Melton Indoor Bowls Club junior wins national title

Alex and clubmate Isabelle Pymm lined up for Melton Indoor Bowls Club as it hosted the EIBA’s English Bowls Youth Development Scheme (EBYDS) National Final.

They joined 30 other hopefuls from all over England, and the pairs partners both had high hopes with Isabelle having reached the national final in the last two years and Alex bidding for his second consecutive final.

In the junior section, Isabelle made a flying start with a 14-2 win over Alfie Woods (Hants), but lost her next match to Charlie Beeton (Suffolk) before completing a 9-2 win over Harrison Edney (Kent).

The wins put her in a good position going into the skills phase, and after the second phase, Isabelle finished seventh overall.

Alex, competing in the senior section, opened with an 8-4 win over Emma Muir, of Desborough, before holding his nerve to win a last-bowl deciding shot, 6-5, against Amica Fordy (Durham).

A 7-3 win over Jordan Ward (Rugby) completed the opening stages, and having finished second after the skills phase, he went through to the semi-finals.

The Melton junior beat Amica once more, 7-2, to set up a final against Lewis Goldup, from Kent.

Both players were evenly matched, but Alex went into the last end with a 5-3 lead.

An excellent set-up from his first two bowls put Alex in pole position, with Lewis narrowly missing an attempted drive at the jack.

Alex increased the pressure with his third bowl, leaving Lewis to try again, missing once more to confirm the titles of overall champion and top senior for the home bowler.