England’s Steve Mitchinson and Jamie Walker have won the men’s pairs gold at the Atlantic Championships in Wales this afternoon (Thursday 16th May).
They defeated Scotland’s Paul Foster MBE and Alex Marshall MBE 14-13 in a tense final at Penylan BC.
Mitchinson and Walker ensured progression straight to the semi-final after topping their section, before overcoming the challenge of Malta’s Mark Malogorski and Brendan Aquilina in the last four.
England also secured bronze medals in both the women’s singles (Natalie Chestney) and men’s triples (Ian Lesley, David Bolt & Sam Tolchard).
Chestney finished second in her group on shot difference, behind Scotland’s Caroline Brown, before defeating South Africa’s Colleen Piketh 21-19 in the play-off to reach the semi-final.
At that stage, Chestney suffered an agonizing 21-20 defeat to Guernsey’s Lucy Beere.
Lesley, Bolt and Tolchard reached the last four with a convincing 25-9 defeat of Malta’s Peter Tonna, Wes Hedges and Len Callus, before also suffering a one-shot defeat in the semi-final, losing out 15-14 to Scotland’s Ronnie Duncan, Derek Oliver and Darren Burnett.
In the women’s fours, Jamie-Lea Winch, Rebecca Wigfield, Lorraine Kuhler and Sian Honnor progressed to the play-offs after finishing second in their section, however met a Scotland quartet in top form.
England results from week one:
Men’s Pairs (Steve Mitchinson & Jamie Walker):
Group stages: lost to Turkey 12-16; beat Switzerland 28-13; beat Jamaica 26-8; beat Brazil 24-9; beat Zimbabwe 19-14; beat Ireland 17-16; lost to South Africa 14-15; beat Spain 28-13; beat Namibia 20-17; beat Argentina 29-11; Guernsey 14-14
Semi-final: beat Malta 21-18
Final: beat Scotland 14-13
Men’s Triples (Ian Lesley, David Bolt & Sam Tolchard):
Group stages: beat Switzerland 37-2; beat Israel 23-9; lost to Argentina 11-18; beat Botswana 29-7; beat Turkey 31-11; lost to South Africa 13-17; beat Guernsey 33-4; beat Jersey 23-14; beat Wales 20-13
Play-off: beat Malta 25-9
Semi-final: lost to Scotland 14-15
Women’s Singles (Natalie Chestney):
Group stages: beat Botswana 21-12; beat Isle of Man 21-7; beat Wales 21-20; beat France 21-19; lost to Malta 17-21; beat Turkey 21-2; beat Cyprus 21-7; beat Scotland 21-14; beat Netherlands 21-6
Play-off: beat Coleen Piketh (South Africa) 21-19
Semi-final: lost to Lucy Beere (Guernsey) 20-21
Women’s Fours (Jamie-Lea Winch, Rebecca Wigfield, Lorraine Kuhler & Sian Honnor):
Group stages: beat Zimbabwe 16-9; beat Jersey 26-11; beat Argentina 26-5; beat Israel 17-11; beat Spain 27-10; drew with Ireland 12-12; beat Switzerland 26-13; lost to Wales 9-16
Play-off: lost to Scotland 4-17
The remaining four disciplines will commence tomorrow with England being represented as follows:
Men’s Singles: Jamie Walker (Northamptonshire)
Men’s Fours: Steve Mitchinson (Essex), Ian Lesley (Devon), David Bolt (Durham) & Sam Tolchard (Devon)
Women’s Pairs: Rebecca Wigfield (Northamptonshire) & Natalie Chestney (Devon)
Women’s Triples: Jamie-Lea Winch (Leicestershire), Lorraine Kuhler (Sussex) & Sian Honnor (Kent)
The elite level sporting event is being hosted four venues across Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan until 23rd May with a record-breaking number of international teams participating.
The greens at Barry Athletic, Dinas Powys, Penarth Windsor and Penylan are all being used, with the full schedule available to view on the Welsh Bowls website.
Spectator tickets start from just £5 per day and offer the opportunity to experience the excitement of world-class live bowls. Day tickets allow you to visit any of the four venues to watch any match on the date of that ticket.
For live scoring during the Atlantic Championships, visit: https://www.welshbowls.co.uk/atlantic-rim-2019
Results are also available on a daily basis from: https://www.worldbowls.com