SHEILA HUMPHREYS held her nerve to win the Tony Sugden Handicap at White Hart Bowls Club.
Eighteen bowlers competed on a hot and sunny Saturday afternoon and at the semi-final stage of this annual event Trina Higgins had to give Denis Turner four shots but made it through to the final.
Humphreys had a four-shot advantage over Martyn Higgins and won 11-8.
In the final, Humphreys again had a four-shot start over Trina Higgins in the final and soon stretched that to an 8-0 lead with some accurate bowling, before her opponent fought back impressively to level the score at 10-10.
In a dramatic final end, Humphreys finally won the title 11-10 with her final bowl to close a fine tournament.
WHITE Hart suffered two defeats on the final day of the Heart of England Over 60s League last Friday.
Hart’s A team disappointingly lost 103-100 at home to Triplex/Kings Norton A despite both teams having three winners.
Kirk Wright (21-14), Ken Brown (21-19) and Ray Richards (21-7) gave the Redditch club three points but this was not enough to prevent them slipping to eighth in the final Division One table, although their top flight status for 2020 was never in danger.
Captain Mike Estell finished top of the team averages and 11th in the league rankings.
White Hart B were easily defeated 125-82 at Alcester A in Division Two and ended the season in tenth place, but well clear of the relegation zone.
Hart’s only winner was Neil Laxton (21-20) and Alcester’s victory confirms their promotion to the top flight next season.
In Northfield & District Sunday League, White Hart A ended their Division Two campaign with a fine home win over promoted Triplex A.
In atrociously wet conditions, Hart won three of the first half ties (Mike Estell 21-13, Graham Arnott 21-10, Katy Lang 21-7) and the second half was a similar story with Ian Humphreys (21-12), Trina Higgins (21-10) and Ray Richards (21-15) producing winning cards to give the team eight points and third place in the final table.
White Hart B were relegated from Division Three following a heavy 154-100 defeat at Triplex B. Norman Batchelor (21-7) was their only winner and they ended the season agonisingly just two points short of safety.
