Janet Fairnie is ladies singles champion at East Lothian Indoor Bowling Club for a record equalling sixth time, having the captured the crown by beating Pat Turner in the final at the Alex Marshall Arena last Friday evening.
Read More“Absolutely delighted to win the title again and too equal Diane Rowan’s record of six title wins is just a dream come true and now my burning ambition is to try and beat the record”, said a jubilant Fairnie afterwards.
The final of the gent’s senior singles was also a corker as legendary figure Willie Wood MBE etched his name on the trophy for a first time as he beat 2016 champion BJ Smith. Junior cap Megan Kivlin made a successful defence of the ladies junior singles title after victory over Melissa Penman in the final while Kieran Dodds enjoyed title success in the Under 18 singles at the expense of Danny Stevenson. In other finals played earlier last week the very experienced pairing of Mark Johnston and Willie Wood captured the gents 2 bowl pairs title after defeating Mark Yuill and Declan French in the final. The strong trio of Andrew Jeffrey, Scott Kennedy and Billy Mellors successfully won both the pre and post triple domestic competitions to secure a place in next season’s national triples. The talented pairing of Emma Logan and Janet Fairnie celebrated title success in the ladies 4 bowl pairs while Morag Wood and Margaret King reigned supreme in the ladies senior pairs. Megan Kivlin and Dee Hoggan are the new ladies 2 bowl pairs title holders while Billy Higgins and Alastair Russell combined forces to win the gents senior pairs. Luke Cowan and Lewis Betts celebrated title success in the youth pairs while Calum Darling retained the Under 21 singles title. The team consisting of Kevin Cunningham, Lessel Middler, John Henderson, Steven Clark and Matt Osborne won the Top 4 tournament while Billy Higgins and Co won the seniors Kiwi Quaich. The talented young trio of Melissa Penman, Kim Hoggan and Dee Hoggan produced a great performance to land the ladies triples title while Dee Hoggan completed a treble of title successes when she also won the ladies fours title along with Janet Fairnie, Yvonne Veitch and Margaret Thomson. Peter Fallen, Davie Pryde, Alan Morgan and BJ Smith won the national senior fours title in 2017 and they will get the opportunity to have another crack at national glory after winning the gents senior fours title for a second time in three years. Aaron Betts made it a glorious double by adding a title success in the Under 13 singles having already captured the Under 17 singles title earlier in the week. Due to various circumstances finals weeks at East Lothian IBC run into a second week of action with the main highlight-taking place on Tuesday evening when Billy Mellors and Chris Fallen contested the Gents Singles final. Mellors set up the chance of becoming the first player to win the prestigious title for a fourth time having played a blinder in his semi-final to beat former two-times champion Jamie Higgins. Fallen is a previous two-times junior singles title champion (2009 & 2010) and held all the aces in his 21-17 semi-final win over Alan Young. Also staged on the same evening was the final of the gents junior singles featuring Joe Mower against Aaron Betts.
There was no joy for East Lothian IBC ace Billy Mellors in last week’s WIBC World Championships held at Hartlepool IBC. The 2018 national singles runner-up went down to England’s Andy Squire in the quarter-finals of the gent’s singles while in the mixed pairs event Mellors and partner Lorraine Craig lost in the semi-finals to Ian and Alison Merrien of Guernsey.
On the international stage talented brothers Aaron and Lewis Betts were last weekend part of a Scotland Under 17 side that defeated Channel Islands and Ireland in an international test series played at Belfast IBC.
East Lothian IBC inscribed their name on the Jock Brodie Senior Challenge Cup for a remarkable fourteenth time in its now 20-year history after 8-0 points win over Perth in last Wednesday’s grand finale at the Alex Marshall Arena. The East Lothian team for final included tournament founder Jock Brodie and prior to the game he announced that it would his last competitive game for the club and it was fitting that he went out on a winning note. Afterwards an emotional Brodie said, “As a founder member of the club I have experience many happy and exciting games at county and domestic level, however, I have now decided to step down from county games. My most enjoyable time has been playing in the Jock Brodie against visiting players from various clubs in Scotland and I would like to thank you all for taking part. The tournament takes a lot of organising and this year especially has been very challenging because of the bad weather but John Hamilton was able to rearrange all the matches, so the final took place as planned. I would personally like to thank John for his hard work, not only appreciated by me but I’m sure by all the clubs who took part”. The club would like to thank tournament sponsors, Norman T Craig and Electrical Services of Dunbar, for their invaluable support.
Officials at East Lothian Indoor Bowling Club have confirmed that the club will remain open during the summer months from 10am to 2pm daily (including weekends).
Turning attention to the outdoor bowling season and the fixture list in Division 1 of the East Lothian Leagues recently issued by ELBA Match Secretary Keith Fender sets the scene for a cracking opening week of fixtures next Friday (April 27) evening. Champions Cockenzie & Port Seton open at home against West Barns while it should be quite a night at Haddington when their first and second teams go head-to-head. Division 2 champions Elphinstone face a tough opening challenge as they head to EL-Coop; newly promoted Dunbar visit Tranent while East Linton host Castlepark. All clubs in Divisions 1-4 are reminded that the starting time for the opening four games of the season is 6.30pm.
Finally, you can keep up-to-date with all that is happening on the outdoor bowling scene in the garden county by following the website by East Lothian Bowling Association. All bowlers are urged to view by clicking on www.eastlothianbowls.com