Seventeen pairs of Greater Manchester Short Mat Bowlers arrived at the Etherow Indoor Bowling Centre yesterday to play off against one another with the hope of becoming Greater Manchester pairs champions and winning a place at the National Finals in Melton Mowbray on 12th April. The day began at 9:30 with spectators at the centre and those watching the live streams on Facebook being treated to a very high standard of bowling across all eight mats.
The groups were whittled down to eight pairs who kicked off the quarter-finals:
Peter Roberts / Steven Roberts vs Angela Norbury / Paul Norbury : 14-6
Stephen Wilson / Sheila Wilson vs Glyn Jones / Maria Mather : 10-8
June Crowther / Ben Holbrook vs Angharad Brideaux / Darren Lloyd : 18-5
Mark McHugh / Darren Mather vs Dave Almond / Annabelle Almond : 9-8 after tie-break end
The winners from the quarter-finals then played off against each other in the semi-finals:
Peter Roberts / Steven Roberts vs Stephen Wilson / Sheila Wilson : 17-0
June Crowther / Ben Holbrook vs Mark McHugh / Darren Mather : 10-9
Finally, June Crowther and Ben Holbrook took the win, and retained their GM Pairs Champions title for another year with a 9-4 win against Peter Roberts and Steven Roberts.
A third and fourth place battle took place at the same time as the final that saw Stephen Wilson and Sheila Wilson take the third place win from Mark McHugh and Darren Mather in a 9-8 win after a tie-break end.
We’re very grateful to our sponsors, Techniheat Plant Services, and to the Etherow Indoor Bowling Centre for hosting us and making this wonderful day in our annual bowling calendar possible. We are very much looking forward to seeing the results from our successful bowlers at the National Finals in April.