DAY EIGHT

Monday, 7 December
MEN’S SINGLES
SECTION 1
Round 1: England bt Turkey 21-10; Jersey bt Namibia 21-16; Ireland bt Spain 21-13; Israel bt Portugal 21-4.
Round 2: England bt Portugal 21-2; Spain bt Jersey 21-14; Ireland bt Namibia 21-18; Israel bt Turkey 21-7.
SECTION 2
Round 1: Cyprus bt S Africa 21-7; Scotland bt Guernsey 21-18; Netherlands bt Kenya 21-19; Argentina bt Zimbabe 21-16. Wales – Bye
Round 2: Wales bt South Africa 21-9; Scotland bt Argentina 21-2; Guernsey bt Zimbabwe 21-17; Kenya bt Cyprus 21-11; Netherlands – Bye

MEN’S FOURS
SECTION 1
Round 1: Scotland bt Jersey 17-11; Wales bt England 30-8; Guernsey bt Turkey 27-7; Kenya bt Namibia 18-13.
Round 2: England bt Scotland 23-13; Jersey bt Wales 28-16; Guernsey bt Namibia 22-20; Kenya bt Turkey 20-10.
SECTION 2
Round 1: Ireland bt Spain 15-14; Israel bt Netherlands 29-9; S Africa bt Isle of Man 23-14; Cyprus bt Zimbabwe 22-12.
Round 2: Ireland bt Netherlands 20-18; Israel bt Spain 18-14; S Africa bt Cyprus 17-15; Zimbabwe bt Isle of Man 19-13.

WOMEN’S SINGLES
SECTION 1
Round 1: Ireland bt Spain 21-17; Scotland bt Kenya 21-9; Guernsey bt Turkey 21-14; Zimbabwe bt Argentina 21-10; Wales – Bye
Round 2: Ireland bt Zimbabwe 21-12; Guernsey bt Kenya 21-12; Wales bt Turkey 21-13; Spain bt Argentina 21-17. Scotland – Bye
SECTION 2
Round 1: Netherlands bt England 21-18; Jersey bt Israel 21-10; S Africa bt Cyprus 21-9; Isle of Man bt Namibia 21-17.
Round 2: England bt Jersey 21-18; Netherlands bt Israel 21-3; Namibia bt Cyprus 21-20; S Africa bt Isle of Man 21-11.

WOMEN’S FOURS
SECTION 1
Round 1: Turkey bt England 15-14; Wales bt Cyprus 16-11; Spain bt Isle of Man 18-11; Netherlands bt Namibia 19-5.
Round 2: England bt Netherlands 26-10; Cyprus t/w Spain 16-16; Wales bt Isle of Man 27-17; Namibia bt Turkey 22-6,
SECTION 2
Round 1: S Africa bt Argentina 25-7; Ireland bt Israel 18-12; Guernsey bt Jersey 21-10; Scotland – Bye
Round 2: S Africa bt Guernsey 32-10; Ireland bt Scotland 16-11; Jersey bt Argentina 23-7; Israel – Bye

It is too early to publish meaningful group standings. We will publish the standings at close of play tomorrow. But it is interesting to note that, at the end of Day One, Guernsey tops the group in section 1 in the men’s fours, with Kenya in second place – and with Scotland fifth and England sixth.

HOLDER CLEARS FIRST HURDLE

Atlantic women’s singles champion Catherine Beattie came through a tough test as she launched the defence of her title at the magnificent Athena Beach Hotel today. Beattie is pictured above as she faced a challenge from Spain’s Lynn Greenland.

After beating Greenland, 21-17, Beattie (who was Catherine McMillen when she won the title in 2011), went on to beat Zimbabwe’s Debbie Robertson, 21-12.

England’s highly-rated Sophie Tolchard, who created a record when she won her national singles and junior singles titles in August, was beaten, 21-18, in her first outing by Holland’s Saskia Schaft, but bounced back to defeat Jersey’s Lindsey Greechan by the same score.

It was not a good morning for England: Louis Ridout, Andy Knapper, Graham Shadwell and Robert Newman suffered a humiliating 30-8 defeat at the hands of in-form Welsh quartet Ross Owen, Paul Taylor, Kevin James and Steve Harris in the men’s fours.

But even that huge reverse pales into insignificance compared with the loss sustained by England’s women, two of whom won medals at last year’s Commonwealth Games, at the hands of Turkey quartette Filiz Adiguzel, Emine Dursun, Rahsan Akar and Gozde Ozgun.

It would not be a slur to describe Turkey’s plucky team members as novices: it would be an accurate statement. But the Turks deserve praise for the way they made up for their lack of experience, and played superbly to deny English stars Rebecca Wigfield, Jamie-Lea Winch, Wendy King and Ellen Falkner.

As for England’s men, they were ominously drawn to play mighty Scots Stewart Anderson, Neil Speirs, Paul Foster and Alex Marshall after lunch, but they scored a six on the first end, and, putting the painful memories of their morning defeat firmly behind them, scorched to a 23-13 win.

Commonwealth Games singles champion Darren Burnett clawed back from 7-18 to beat Guernsey’s Todd Priaulx in the men’s singles, while Cabous Olivier, who recently celebrated his 17th birthday, played exceptionally well in defeat against Jersey’s Malcolm de Sousa and Ireland’s Gary Kelly.

OVERALL STANDINGS
When hostilities cease on Sunday, 13 December, trophies will be awarded to the best-performing countries for men and women at the Atlantic Championships. This is how they stand after the first week…

MEN’S OVERALL TROPHY STANDINGS:-
1 Scotland – 37pts
2 Ireland – 34
3 England – 30
4 Wales – 28
5 Spain – 25
6 Jersey – 23
7 Israel – 22
8 South Africa – 20
9 Guernsey – 16
10 Namibia – 15
11 Zimbabwe – 13
12 Cyprus – 12
13 Isle of Man – 08
14 Kenya – 08
15 Netherlands – 06
16 Turkey – 04
17 Argentina – 02
18 Portugal – 00

MEN’S OVERALL TROPHY STANDINGS:-
1 S Africa – 33pts
2 England – 31
3 Scotland – 30
4 Ireland  – 29
5 Cyprus – 25
6 Wales – 24
7 Jersey – 18
8 Namibia – 17
9 Spain – 17
10 Israel – 12
11 Zimbabwe – 11
12 Netherlands – 10
13 Guernsey – 08
14 Isle of Man – 08
15 Turkey  – 08
16 Argentina  – 03
17 Kenya  – 03

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

Day Nine – Tuesday 8th December
0830hrs – Men’s Singles – CYPRUS v NETHERLAND
1130hrs – Men’s Fours – SPAIN v SOUTH AFRICA
1430hrs – Women’s Fours – WALES v TURKEY

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