On Saturday 25th July overlooked by a tower block 8 Caribbean lawn bowlers took the spotlight at Streatham Park Bowls Club in South London. The reason was to compete for the first ever KNCC Caribbean lawn bowls Championship created and formed by The Caribbean Bowls Tour, to help raise the profile of the sport in the Caribbean Community. The players were split into two groups of 4 and played 3 matches each. 2 points were awarded for a win and 1 for a draw, the top 2 players in each group would go through to the semi-final. By the end of the group matches it ended.
The day and event was opened by the Jamaican High Commissioner Aloun Ndombet-Assamba, who after a short tutorial played the first bowl of the day.
Jamaican High Commissioner Aloun Ndombet-Assamba,
Group A
1) Andrew Newell 6pt
2) Walter Williams 4pt
3) Mervyn Edwards 2pt
4) Martin Edwards 0pts
Group B
1) Louie Holness 6pt
2) Ash Young 4pt
3) Arthur Young 2pt
4) Tony Simmonds 0pt
In the first semi-finals would be group winner Andrew Newell vs Ash Young while the second semi-final would be contested by Walter Williams vs Louie Holness group b winner. A tense and tight match saw Andrew come out on top with a narrow 7-5 over the veteran ash Young, where Walther Williams on the over hand knocked the favourite Louie Holness out with an impressive 10-4 victory stamping down his authority a match before the final.
(L-R) Walter Williams (runner up) Louie Holness, Andrew Newell (winner), Mervyn Edwards, Martin Edwards (son) Tony Simmonds
While Reggae music played and the smell of jerk Chicken and Pork filled the air the 2 players took to the green for the final, to find out which one of them would be crowned the first KNCC Caribbean Lawn bowls Champion.
The 10 end matchs started slowly with no one wanting to make any mistakes which could leave them too big a gap to make up in such a small space of time. After a short spell in front Andrew Newell found himself behind as Walter took control of the match in the middle stages. Andrew kept within touching distance and was holding shot in the last end while behind 7-6 with Walter yet to play his last bowl.
If Walter could remove Andrew’s shot bowls he would win the title and be crowned Caribbean Champion 2015. Walter was unable to move Andrew’s bowl leaving the score 7-7, the match would have to go to a tie break end winner takes all. Walter won the toss and played first, his shot was short leaving plenty of space for Andrew to get his bowl in and put the pressure on, which he did.
Walter missed narrowly while trying to regain control of the match, Andrew’s confidence started to grow as he put his 3rd bowl on the jack leaving Walter only one last chance and bowl to try and become the Caribbean champion. Andrew feeling the tension stood behind Walter and watched as he played his last bowl towards the head. Unfortunately for Walter his shot passed just wide of Andrew’s shot bowl and jack left Andrew the 2015 KNCC Caribbean Lawn Bowls Champion.
Andrew Newell, winner
Andrew Newell said “I’m extremely happy to win this competition and be part of this project to raise the profile of the sport within the Caribbean community with the goal to get Jamaica playing this sport officially in the Commonwealth Games. Even more important is seeing people trying the sport which would probably never have held a bowl before this event”
Andrew was presented the trophy by Nicole White from Right Estate Agency which jointly sponsored the event. When asked about the company’s involvement Nicole said “ When the idea was put to us we were more than happy to get involved and support a project which benefited the community in such a way.”
SCORES
The Jamaica A team managed an impressive 15-4 win over Holland as well as a close 9-7 victory over the Jamaican B team.
Jamaica A 1 v Croydon 15
Jamaica A 4 v Streatham Park A 8
Jamaica A 5 v Streatham Park B 6
Jamaica A 4 v UAE 7
Jamaica A 6 v Sweden 7
Jamaica A 15 v Holland 4
Jamaica A 9 v Jamaica B 7
The Jamaican B team had better results beating all the international teams other than the Jamaican A team. After a first match 11-2 win over Holland the Jamaican B team’s confidence grew and backed it up with a string of good results.
Jamiaca B 11 v Holland 2
Jamaica B 7 v UAE 5
Jamaica B 10 v Sweden 1
Jamaica B 7 v Streatham Park A 3
Jamaica B 7 v Streatham Park B 2
Jamaica B 2 v Croydon 9
Jamaica A 9 v Jamaica B 7
The final league standings were:
1) Croydon 14
2) Jamaica B 10
3) Streatham Park B 8
4) Streatham Park A 6
5) Sweden 5
6) UAE 5
7) Jamaica A 4
8) Holland 4
