Alan Bride and Ciara McDunphy took the gold in the men's and ladies singles at the National Championships in Leisureplex Stillorgan on Saturday morning.
Bride bowled a perfect 300 game in game four to take the lead in the men's section by 8 pins, after backing up a steady start with a 238 in game three.
A 229 in his final game was enough to see Bride win the gold medal, ahead of Paul Stott, by a margin of 13 pins. Ireland's World Cup representative in 2010 Stephen O'Connor took the bronze, finishing a further 31 pins back.
There were plenty of good starters in game one, the pick of them being Stott and Dave English, both shooting opening 238's. Other strong first games were John Wilson's 237 and Graham Turner's 233. In total 15 players bowled 200+ in game one.
Game two saw twelve 200+ games, the pick of them coming from Stephen O'Connor (268), Simon English (257) and Alan Gibbons (243). Dave English had his low game of the set with a 180, while other first game leader Paul Stott added a 205 to his opening 238. O'Connor's 502 for is opening two games saw him take over the lead of the event. Eventual winner Bride was. at this stage, just 14 over, and almost 90 pins down.
Game three saw Bride begin to build the momentum which would see him shoot 300 in game four, posting a 238. Stott pressed on again with a 258, while O'Connor's 259 meant he kept a firm hand on the lead. Fran Puzzoli was a big mover in game three, shooting a 269 after opening with a 187 and a 191. Defending National Champion Darragh McLoughlin rolled a 236 to counter a 188 in game two, and Karl Doherty pushed himself into the medal chase with a 268.
Game four was all about Bride's 300. All twelve balls found the pocket as Bride found a consistent shot on the outside. Despite the twelfth ball hitting a little light in the pocket the ball created enough pinfall to kick the seven pin out to signal the celebration from Bride. The perfect game was made all-the-sweeter with O'Connor shooting just 174. Bride had overtaken the 109 deficit to leader O'Connor in one game, and now led from Stott, with O'Connor sitting 17 pins off the lead. A 258 from Tom Byrne threw him into the mix for a medal going into game five, as did Fran Puzzoli's 222 and Alan Gibbons' 279.
The final game of the singles did not stir up too much in the way of excitement in terms of fighting for medals. Bride's 229 was enough to hold off the attempt from Stott and co to snatch away the gold. Stott finished 31 pins ahead of O'Connor to take the silver. Three consistently strong games from Puzzoli saw him take fourth spot, ahead of Tom Byrne in fifth, Alan Gibbons in sixth, John Wilson 7th, Darragh McLoughlin 8th, Simon English 9th and Graham Turner 10th.
In the ladies section, McDunphy was in control from the word go. She opened the event with a five-bagger and went on to post a 266. Her closest challenger after game one was Hannah Cullen on 210. Ros O'Reilly was the only other player to break the 200 mark, with defending National Champ Aimee Kellegher rolling a 196.
Game two saw a high-game of just 200, rolled by O'Reilly. Leader McDunphy rolled a 195, while Cullen fell back a little with a 180. Carol Catchpole backed up her opening 192 with a 198. Her consistency would see her eventually claim the silver medal.
Game three and the big game was Yvonne Randell's 220. A 195 from Catchpole kept her going along nicely, while McDunphy held on to her comfortable lead with a 207. Kellegher continued to struggle to put a score together, shooting a 184 in game three. Cullen and Caitriona Mulhall matched each other in game three with a pair of 194's.
A 227 in game four left little doubt that McDunphy would take the gold medal. All that was left was to decide who would take the other two. Catchpole converted her consistency into a scratch game of 200, while a pair of 176 games from Randell and Cullen, and Mulhall's 217, left them the other likely contenders for the remaining medal spots.
Game five saw Catchpole cement the silver medal with a 213. Randell got the better of the rest to take the bronze after rolling a 216. Cullen's 185 meant that she finished 40 pins further back in fourth, while Mulhall took fifth by finishing 35 pins behind her.
Congratulations to Alan Bride and Ciara McDunphy on their singles gold medals.
Doubles event reviews will be posted on Bowltalk soon.
Go to http://www.tenpin-ireland/ for all the scores so far.
No comments:
Post a Comment