BOWLS: Biggs leads Westlecot success (From Swindon Advertiser)

BOWLS: Biggs leads Westlecot success

9:00am Monday 23rd July 2012 in Sport

WESTLECOT and Chippenham Town players featured prominently in the county men’s national singles and pairs championship semi-finals staged at Westlecot.

Mel Biggs, twice, Graham Hatherall and Mike Jackson (Westlecot), the Chippenham Town quartet of Bill McCay, Alex Wickham, Paul Macdonald and Dave Godwin plus Wootton Bassett ’s Tom Walkley were all victorious.

They booked their places in the county finals in early September and also earned the right to represent Wiltshire next month at Worthing in the Men’s National Championships.

Biggs, the reigning county singles champion, was in awesome form in his Wiltshire semi, producing a masterly performance to beat club colleague Ian Jefferies 21-5 after only 15 ends.

Biggs will bid for a straight hat-trick of county singles titles when he faces McCay in the final at Devizes.

The early rounds in the men’s national two wood singles championship had thrown up some surprise results but in the county quarter and semi-finals, experience came to the fore.

Graham Hatherall reached the final and a place at Worthing with a 16-11 win over Westlecot club colleague John Anderson.

In the other semi Russ Francis (Spencer Moulton) eliminated Dave Godwin (Chippenham) in a game of singles, 13-4.

Tom Walkley (Wootton Bassett) was victorious in the semis of the Under 25 singles competition, beating club colleague Tom Skull 21-17.

The other semi saw Chippenham Town’s Alex Wickham in charge for most of his match against Middleton Cup player Paul Stokes (Westlecot).

Meanwhile, the rain finally relented and allowed the delayed county men’s pairs championship to be played down to two finalists on last week at Westlecot.

Four pairs teams booked semi-final spots - Wootton Bassett, Westlecot, Alderbury and Chippenham Town.