Sam Tolchard marches into Champion of Champions semi-final

23rd November, 2022

England’s Sam Tolchard has qualified for the semi-finals of the World Champion of Champions event at Naenae BC in Wellington, New Zealand.

And by finishing top of his section and only losing once during the qualification phase the Devon-based 33-year-old has delivered the strongest possible statement of intent.

Sam will now face either Kevin James from Wales or Ireland’s 1998 Commonwealth Games medallist Gary McCloy in the last four in a match which takes place on Thursday at 2pm local time (GMT+13).

All of tomorrow’s action along with Friday’s final is being streamed live by Bowls New Zealand’s You Tube channel via this link – https://youtu.be/NAI37Z95-fQ

Sam booked his passage to the last four by registering a comfortable day five 9-6, 11-5 win over Scotland’s Gordon White before really putting down a marker by seeing off much-trumpeted local hero Kelvin Scott 11-5,11-7.

By ending Scott’s unbeaten record Sam leap-frogged to the top of the Section One qualifying table based on sets-won countback.

In the other half of the draw Australia’s Lee Schraner grabbed the automatic qualification spot while Malaysia’s Izzat Shameer Dzulpeple joins Scott in the elimination quarter-final.

Picture credit: World Bowls

Section 1:

Round 13: Iva Lealaiauloto (SAM) bt Billy Nicholls (CYP) 7-9 8-5 7-0, Matt Mercer (ZAM) bt Steve Williams (GUE) 13-2 15-2, Gary McCloy (IRE) bt Edwin Nyoka (BOT) 9-4 6-7 3-1, Niksa Benguric (RSA) bt Anthony Loh (SIN) 8-7 12-1.

Round 14: Kelvin Scott (NZL) bt Nyoka 12-2 6-7 4-2, Sam Tolchard (ENG) bt Gordon White (SCO) 9-6 11-5, Nicholls bt Cecil Alexander (FLK) 8-2 4-9 6-0, Loh bt Trevor Gow (NFI) 10-7 11-8, Williams bt Kushal Pillay (FIJ) 9-8 2-11 2-1.

Round 15: Tolchard bt Scott 11-5 7-5, Lealaiauloto bt McCloy 10-8 7-8 5-3, White bt Benguric 6-5 4-10 3-2, Gow bt Mercer 9-3 15-2.

Final table: Tolchard 27 points +15 sets, Scott 27 +10, McCloy 21 +7, Gow 21 +4, Lealaiauloto 21 Sq, White 18 +8, Benguric 18 +7, Pillay 18 +2, Loh 15 Sq, Alexander 9 +2, Mercer 9 -6 (-66 shots), Nicholls 9 -6 (- 87 shots), Williams 9 -12, Nyoka 3 -11.

Section 2:
Final Table: Schraner (AUS) 30 points +16 sets, James (WAL) 27 +8, Dzulkeple (MAS) 21 +11, Davis (JER) 21 +10, Aperau (CKI) 21 +4, Leong (CAN) 18 points +2, Herbert (USA) 15 +4, Cheung (HKC) 15 +1, Krahenbuhl (NAM) 12 -6 (-13 shots), Pavelka (HUN) 12 -6 (-92 shots), Tafatu (NIU) 9 -2, Bäckgren (SWE) 9 -6 (-48 shots), Waelti (SUI) 9 -6 (-75 shots), Amar (ISR) 6 -10.

The last six qualifiers (credit: World Bowls)

Despite claiming a convincing win over Holland’s Elly Dolieslager, Stef Branfield was unable to reach the knock-out stages of the Women’s event.

Stef finished with five wins after a strong second half of the week but was unable to force her way into the top six.

Australia’s Carla Krizanic and Anne Nunes from the USA secured the semi-final berths, while New Zealand’s Tayla Bruce, Mel Thomas from Wales, Malaysia’s Ain Tarmizi and Marea Modutlwa from Botswana will fight out tomorrow morning’s elimination quarter-finals.

Final table: Krizanic (AUS) 24 points +11 sets, Nunes (USA) 24 +10, Bruce (NZL) 24 +8 (+60 shots), Tarmizi (MAS) 24 +8 (+37 shots), Thomas (WAL) 24 +8 (+28 shots), Modutlwa (BOT) 21 +5, Haley (RSA) 18 +3, Branfield (ENG) 15 Sq, Viljoen (NAM) 15 -4, Jones (NFI) 12 +2, McClure (IRE) 12 Sq, Mataio (CKI)  9 -1, Arthur-Almond (FLK) 9 -4, Dolieslager (NED) 9 -6.

Forgot your password?