Welcome to The Delivery! This is our daily feature that brings you a round-up of action from Victoria Park plus a preview for the following day.
Day 17 Round-Up – Saturday 10th September
Men’s Singles – Winner: Edward Morris (Essex)
Essex’s Edward Morris sealed a second Men’s Singles title today at Victoria Park with a 21-17 victory over Andrew Walters of Warwickshire.
Morris started strongly as he surged to a 11-4 lead which involved picking up two threes. Then despite a three from Walters, Morris scored another three to go 15-7 in front.
Warwickshire’s Walters, who won the Men’s Singles in 2013, launched himself back into contention in the final as he scored six shots without reply to bring the match back to 15-13.
Two ends later, Walters made a brilliant three with his last bowl to level the match at 16-16.
Morris took control in the final stages as he applied the pressure to win the match and claim the highly acclaimed trophy again as he did in 2019.
Earlier, Morris beat Tristan Morton (Huntingdonshire) 21-19 in the semi-final after winning 21-15 against Adam Brooks (Cornwall) in the quarter-final.
In the other semi-final, Walters triumphed 21-14 against Gloucestershire’s Peter Stinchcombe. That came after Walters beat Shaun Jones (Herefordshire) 21-14 in the quarter-finals.
Find full scores here
Women’s Champion Of Champions – Winner: Julie Leake (Dorset)
After being runner-up in 2013, Julie Leake of Dorset secured the Women’s Champion of Champions title after winning 21-9 against Yorkshire’s Sue Allen.
Leake raced to a 10-2 lead before Allen hit back with a scoring spree of her own to close the gap to 12-9 in favour of Leake.
Three consecutive threes for Leake took the Dorset bowler to victory to superb style.
In the semi-finals, Leake beat Women’s Senior Singles champion Anne Bernard (Isle of Wight) 21-9 and came through a tight quarter-final against Abby Woodward (Northamptonshire) 21-20.
Allen battled past Berkshire’s Beverley Wall 21-10 in the other semi-final after defeating Devon’s Jackie Hemmings Anthony 21-3 in the quarter-final.
Find full scores here
Middleton Cup – Winners: Berkshire
Berkshire are now three time Middleton Cup champions after a 132-95 success win over Hertfordshire in this evening’s final. Berkshire’s other two triumphs came in
Berkshire won on five of the six rinks. Andrew Knapper’s rink stormed to a 30-9 win and B J Byles and his rink triumphed 23-14 for Berkshire. Tom Muir and his rink were the only victors of Hertfordshire with a 18-15 win.
Berkshire defeated Yorkshire (135-87) and Hertfordshire defeated Gloucestershire (124-116) in the semi-finals.
Mixed Pairs – Winners: Sylvia Bloomfield and Paul Smyth (Essex)
It was elation for Essex’s Sylvia Bloomfield and Paul Smyth in the Mixed Pairs as they recorded a 13-11 win over Wiltshire’s Jean Collier and Russell Francis.
Bloomfield and Smyth strung together eight ends in a row to lead 11-1 after 10 ends.
However, Collier and Francis brought themselves back into the match by taking the following five ends and only trailed 11-9.
The Essex pairing found themselves only 12-11 in front on the last end but held out to pick a crucial one shot to win the title
Find full scores here
Men’s Senior Fours – Winners: Berkshire
Vaughan Holland, Paul Bunting, Craig Shaw and Alan Symondson of Berkshire won the Men’s Senior Fours in a thrilling final this evening. They beat Leicestershire’s Gary Toward, Graham Chappell, Keith Smith and Joe Breward 13-12 after an extra end.
The Berkshire four made a dream start in the final, scoring a four and a three on the first two ends to lead 7-0. They maintained that seven shot lead at 10 ends, leading 12-7.
Leicestershire fought back as they took the last five ends and force an extra end. It was Berkshire that held their nerve to come out on top to be crowned champions.
Find full scores here
Women’s Senior Fours
Northamptonshire’s Sandra Mawson, Val Dexter, Rose Lewis and Sharon Tansley enjoyed two big wins in the Women’s Senior Fours today as they beat Norfolk 18-3 and Dorset 18-6.
It was a similar story for Suffolk as they beat Durham 19-11 and Worcestershire 24-4.
Elsewhere, Kent had success over Wiltshire with a 22-5 win in the last 16 after beating Hampshire 13-5.
Find full scores here
Day 18 Preview – Sunday 11th September
The final day of the 2022 National Finals is upon us and we have another action-packed today to crown the last of our champions.
The Women’s Senior Fours will conclude. The Mixed Fours will see quarter-final and semi-final action finishing with the grand finale. Both two fours county competition will take place too. We’ll see exciting Balcomb Trophy and Walker Cup semi-final action followed by that final as well.
Social media coverage is available on Bowls England’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram sites.
Tickets to the National Finals start at just £4 for adults and £1 for Under 21s offer a full day of top-class sporting action. Tickets increase to £5.50 adults and £1.50 Under 21s at weekends. Event passes are available and all tickets are cheaper in advance.
Please note: U16s must be accompanied by an adult. Under 3s enter free of charge.