By Daniel Bonfield
The third BTBA tour stop was the Lancashire Open held at Wigan bowl organised by the Local Association. Last year this event only attracted 33 entrants. This year thanks to increased sponsorship from B&P Fabrications we were able to lower the entry fee, leading to a fully booked tournament with an 11 person long waiting list.
A good contingent of locals to supported the event and these were joined from bowlers from as far away as Norwich, Sussex and Devon.
The first round consisted of 6 games, and although the lanes were quite dry, the scoring pace was good. Lee Cocker shot 770 for the first 3 games and eventually finished the block in the lead with 1437, a 239 average, in 2nd place was Pete Stevenson on 1352 with Gavin Greaves on 1351 in 3rd . The cut to the top 8 who would go through to round two was Jonny Whitaker on 1328, a 221 average.
There was also a handicap section and leading that after round 1 was Jamie Goswell with Kirstie Western in 2nd and the cut to the top 8 coming in at James Denvil on 1349 who just knocked out
Jenny Turnbull on high last game rule.
The 2nd round was 3 games with the top 4 in each the scratch and handicap section going through to a step ladder final.
In the scratch section Lee Cocker shot 707, Peter Stevenson a 711 and Rob Thurlby a 700 and they made up the top 3 with Gareth Greaves taking the last place in the stepladder final after
shooting a 636.
In the handicap section Jamie Gosswell shot 601, Kirstie Western 589 and Trevor Green 581. These were the top 3 and they were joined by Gary Christopher who shot a fine 657 set.
Stepladder Game 1
In the scratch section Gavin Greaves came through a close match against Thurlby 429 against Thurlby’s 423 and the first match in the handicap stepladder was even closer, with 2 pins separating the bowlers. Trevor Green shot 438, but it was Gary Christopher who advanced with 440.
Stepladder Game 2
In the scratch Pete Stevenson opened up a big lead after game 1 and Gavin couldn’t close the gap and lost 474 vs 425. In the handicap section there wasn’t much difference between the bowlers, but Kirstie Western continued her great form and advanced to the final.
Title Matches
In the scratch section Lee Cocker came thundering out with a 277, but Pete wasn’t totally out of it after shooting a 236 himself. But in the 2nd game Pete couldn’t get the strikes he needed and
though Cocker only shot a 212, he still came out a comfortable winner.
Kirstie Western had this one wrapped up after game 1 after shooting a 234 to Jamie Goswell’s 164 and she eventually won the title 490 vs 421.
Well done to our winners Lee Cocker who lead from round 1 and to Kirstie Western on some great bowling.
There was also a guess the highest pinfall competition with a Radical Cyclops ball Sundays by our tour partner Bowling Vision for the closest guess. This was won by Daniel Bonfield after he guessed 1433, the actual score was 1437 bowled by Lee Cocker
Thanks to the staff and mechanics and AMF Wigan who made us so welcome. Thank you also to Nat Leigh and the Lancashire committee for all their hard work running the event.
Next tournament on the BTBA tour is the Airport Doubles on the 19th and 20th May – you can enter online via this link here.
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