England Enjoy Four Nations Success!
The Commonwealth Games and England Lions squads made the most of the first opportunity to formulate plans ahead of a big summer of bowls over the past few days. They faced representatives from Australia, Malaysia and Wales across a weekend of thrilling action.
All nations involved found the Test Event beneficial to see how each of their bowlers and set-ups fared at Victoria Park, Leamington Spa, the host of Commonwealth Games lawn bowls for 2022. All results from the matches played, which mirrored the Games formats, will now be analysed by the Management Teams to see where they can enhance further.
England’s bowlers showcased their supreme team spirit and won some great games, packed full of sensational bowls.
Birmingham 2022 Squad
Amy Pharoah excelled in the Women’s Singles over the event as she claimed four victories out of a possible five. The best of those wins came against Wales’ Laura Daniels on Day One as Pharoah romped home to a 21-3 win.
In the Women’s Fours, Sophie Tolchard, Jamie-Lea Winch, Natalie Chestney and Sian Honnor displayed brilliant game management and constructed heads well. A highlight for them was clinching a convincing 19- 8 win versus Australia Gold’s Genevieve Davies, Kylie Whitehead, Ellen Ryan and Dawn Hayman.
Preparation in the Men’s Pairs was good for Jamie Walker and Sam Tolchard. They took a fantastic 19-10 success over Australia Green’s Wayne Ruediger and Carl Healey in Session One on Day Two.
Men’s Triples duty was on the shoulders of Louis Ridout, Nick Brett and Jamie Chestney. They showed great chemistry and were able to storm to an impressive 25-10 win over Owain Dando, Ross Owen and Jon Tomlinson of Wales on Day One.
Para Team manager Helen Wall was delighted with the squad’s execution over the event and proud of their performances. They took a clean sweep across all three rinks in Session Two on Day Two. Lead Alison Yearling and skip Chris Turnbull claimed the highest of those wins with a 21-4 win versus Australia’s Helen Boardman and Fred McConnell in the VI Mixed Pairs.
Craig Bowler and Kieran Rollings enjoyed double delight against Wales’ Chris Spriggs and Paul Brown. In those two games they secured 21-8 and 12-9 victories.
In the Women’s Pairs, Michelle White and Gill Platt made brilliant starts to their preparation. They took two wins on Day Three over Australia’s Gold and Green pairings with results of 16-12 and 11-8.
Lions Squad
Perry Martin showed great expertise in the Men’s Singles and overcame tough opposition across the event. The best of his wins was against Malaysia’s M. Idham Amin Ramlan as Martin triumphed 21-15 after seeing out a late, spirited surge from the Malaysian.
Rebecca Wigfield came out on top over Australia Green’s Kristina Krstic in the Women’s Singles with a hard fought 21-18 victory on Day Three. Wigfield joined Laura Holden and Annie Dunham in a tense draw in the Women’s Triples on Day One as it ended 18-18 against Wales’ Laura Daniels, Ysie White and Anwen Butten.
On Day Two, Lions won the Women’s Triples twice. Holden, Dunham and Stef Branfield beat Australia Green 19-11 before Branfield joined Emma Cooper and Lorraine Kuhler to win 23 -14 against Australia Gold.
Success came in the Men’s Fours three times for the Lions over the event. Steve Mitchinson, Chris Yeomans, Wayne Wilgress and Ed Morris produced a stunning display in Session Two, Day Two as they beat Matt Lucas, Wayne Ruediger, Aaron Wilson and Carl Healey of Australia Gold 19-9.
With plenty more international action to come for both squads this summer, this was a great start for all our England players. If you want to see the Games squad take on the best in the world at Birmingham 2022, tickets are still available here. You can also catch the best players in the country at the National Finals at the end of August – tickets are now available here.
You can find the full results from all the matches, including the other nations, here.