DAY SEVEN – Sunday, 6 December
After six days of intense competition, Sunday, 6 December, was a welcome rest day for competitors in the Atlantic Bowls Championships at the Athena Beach Hotel in Cyprus. Some practiced hard on the greens in preparation for their assault on the singles and fours events, which get underway tomorrow, on Monday, 7 December. Others indulged themselves poolside at the Hotel, took time out to go shopping in Paphos, or ventured into the hinterland to explore the delights of Aphrodite’s island.
The writer headed north, and visited the Baths of Aphrodite, where he was not allowed to dip his toe in the waters, which were probably too cold anyway. He devoured a tasty seafood salad and downed a pint of Keo (the local beer) at Latsi, a fishing port near Polis, where he was thrilled to spot this beautiful kingfisher at work in Latsi harbour.
The players from eighteen countries will be fishing for titles today.
Happy hunting to the Big Fish and the minnows.
THE STORY SO FAR…
The first week of the Atlantic Bowls Championships produced some surprise results along the way, but normal service was resumed by Finals Day, with Ireland winning two titles, and Scotland and South Africa one apiece.
But titles were not the only things on the minds of the competitors and their team managers.
“That’s what we came for,” they said with a relieved sigh after finishing in the top five of their respective groups – because achieving that goal was enough to guarantee their country a place in that event at World Bowls in Christchurch in 2016. These are the countries who made it, and are looking forward to their New Zealand adventure: –
Section 1 Section 2 Section 1 Section 2
MEN’S PAIRS MEN’S TRIPLES
Scotland Ireland England Scotland
Spain Jersey Ireland Spain
England Israel Wales Jersey
South Africa Wales South Africa Namibia
Cyprus Guernsey Zimbabwe Guernsey
WOMEN’S PAIRS WOMEN’S TRIPLES
Scotland South Africa Scotland England
Cyprus Wales Wales South Africa
England Jersey Namibia Ireland
Netherlands Ireland Spain Zimbabwe
Israel Spain Jersey Cyprus
THE MEDALS – AND MEDALLISTS – (SO FAR) – CONGRATULATIONS TO…
MEN’S PAIRS
GOLD – Gary Kelly & Ian McClure (Ireland)
SILVER – Paul Foster, MBE & Alex Marshall, MBE (Scotland)
BRONZE – Daniel Alonim & Zvika Hadar (Israel)
BRONZE – Louis Ridout & Graham Shadwell (England)
MEN’S TRIPLES
GOLD – Stewart Anderson, Darren Burnett, Neil Speirs (Scotland)
SILVER – Paul Taylor, Steve Harris, Robert Weale (Wales)
BRONZE – Aaron Tennant, Neil Mulholland, Marty McHugh (Ireland)
BRONZE – Andy Knapper, Jamie Walker, Rob Newman (England)
WOMEN’S PAIRS
GOLD – Nici Neal & Colleen Piketh (South Africa)
SILVER – Fran Davis & Linda Ryan (Cyprus)
BRONZE – Rebecca Wigfield & Wendy King (England)
BRONZE – Rebecca Craig & Claire Johnston (Scotland)
WOMEN’S TRIPLES
GOLD – Erin Smith, Bernie O’Neil, Sandra Bailie (Ireland)
SILVER – Jamie-Lea Winch, Sophie Tolchard, Ellen Falkner (England)
BRONZE – Lorraine Malloy, Stacey McDougall, Lorna Smith (Scotlaand)
BRONZE – Sylvia Burns, Anneke Snyman, Susan Nel (South Africa)
LIVE STREAMING
Don’t forget you can watch the action from the Athena Beach Hotel
as it is streamed live by Mel Evans and Lynn Pratchett on a daily basis.
Live streaming of the event is available at
https://livebowls.eventpages.org/watch-live.html
Tomorrow’s live streaming schedule
Monday 7th December
0830hrs -Men’s Fours – SCOTLAND v JERSEY
1130hrs – Men’s Singles – ISRAEL v PORTUGAL
1430hrs – Women’s Singles – CYPRUS v NAMIBIA
1730hrs – Women’s Fours – IRELAND v SCOTLAND
NOTE – all times are local (Cyprus) times
ROUND-UP & RESULTS SERVICE PROVIDED BY DAVID RHYS JONES ON BEHALF OF WORLD BOWLS
