Arbroath ace becomes first man to hold indoor and outdoor British titles simultaneously following sensational win at Clevedon. Ron Wyllie rounds up all of the action . . .

Burnett makes sporting history Arbroath ace becomes first man to hold indoor and outdoor British titles simultaneously following sensational win at Clevedon. Ron Wyllie rounds up all of the action . . .

Scotland’s Darren Burnett made sporting history in sunny Clevedon becoming the first bowler to hold both British Isles outdoors and indoor singles titles at the same time.

The 29-year-old Arbroath policeman confirmed his status as one of the dominant forces in UK bowls by defeating England’s Simon Jee 21-10 in the final having earlier seen off the challenge of Commonwealth Games silver medallist Robert Weale of Wales 21-16 in the prelim, before ending Irish title-holder Martin McHugh’s hopes of a third successive win in the event.

Burnett later revealed: “It hadn’t dawned on me that no-one had achieved this feat and it wouldn’t have affected me anyway as I never put pressure on myself. However, it is a nice feeling to regain a title I last won in 2002, especially as this was my first major outdoor competition since the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne where I missed out on a medal.”

Welsh contenders had them singing in the valleys with a double triumph. Glyn Thomas and Richard Horgan from Barry Athletic won the pairs, fighting back from 13-7 down after 15 ends in the final to deny Ireland’s Martin McHugh and Barry Browne.

Whitehead ace McHugh was chasing a third successive British Isles title having been successful in the singles in both 2004 and 2005.

In the triples, Chris Williams, Daniel Gough and Wayne Griffiths from Welshpool eased to a 21-9 win over Jersey’s Lee Nixon, Tommy Greechan and Jamie MacDonald. It was Wales biggest haul of titles since 1999 when they won four of the five prizes on offer.

The fours final was an all Channel Islands affair with Guernsey getting the better of Jersey as Paul Merrien, Ralph Deakin, Roy Queripel and Sid Le Maitre scored a convincing 23-11 victory over Richard Allen, Will Waymouth, Con O’Callaghan and Brian Cabot.

The junior singles final was brought forward to Saturday evening as Jersey’s Jamie MacDonald was still engaged in the triples. A hard fought contest was won, though, by Ireland’s Adam Barr with the youngster from Drummore in County Down prevailing 21-18.

It was not all plain sailing for the championship, however.
Indeed, it was  marred by controversy when veteran bowls writer and former BBC ‘Voice of Bowls’ David Rhys Jones refused to cover the competition arguing that press facilities were inadequate.

Rhys Jones was incenesed at the decision by  the British Isles Bowls Council to refuse to provide a dedicated telephone line for the media covering the event and, as such, he decided, ahead of play starting, not to cover it.

Results - Singles
Prelims: Darren Burnett (Scotland) 21, Robert Weale (Wales) 16; Simon Jee (England) 21, Alan Shaw (Jersey) 14
Semi-finals: Darren Burnett 21, Martin McHugh (Ireland) 12; Simon Jee (England) 21, Geoff Savident (Guernsey) 10
Final: Darren Burnett 21, Simon Jee 10

PAIRS
Prelims: England (S Gilbert & A Smith) 26,
Jersey (P Le Long & S Hind) 9; Ireland (M McHugh & B Browne) 22, Guernsey (G Pitchou & D Lucas) 16
Semi-finals: Ireland 19, Scotland (G Campbell & G Nelson) 12; Wales (G Thomas & R Horgan) 17, England 14
Final: Wales 16, Ireland 13

TRIPLES
Prelims: England (N Hope, M Dyer & M Biggs), 25 Guernsey (G Pitschou, L Le Ber & D Lucas) 14; Jersey (L Nixon, T Greechan & J MacDonald) 25, Ireland (B Thompson,
B Daly & P Daly) 14
Semi-finals: Jersey 15, England 14;
Wales (W Griffiths, D Gough & C Williams) 19, Scotland (M Kelly, D Kelly & A Higgins) 13
Final: Wales 21, Jersey 9

FOURS
Prelims: Wales (G Hope, L Morgans,
M Jones & M Jones) 23, Ireland (J R Wilson, P Gilmartin, H McHugh & M Stewart) 7; Guernsey (P Merrien, M Timms, R Queripel & S Le Maitre) 16, Scotland (C Falconer, B McCall, M Stenhouse & W Whyles) 14
Semi-finals: Jersey (R Allen, S Cabot, C O’Callaghan & W Waymouth) 24, Wales 19; Guernsey 17, England (D Hall, I Snowdon, M Edney & J Stradling) 15
Final: Guernsey 23, Jersey 11.

JUNIOR Singles
Prelims: Jamie MacDonald (Jersey) 21, Mark Dawes (England) 20; Andrew Caldwell (Scotland) 21, David Axon (Wales) 11
Semi-finals: Adam Barr (Ireland) 21, Matt Le Ber (Guernsey) 14; Jamie MacDonald 21, Andrew Caldwell 20
Final: Adam Barr (Ireland) 21, Jamie MacDonald (Jersey) 18.