THE SWAN Studley Skittles League’s annual Singles Knockout competition began with 36 players vying to be crowned 2017 singles champion.
There were four groups of nine players in the first round, from which the top four finishers in each group progress to the quarter-finals.
Group two provided the fireworks as three players – Andy Clewlow (Engineers), Mac Eaton (Alcester Nomads) and Craig Sears (Chris & Gerry Show) – all scored an excellent 38 pins and were closely followed by Jim Child (Well Developed) with 37
Others in the group were in with a shout after leg one but faltered as the game progressed. The next best score was 32, which would have been good enough to have qualified from group one!
The only stack (14 pins) in the first round was from Tony O’Connor (Alley Cats) who finished with 41 pins as he dominated group three.
Next best to qualify were Jason Kirk (Lodge Farmers, 36) and Paul Clifton (Swingers, 34), but it needed a sudden-death play-off between Malcolm Bachelor (Alley Cats) and George Bird (Engineers) –
both making 33 – to decide the fourth qualifier from this group.
Bird then made six pins, only for Batchelor to top that score by a single pin. None of the remaining players in the group managed to make 30 pins.
Another play-off was needed in group four to decide if Richard Long (Lodge Farmers) or Margaret Povey (Alcester Nomads) – both with 32 pins – would progress and Long made it through when, after setting a very challenging eight pins, Povey went close in scoring seven.
The other qualifiers from this group and with good scores were Rob Quartly (Jumbo Jet Set, 40), John Bool (Engineers, 35) and the only lady remaining in the competition, Angela Guest (Chris & Gerry Show, 34).
Group one was by far the lowest scoring group. Mark Ganderton (Engineers) top scored with a good 35, but Bob Browning (Alcester Nomads) and Len Quartly (Jumbo Jet Set) needed only modest 32 and 31 scores respectively to progress.
That left Gail Stringer (Team BG) and Dan Hill (Jumbo Jet Set) with 30 pins apiece to contest yet another play-off. Stringer set Hill a target of seven pins to win which Hill managed with his last bowl.
