Marathon man Martyn makes off with three county titles

After a marathon 11 hours on the green at the Peterborough & District club, Stamford's Martyn Dolby won three of the five finals he contested at the Northants Bowling Federation indoor county championships on Sunday.
By The Newsroom
Published 17th Mar 2016, 12:24 BST
Updated 17th Mar 2016, 12:27 BST
Martyn Dolby won three of his five finals.Martyn Dolby won three of his five finals.
Martyn Dolby won three of his five finals.

Also completing a hat-trick was his club colleague Chris Ford, who will be in action with Dolby in both the mixed pairs and mixed triples at the national finals in Newark next month, as well as in the triples with Jan Want and Shirley Suffling.

Dolby also qualified in the senior singles following a 21-15 defeat of Peter Edwards, who later gained revenge by guiding Cliff Watson and Stephen Harris to the rinks title at the expense Dolby, Adam Warrington and Jon Earl.

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The other one that got away was the pairs with Warrington, defending champion Nick Wilkie, this time with Joe Randall, winning 19-7, one of only two titles claimed by the Peterborough club, the other being the women’s pairs, where Fiona Richardson and Julie Masters defeated the holders, Jenny Harvey and Carol Hunter, 21-16.

Christine Ford won three titles.Christine Ford won three titles.
Christine Ford won three titles.

County women’s president Joan Robinson claimed a singles double, beating Chris Ford 21-18 in the open event and Shirley Suffling 21-8 in the seniors, but missed out in the triples with Margaret Bloxham and Moira Holroyd.

It was a second final defeat of the day for Holroyd, who was beaten 7-19 with husband John in the mixed pairs decider by the in-form Ford and Dolby.

Adam Warrington also suffered two defeats on the day, but had the compensation of winning a third with Ford and Dolby in the mixed rinks at the expense of Fiona Richardson, Neil Wright and Simon Law.

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Stephen Harris defeated Josh Clark 21-11 in the under 25 singles and so will be at Newark in two events, while Derek King won the men’s singles, 21-17, after a topsy-turvy battle with Stamford colleague Doug Want, who led 16-12 after being 5-11 down.

Christine Ford won three titles.Christine Ford won three titles.
Christine Ford won three titles.

WORLD BOWLS TOUR

Local bowler Nicky Brett’s hopes of back-to-back World Bowls Tour titles were dashed in the semi-finals of the Co-operative Funeralcare International Open in Blackpool.

Hoping to build on his World indoor singles triumph, Brett, the defending champion, was beaten 8-7, 8-9, 0-2 by Scotland’s David Gourlay, who went on to claim the title by defeating the unseeded Jamie Chestney in the final.

However, by reaching the last four, Brett has gone well clear at the top of the world rankings and will start next season with a massive 39 points lead over his nearest challenger, Scotland’s Alex Marshall, with the third placed Robert Paxton (England) 66 points adrift of Brett.

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En route to the semis, Brett beat England qualifier Gary R Smith 9-7, 12-2; his pairs partner Greg Harlow 8-3, 7-6 and England’s Mervyn King 9-5, 8-8.

CAMBS LEAGUE

The Peterborough senior men’s team suffered a major setback in their bid for title honours in the Cambs League when managing only two points from their 55-63 defeat at the hands of March A.

Peterborough 55 (2), March A 63 (8): (Peterborough rinks only)

Norman Gray, Pete Harvey, Mick Greaves, Rod Maplethorpe won 22-2.

Don Paul, Richard Day, Phil Afford, Frank Paul lost 14-16.

Dave Smith, Terry Corney, Ean Eagle, Mick Linnell lost 12-23.

Les Sharp, Richard Harrison, Don Sutton, Joe Martin lost 7-22.