For the first time since 2000 Wales have won the Home Countries Championships, held at Stoke Mandeville over the Bank Holiday weekend of 3rd/4th and 5th May. The winning margin was just one point over Scotland, with England third just a further point behind and Northern Ireland finishing fourth, some distance behind.
The Wales team was made up of Nigel Smith our ‘tetra’ bowler, and our 8 ‘para’ bowlers: Kevin Woolmore (Captain), Brenda Penny, Barbara Woolmore, Dave Powell, Chris Gibson, Adrian Foley, Howard Dare, and Tony Sprague. The Team was led by Louella Davies (Team Manager), with Maria and Steve Haines, Margaret Powell and Mike Penny in attendance as supporters and helpers.
The wheelchair Championships are held annually between England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, run over seven two hour sessions, with each Country playing nine Singles matches, nine pairs and three triples matches. The scoring system is two points for a win, one a draw; the winner is the Country with the most points, should there be tie the Country with the highest aggregate will be declared winners.
Wales got off to a great start on day one (Saturday) with wins against NI and Englandin the singles and a draw in the triples, also against England, scoring five out of a possible 6 points. In the next session Wales maintained good form with wins overScotland in the singles and NI in the pairs, losing to England in the other pairs match. In the third session of day one we lost both singles matches against England and Scotlandbut won the pairs match against NI, ending the day with 11 points in second place toScotland with 12.
In first session on day two (Sunday) Wales were in terrific form scoring maximum points with wins against NI in singles and pairs and Scotland in triples, putting us n the lead. Another good session followed with wins NI in singles and England in the pairs, losing to Scotland in the other pairs match. The final session of a long day was again fruitful with wins against England in singles and NI in triples, losing to Scotland in pairs. The position on Sunday night put us three points ahead of Scotland with 25 points while England were a further three points behind on 19, and all to play for on the final day.
In the final session on day three (Monday) Wales needed to win one of the matches against Scotland to win the Championships. In a tense couple of hours Wales won the pairs against Scotland, losing the other matches to England in the pairs and Scotland in the singles. The final score was therefore:
Wales 27
Scotland 26
England 25
Northern Ireland 7
The Wales team bowled well all weekend and everyone made a contribution to the win, showing great team spirit. In addition Wales took both the individual awards with Nigel Smith winning the tetraplegic plate and Adrian Foley the paraplegic plate which capped off a marvellous weekend for Wales.
For more information on wheelchair bowls contact Kevin Woolmore on 01978 359230.
