; beat Argentina 21-11; beat South Africa 21-3; beat Jersey 21-20; beat Kenya 21-15
Semi-final: beat Wales 21-17
Final: beat Scotland 21-19
Men’s Fours (Steve Mitchinson, Ian Lesley, David Bolt & Sam Tolchard):
Group stages: lost to Botswana 11-17; beat Switzerland 29-5; beat Spain 15-9; beat Kenya 21-9; beat Ireland 14-9; lost to South Africa 15-17; lost to Scotland 16-21; beat Brazil 20-18
Women’s Pairs (Rebecca Wigfield & Natalie Chestney):
Group stages: beat France 20-15; beat Turkey 39-4; beat Isle of Man 24-10; beat Zimbabwe 19-12; beat Netherlands 28-3; beat Namibia 17-14; beat Ireland 18-17; beat Scotland 14-12
Semi-final: lost to Guernsey 16-19
Women’s Triples (Jamie-Lea Winch, Lorraine Kuhler & Sian Honnor):
Group stages: beat France 27-9; beat Kenya 31-10; beat Netherland 19-15; beat Switzerland 31-7; beat Jersey 16-8; beat Isle of Man 29-11; lost to Zimbabwe 9-14; beat Namibia 19-15; lost to Scotland 9-18
Play-off: beat Wales 17-12
Semi-final: beat South Africa 20-9
Final: beat Scotland 23-13
The elite level sporting event was hosted by four venues across Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan (Barry Athletic, Dinas Powys, Penarth Windsor and Penylan) with a record-breaking number of international teams participating. For further details and results from the Atlantic Championships, visit: https://www.welshbowls.co.uk/atlantic-rim-2019 and https://www.worldbowls.com
[Photo credit: Allen Simms]