For 25 years in September the East Fife Indoor Bowling Club in Aberhill has played host to the Disability Sport Fife Indoor Championships for bowlers with learning disabilities.
The 2018 Championships included four singles sections for men and two for women and attracted the largest entry in the history of the event. 74 ties were contested over five hours and all were expertly overseen by volunteer markers from bowling clubs within Central Fife, coordinated by Math Thomson from Beveridge Park BC.
Spectators could not have asked for a more exciting finish to the 2018 Championships. Past Scottish Champions Craig Donaldson from Central Fife CSS/Kinghorn BC and Darryl Stewart from Broad St BC qualified for the final of the men’s open after winning all their matches in each of the two qualifying sections. Seeded one and two, their match was always going to be close and going in to the final end Darryl held a three shot lead. Playing some of his best bowls of the year, Craig was lying three but with his final delivery, released an outstanding bowl to win the tie 6 – 5 and lift the Fife Indoor title. The fast improving Anderson brothers from Dovecot BC in Glenrothes finished runners up in each of their qualifying sections and were awarded third place trophies.
The final of the equivalent open section for Fife’s leading women bowlers involved top seeds Pamela Mitchell from Headwell BC and Wendy Thomson from East Fife CSS/St Andrews BC. Pamela is the outstanding indoor bowler in Fife and current Scottish Champion. Pamela demonstrated her superiority indoors with convincing wins throughout the Championships. A highlight of this section was the emergence of West Fife CSS/Headwell BC bowler Nikki Baxter in the top flight of women’s indoor bowls in Fife.
The men’s B section final involved two bowlers from East Fife CSS, Craig Houston and Craig Bernard. Both bowlers were unbeaten in qualification and Craig Houston won the title with a 7 – 2 final victory. Ryan Peterson from East Fife CSS dropped only one match in qualification and was the pick of the remaining bowlers in the B section.
The men’s C section qualifiers were newcomer Tristen Rankin from West Fife CSS/Headwell BC and Fergus Wilson from West Fife CSS/Lumphinnans BC. Fergus narrowly won their qualifying tie by one shot but in the final it was all Tristen from the start and he ran out a very worthy winner and collected his first Fife bowls title.
The men’s D section qualifiers for the final were Kevin Rowe and Fraser Brown from West Fife CSS/Headwell BC. Kevin lost one match to George Goodsir from East Fife CSS and Fraser lost one match to Kieron Scott from East Fife CSS during qualification but both bowlers qualified for the final on count back of shots. In the final newcomer Fraser was the in form bowler and won his first Fife title by 7 -1.
West Fife CSS/Headell BC members rounded of a magnificent 2018 Fife Indoor Championships by providing the finalists in the women’s B section. Carrie Ann Smith qualified for the final with four straight wins including a victory over team mate Erin Smith by only one shot (3-2). Danielle had three wins from four, losing to Carrie Anne 8-0. In the final event of the championships, Danielle reversed the result and won theFife B title by 4-2.
The emergence of West Fife CSS/Headwell BC as a force in bowls in Fife was the highlight of the 2018 DSF Championships at the East Fife Indoor Club. Many of the new bowlers will add strength to the Fife team for the 2019 Inter Area Championships. Dovecot BC members similarly had a significant presence in the men’s open section specifically. Craig Donaldson, Darryl Stewart and Pamela Mitchell are the most experienced of Fife’s indoor bowlers and undoubtedly are the most talented. Without juniors participating, DSF had an entry of around 45 players for the 2018 Indoor Championships. Disability bowls in Fife goes from strength to strength and the influence of the developments within clubs in Fife grows in significance each year.
Photo: Finalists in all six sections
Richard Brickley MBE – President Disability Sport Fife