DAY FIVE – Friday, 4 December

MEN’S PAIRS

SECTION 1
Round 9: England bt S Africa 17-12; Scotland bt IoM 29-9; Cyprus bt Spain 17-14; Zinbabwe bt Kenya 15-11; Argentina – Bye.
Final standings after nine rounds: 1 Scotland 24pts (+108shots); 2 Spain 18 (+32); 3 England 15 (+48); 4 S Africa 15 (+34); 5 Cyprus 9 (-13); 6 Isle of Man 9 (-30); 7 Zimbabwe 9 (-36); 8 Kenya 4 (-55); 9 Argentina 4 (-88).

SECTION 2
Round 7: Ireland bt Jersey 19-14; Israel bt Guernsey 21-12; Wales bt Netherlands 18-15; Namibia bt Turkey 19-10.
Final standings after seven rounds: 1 Ireland 18pts (+53 shots); 2 Jersey 15 (+48); 3 Israel 15 (+41); 4 Wales 15 (+24); 5Guernsey 12 (+12); 6 Namibia 6 (-16); 7 Netherlands 3 (-65); 8Turkey 0 (-97).
Scotland & Ireland go through to the semi finals; Spain, England, Jersey & Israel play off for the two vacant S/F places.
QUARTER FINALS: England bt Spain 15-14; Israel bt Jersey 17-13.
SEMI FINALS (Saturday, 5 December – 0900hrs): Scotland v England; Ireland v Israel.

MEN’S TRIPLES

SECTION 1
Round 7: England bt IoM 20-8; S Africa bt Wales 18-17; Zimbabwe bt Turkey 30-10; Ireland bt Israel 27-6.
Final standings after seven rounds: 1 England 21pts (+60 shots); 2 Ireland 15 (+81); 3 Wales 12 (+47); 4 S Africa 12 (+34); 5 Zimbabwe 9 (+8); 6 Israel 9 (-55); 7 Turkey 3 (-87); 8 Isle of Man 3 (-88).

SECTION 2
Round 7: Scotland bt Namibia 26-10; Jersey bt Cyprus 16-11; Kenya bt Guernsey 25-21; Spain bt Netherlands 18-13.
Final standings after six rounds: 1 Scotland 21pts (+84 shots); 2 Spain 15 (+27); 3 Jersey 12 (+28); 4 Namibia 9 (-4); 5 Guernsey 9 (-12); 6 Kenya 9 (-61); 7 Cyprus 6 (-32); 8 Netherlands 3 (-30).
England & Scotland go through to the semi finals. Ireland, Wales, Spain & Jersey play off for the two vacant S/F places.
QUARTER FINALS: Ireland bt Jersey 21-6; Wales bt Spain 20-13.
SEMI FINALS (Saturday, 5 December – 0900hrs): England v Wales; Scotland v Ireland.

WOMEN’S PAIRS

SECTION 1
Group stage completed yesterday (THU)…
Final standings after seven rounds: 1 Scotland 15pts (+49shots); 2 Cyprus 15 (+27); 3 England 12 (+49); 4 Netherlands 10 (+14); 5 Israel 6 (-23); 6 Turkey 3 (-29); 7 Isle of Man 1 (-87).

SECTION 2
Group stage completed yesterday (THU)…
Final standings after seven rounds: 1 S Africa 21pts (+86shots); 2 Wales 15 (+55); 3 Jersey 15 (+50); 4 Ireland 12 (+3); 5Spain 9 (-6); 6 Namibia 6 (-46); 7 Guernsey 3 (-45); 8 Argentina 3 (-97).
Scotland & S Africa go through to the semi finals; Cyprus, England, Wales & Jersey play off for the two vacant S/F places.
QUARTER FINALS: Cyprus bt Jersey 16-8; England bt Wales 24-15.
SEMI FINALS (Saturday, 5 December – 0900hrs): Scotland v Cyprus; South Africa v England

WOMEN’S TRIPLES

SECTION 1
Round 7: Scotland bt Turkey 48-4; Wales bt Spain 16-10; Jersey bt Netherlands 18-12; Namibia bt IoM 24-10; Argentina – Bye,
Final standings after six rounds: 1 Scotland 19pts (+103 shots); 2 Wales 19 (+86); 3 Namibia 12 (+12); 4 Spain 9 (+1); 5 Jersey 12 (-14); 6 Isle of Man 12 (-63); 7 Turkey 6 (-87); 8 Netherlands 0 (-38).

SECTION 2
Round 9: England bt Kenya 38-8; S Africa t/w Cyprus 16-16; Israel bt Guernsey 19-10; Zimbabwe bt Ireland 15-14.
Final standings after nine rounds: 1 England 21 (+89); 2 South Africa 19 (+59); 3 Ireland 15 (+54); 4 Zimbabwe 15 (+37); 5 Cyprus 13 (+5); 6 Israel 9 (-25); 7 Guernsey 9 (-39); 8 Kenya 6 (-73); 9 Argentina 0 (-107).
Scotland & England go through to the semi finals; Wales, Namibia, S Africa & Ireland play off for the two vacant S/F places.
QUARTER FINALS: South Africa bt Namibia 29-10; Ireland bt Wales 13-11.
SEMI FINALS (Saturday, 5 December – 0900hrs): Scotland v Ireland; England v South Africa.

FANTASTIC FRIDAY

Scotland’s bowlers are celebrating tonight (FRI), after being fast-tracked into tomorrow’s semi finals in all four events – men’s and women’s pairs and triples – in the Atlantic Bowls Championships at the excellent Athena Beach Hotel in Paphos.

Before they left Scotland, team manager John Price set his charges a target of picking up four medals – and, halfway through the event, with men’s and women’s singles and fours to come next week, they have already achieved that target.

The Scots were able to sit out the last two sessions today, as competitors from nine other nations scrapped over who would join them in tomorrow’s semi finals – and the quarter finals certainly produced some scintillating bowls.

My pick for the outstanding performances of the day would be England’s Graham Shadwell, who used to be known as the Wild Man of Wiltshire, Welsh legend Robert Weale, and Linda Ryan of the host country, who played for England before settling in Cyprus.

All three played a succession of pressure bowls to deny their opponents, none more significant than Shadwell’s clinical chip of the jack to break a 14-14 deadlock on what was a sudden death last end, Louis Ridout and Shadwell beating Spain’s Bill Pain and Pete Bonsor, 15-14.

In a bitterly cold evening session, under floodlights, Weale did the same against another Spanish combination, skipping Paul Taylor and Steve Harris to a 20-13 win over Nick Cole, Graham Cathcart and Tom Rogers.

Using local knowledge, Ryan played with great skill to dash the hopes of Jersey’s Rachel Macdonald and Lindsey Greechan on a tricky end rink. With Fran Davis at lead, she skipped Cyprus into the semi finals, where they face Scotland’s Rebecca Craig and Claire Johnston.

Tomorrow’s semi finals are scheduled to start at 0900hrs local time, and the finals will follow at 1330hrs. In the pairs, Scotland play England, and Ireland face Israel in the men’s, while Scotland come up against Cyprus, and England play South Africa in the women’s.

The four home (UK) countries contest the men’s triples, England playing Wales, and Scotland facing Ireland, while the women’s triples sees Scotland facing another challenge from Ireland, and England taking on South Africa.

Live streaming of the event is available at
https://livebowls.eventpages.org/watch-live.html

ROUND-UP & RESULTS SERVICE PROVIDED BY DAVID RHYS JONES
ON BEHALF OF WORLD BOWLS