9th BTBA Senior National Championships 2026

The 9th BTBA Senior National Championships 2026 took place at Stroud Bowl between the 9th & 17th May.

The Tournament saw more than 160 senior bowlers compete across two weekends of Singles, Doubles, Team and All Events competition. Over £7,300 was paid out, with the full results now available on the BTBA Hub

The BTBA would like to firstly thank all the management and staff at Stroud Bowl for their hospitality throughout the Championships. Mark Patrick and Shae Milner were great hosts, always on hand, and they live streamed all the squads on the Stroud Bowl YouTube channel across both weekends, giving friends, families and bowlers the chance to follow the action even when they could not be in the Bowl.

This year’s Championships were played on Titanium, a 44ft Challenge pattern. It proved a fair but demanding test, with some bowlers finding the condition tough and others managing to find the right ball shape to unlock some excellent scoring. That balance was reflected across the results, with a perfect game, a new Senior Nationals record, several 260+ games, close finishes, and a number of bowlers collecting titles across multiple events.

One of the standout team performances came from the Senior Ladies, who set a new Senior Nationals record in the Women’s Team Division A event with 2354. The team of Gaye McCully, Jan Hodge, Kimberley Oakley and Jo Cundycombined superbly, with games of 765, 845 and 744 to take the title and write their names into the record books.

In the Open Singles Division A, Robert Bruce and Ian Hollands both finished on an excellent 738 series, but Bruce took the title on the highest last game after closing with 249 to Hollands’ 237. It was one of the closest finishes of the event, with Scott Cleaver taking third on 688, followed by Alan McCully on 673 and Steven Flynn on 669.

The Open Singles Division B title went to Steve Donowski, who put together games of 226, 196 and 223 for a winning 645 total. Shaun Cornfoot was second with 605, just ahead of Jeff Gilbert on 602.

In the Open Singles Grand Seniors, Steve Carnall topped the standings with 656, ahead of Donowski on 645 and Paul Hewitt on 631. Gregg Turvey’s 248 start helped him to fourth on 622, while Gary Baker’s 245 finish secured fifth place on 621.

The women’s singles also produced some excellent scoring. Sally Spence won Women’s Singles Division A with 602, helped by a superb 252 middle game, just ahead of Kimberley Oakley on 599 after a tight battle at the top. Sally Wilson completed the top three with 576, just ahead of Jo Cundy and Gaye McCully.

In Women’s Singles Division B, Dee Parker took the title with 542, in front of Sandra Church (523) and Linda Pray (480), while Anna Yang won the Women’s Singles Grand Seniors with 561 after closing with an excellent 245. Parker added second place in that division on 542, with Sandra Simmonds third on 530.

In Open Doubles Division A, the newly named 3 Youths and an ’ol one claimed the title with 1361, finishing in style with a huge 534 final game. The winning pairing was Steve Thornton and Gordon Humphries. On the same pair, On The Ball Pro Shop (Steven Flynn and Steve Carnall) rolled their way to second place on 1346, while The Younger Ones took third with 1320 through Chris West and Alan Meades. Strike Zone Pro Shop Relics finished fourth on 1305, with David Coote and Darren Cundy, just ahead of Norfolk N Strikers on 1295, with Mark Scott and Alan McCully.

There was also a special moment in the Open Doubles, where Craig Ellis of Sultans of Swing rolled the tournament’s standout game with a perfect 300.

The Open Doubles Division B winners were BARCLAYS, with Jeff Davis and Tony Imren closing with 461 to reach 1176, ahead of Sussex Boys, represented by Terry Browning and Kevin Rose, on 1119.

In the Open Doubles Grand Seniors, Golden Oldies took the honours with 1198, represented by Kim Johnson and Geoffrey Brown. BARCLAYS were second on 1176 with Jeff Davis and Tony Imren, while RAFVETS took third on 1124 through Tony Mather and Martin Clements.

The Women’s Doubles saw Senior Ladies win Division A with 1187, including a strong 448 opening game, with the pairing of Gaye McCully and Kimberley Oakley. RBS 3 took Women’s Doubles Division B on 961, represented by Sandra Church and Hilary Cooke, while Grand Senior Ladies won the Women’s Doubles Grand Seniorswith 1053 through Sandra Simmonds and Diane Johnson.

The team event brought some of the strongest scoring of the Championships. On The Ball Pro Shop won Open Team Division A with 2533, powered by team games of 900 and 877 after opening with 756. The winning team was Steve Carnall, Chris Ellis, Carl Vanderhook and Steven Flynn, bowling in that order. Sultans of Swing finished second on 2485, represented by Daniel Bonfield, Damian Gray, Lee Burrows and Craig Ellis, while RBS 1 were third on 2451 through Steve Williams, Ian Hollands, Steve D Thornton and Robert Bruce.

RAF VETS VULCAN won Open Team Division Bwith 2202, represented by David Johnson, Sandra Church, Brian Marks and Gary Fraser. Golden Oldies took the Open Team Grand Seniors title with 2265 through Geoffrey Brown, Gary Baker, Mark Wills and Kim Johnson.

In the Women’s Team sections, Senior Ladies won Division A with their new Senior Nationals record score of 2354, represented by Gaye McCully, Jan Hodge, Kimberley Oakley and Jo Cundy. Wobbly Pins won Division B with 1961, with Linda Pray, Sue Cobb, Liz Eyre and Carol Brock, while Grand Senior Ladies took the Grand Seniors title with 2018, represented by Carol Orange, Sandra Simmonds, Diane Johnson, Angie Brown.

In the All Events, Ian Hollands produced one of the performances of the Championships, winning Open All Events Division A with 2112, rolling sets of 705, 669 and 738. Steven Flynn was second on 2036, with Damian Gray marking his Senior Nationals debut in third on 2001. Andy Tapping’s 1994 included a superb 277 in the Doubles block, while Alan McCully rounded out the top five on 1966.

Shaun Cornfoot won Open All Events Division Bwith 1766, ahead of Jeff Davis on 1736 and Jeff Gilbert on 1735, a single pin separating second and third after nine games.

In the Open All Events Grand Seniors, Steve Carnall completed an excellent Championships by winning with 1936. Martin Clements was second on 1796, with Gordon Humphries third on 1794, just two pins behind.

The Women’s All Events titles were taken by Jo Cundy, Dee Parker and Catherine Wills. Cundy won Women’s All Events Division A with 1801, ahead of Gaye McCully on 1776 and Kimberley Oakley on 1766. Parker completed a strong event by winning Women’s All Events Division B with 1589, while Wills topped the Women’s All Events Grand Seniors on 1595, only six pins ahead of Parker on 1589. Anna Yang completed the top three with 1579.

Despite the challenge of the 44ft Titanium pattern, high games were a major feature of the Championships. Craig Ellis led the way with the tournament’s only perfect game, rolling 300 in Doubles. Andy Tapping also produced one of the best games of the weekend with 277 in Doubles, while Steven Flynn and Harald Grau both posted 269 games. Steve Thornton rolled 268, David Coote and David Johnson both hit 267, and Ian Hollands, Gordon Humphries and Craig Ellis all added 266 games. In the women’s sections, Sally Spence’s 252 in Singles and Anna Yang’s 245 in the Grand Seniors Singles were among the strongest individual games, with Kimberley Oakley also opening her Singles set with 234.

Congratulations to all champions, placed bowlers and everyone who competed in this year’s Senior National Championships. Final results are now confirmed, with full standings available through the BTBA Hub’s Past Events pages.

TEAMS Note: photographs under update..

OPEN DIVISION A
1st – On The Ball Pro Shop 🎳 = 2,533 Carl Vanderhook, Steven Flynn Steve Carnall, Chris Ellis	2nd – Sultans of Swing 🎳 = 2,485 Lee Burrows, Craig Ellis Damien Gray, Daniel Bonfield	3rd – RBS Pro Shops 1 🎳 = 2,452 Ian Hollands, Steve Williams Robert Bruce, Steve D Thornton	4th – 3 Youth’s and an Ol’ One 🎳 = 2,378 Steve Thornton, Gordon Humphries Paul Loberman, Colin Grose
5th – Strike Zone Pro Shop Relics 🎳 = 2,370 David Coote, Mark Presley Scott Cleaver, Darren Cundy	6th – Norfolk N Strikers 🎳 = 2,365 Mark Scott, Jon Greengrass Alex Nelson, Alan McCully	7th – The Younger Ones 🎳 = 2,352 Chris West, Alan Meades Mike Smyth, Kevin Pilley	8th – Big Bear Bolts 🎳 = 2,325 Stuart England, Gary Christopher Paul Hewitt, David Hockner
9th – MK Lighting 🎳 = 2,311 Richard Beck, Simon Brown Mark Secker, Matthew Trotter	10th – Surrey Seniors 🎳 = 2,306 Trevor Nell, Andy Tapping Ian Oakley, Jon Herbert

	18th – Sussex Boys 🎳 = 1,997 Lee Cook, Terry Browning Kevin Rose, Daren Knightsbridge