Over the three days of the 2017 National Para Bowls Indoor Singles Championships at Falkirk Indoor Bowls Club, Fife bowlers won a total of five singles titles and two runners up medals from eight individual championships contested. Congratulations to Fife’s leading bowlers with a physical, sensory or learning disability.
On day one, reserved for Scotland’s leading bowlers with a learning disability, three out of the four finalists in the men’s and ladies’ open sections were from Fife. Pamela Mitchell from Dunfermline is a member at Headwell Indoor and plays in the Ladies four. In her first SDS Indoor Championships final, Pamela had a 15 – 3 victory over Amanda Craig from Lothian after pulling away in the fifth end. Darryl Stewart from Cowdenbeath and Craig Donaldson from Kinghorn and Central Fife CSS have enjoyed many close matches in carpet bowls, indoor bowls and lawn bowls over many years at local and national level. This was their first national indoor final and it was one of their closest encounters to date. The match finished 9 – 8 in favour of Darryl but it could have gone either way.
Following the amazing start on day one, Fife’s two representatives on day two maintained the run of excellent form in the men’s and ladies’ championships for visually impaired bowlers. IBD World Champion Marie Spencer from Dunfermline and the Abbeyview club, is often the player for the big occasion and yet again at Falkirk she produced her best form with a 21 – 11 victory over her Scottish team mate Irene Edgar. Fellow Abbeyview club member Ian Graham similarly had an excellent championships, winning silver in the men’s final with a 15 – 21 shots performance against experienced international Billy Edgar from the West of Scotland.
Scottish International Barbara McMillan from Cowdenbeath won the ladies’ open title for physically disabled bowlers with a fine win over Rosemary Lenton from Dumfries and Galloway. Fellow Scottish International Billy Allan, also from Cowdenbeath, retained the men’s B6 title with a win over Gary Clelland from West Lothian. Barbara, Billy and Gary were part of the Scottish team that played so well in the recent Home Nations Championships in South Wales.
Richard Brickley MBE
President, Disability Sport Fife