Singles eh? You either love it or hate. Personally I enjoy it. It's all down to the individual and you cannot come off the green blaming, or congratulating anyone but yourself. It's also excellent practice for leads as it is basically a game of draw.
On Saturday July 29th there was some serious bowling and competition as the club hosted the District 14 singles playdowns, the qualifier for the Ontario singles championships. The number of entrants was down this year because of clashes with other major events but it did not diminish the competition or the quality of the bowling. From our club were Bob Bates, Carl Ferguson and Bill Arthur and they were joined by Stan Zuly from the Oshawa club in a round robin to determine the winner.
In singles play the winner is the first player to reach 21 points. With each player having four bowls per end the game can in theory be over quite quickly but with well matched players the opposite can happen. And it did on Saturday with each game lasting 2 hours or more so on a hot day there was little respite for the bowlers. I lost track of how many ends I played but I think it was about 70!
In the first round Carl Ferguson (a third year bowler making his debut in this event) put up a good performance against Stan Zuly. Carl took an early lead and looked to be on course for a win but things can change very quickly and Stan got on to short jacks and made a comeback to win 21-14.
In the first all Cobourg game I played Bob Bates and a similar pattern emerged as I fought back from 6-17 to tie the game at 18-18 but Bob recovered to win 21-18.
In the second round Carl had the biggest win of the day defeating Bob 21-5 whereas Stan and I provided the spectators with drama (I wish we hadn't) as, having established a big early lead, I was gradually hauled back by Stan and after nearly three hours of play we were tied at 19-19 before I finally clinched the game.
After two rounds each player had one win and one loss which meant that any of the four players could win. Bob lost his final game to Stan by 21-9 and Carl beat me by the same score which meant that Stan and Carl were tied with two wins. Unfortunately for Carl and the Cobourg club the tie breaker was based on their head to head result and Stan was declared the winner.
Thanks to those who came as markers (Carol, Louisa, Mary and Donna); to umpire Dave Shirley and to convenor Nan Hendren; also to Gerry Childs and Dianne Hawryszko. Thanks also to those of you who came along to watch. It's always great to have some spectators and improves the atmosphere for the players.
The club singles will be coming up soon. Why not give singles a go if you haven't done it before. You might be heavily beaten (I lost a District game 21-0 a couple of years ago) but it will be good experience and improve your bowling in the long term.
Good luck to our two ladies senior triples teams in the Ontario championships this week. Also to Ben and Baylee van Steijn as they compete in the Canadian juniors. Some of the games will be screened live and there is a link below. There is nothing there yet but it should go live on Tuesday
http://sportscanada.tv/bowlscanada/
Have a great week
Bill Arthur
On Saturday July 29th there was some serious bowling and competition as the club hosted the District 14 singles playdowns, the qualifier for the Ontario singles championships. The number of entrants was down this year because of clashes with other major events but it did not diminish the competition or the quality of the bowling. From our club were Bob Bates, Carl Ferguson and Bill Arthur and they were joined by Stan Zuly from the Oshawa club in a round robin to determine the winner.
In singles play the winner is the first player to reach 21 points. With each player having four bowls per end the game can in theory be over quite quickly but with well matched players the opposite can happen. And it did on Saturday with each game lasting 2 hours or more so on a hot day there was little respite for the bowlers. I lost track of how many ends I played but I think it was about 70!
In the first round Carl Ferguson (a third year bowler making his debut in this event) put up a good performance against Stan Zuly. Carl took an early lead and looked to be on course for a win but things can change very quickly and Stan got on to short jacks and made a comeback to win 21-14.
In the first all Cobourg game I played Bob Bates and a similar pattern emerged as I fought back from 6-17 to tie the game at 18-18 but Bob recovered to win 21-18.
In the second round Carl had the biggest win of the day defeating Bob 21-5 whereas Stan and I provided the spectators with drama (I wish we hadn't) as, having established a big early lead, I was gradually hauled back by Stan and after nearly three hours of play we were tied at 19-19 before I finally clinched the game.
After two rounds each player had one win and one loss which meant that any of the four players could win. Bob lost his final game to Stan by 21-9 and Carl beat me by the same score which meant that Stan and Carl were tied with two wins. Unfortunately for Carl and the Cobourg club the tie breaker was based on their head to head result and Stan was declared the winner.
Thanks to those who came as markers (Carol, Louisa, Mary and Donna); to umpire Dave Shirley and to convenor Nan Hendren; also to Gerry Childs and Dianne Hawryszko. Thanks also to those of you who came along to watch. It's always great to have some spectators and improves the atmosphere for the players.
The club singles will be coming up soon. Why not give singles a go if you haven't done it before. You might be heavily beaten (I lost a District game 21-0 a couple of years ago) but it will be good experience and improve your bowling in the long term.
Good luck to our two ladies senior triples teams in the Ontario championships this week. Also to Ben and Baylee van Steijn as they compete in the Canadian juniors. Some of the games will be screened live and there is a link below. There is nothing there yet but it should go live on Tuesday
http://sportscanada.tv/bowlscanada/
Have a great week
Bill Arthur