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Presidents Cup

21 players took part in the re-arranged President’s Cup on Sunday 21st August, a reasonable turnout considering several members are away on holiday and we were clashing with the finals of the Southport Flower Show competition at Promenade Bowling Club.
In the top half of the draw, Club Chairman Chris Harding looked intent on claiming the cup, enjoying good wins against Eileen Curtis (21-13) and Norman Parry (21-15). This was followed by a surprisingly comfortable win against Margaret Langley in the quarter-final. Using his favourite corner marks, Chris reached the semi-final, winning 21-6. In the last four, Chris’s opponent was new member Sue Andersen, who had survived a tough 1st Round game with Richard Rawcliffe to win on the final end 21-20. This was followed by another close game with Jim Blundell but it was Sue who won 21-17 to set up a semi-final clash with Chris. Conceding a handicap of 6, Chris needed to get off to a good start but Sue continued to lead well and Chris was unable to get on the marks he had played so well in the previous rounds. In the end, Sue’s consistently good bowling enabled her to secure a 21-7 win, to reach the final playing in only her second Hesketh Arms competition.
The bottom half of the draw saw John Stennett reach the semi-final with wins against Leo Tobin (21-16) and Barry Coates (21-11). His opponent in the last four was Pat Higgins who had reached that stage with wins against the captain of the Hesketh Harriers, Alan Kelly (21-14) and Falcons team-mate Joe Parker (21-16). This semi-final pairing ensured that there would be another first-time finalist in a Hesketh Arms club handicap and it was Pat who was to reach the final with a winning margin of 21-14.
In the final, Pat got off to a decent start, winning 5 of the first 8 ends to lead 10-9. However, in the second half of the game, Sue regained the form she had been showing all afternoon, winning 8 out of the next 9 ends, including four 2s to secure a 21-11 win and claim The President’s Cup. Congratulations to Sue Andersen on overcoming some experienced opponents on the way to her success, having only recently joined the Club.
Many thanks to all those members who have supported the Club’s competitions in 2011.

The final Club event of the season will be a Round Robin to take place on Bank Holiday Monday, 29th August, starting at 2.00pm. All members welcome.