EASTER is traditionally a very busy period on the sporting scene with football promotion and relegation issues becoming clearer, while on the bowls front, it brings to an end the autumn and winter indoor season and heralds the start of a new outdoor campaign.

The national indoor championships and age group competitions came to an end in Nottingham earlier in the week, but Westlecot IBC were unable to add to the ladies pairs success achieved by Lucy and Katy Smith.

In the only remaining event in Nottingham where the Old Town Club still had an interest, Neil Smith and his daughter Katy made an early exit from the family pairs, losing 23-8 in their first match to Newton Hall Blackpool’s father and son pair John and Mark Dawes – the 2018 world open indoor singles bowls champion.

Having previously stated that the indoor scene has ended for the season, that certainly does not apply to the Open Singles Circuit that has four tournaments to complete before the end of April.

The first in Hartlepool (Co. Duham) was contested on Good Friday, featuring 64 players chasing a £2,200 prize pot.

Yesterday on today, the annual Easter OSC tournament is being staged in Devon at Torquay United with 64 players chasing a £2,300 prize pot.

While the action moves along the coast from Devon to Dorset on Easter Sunday and Monday to Poole for the Dolphin OSC tournament.

This tournament is being held on the big 11-rink Dolphin IBC green and features 86 entrants chasing a prize pot of £2,600, with £1,200 going to the winner and £500 to the runner-up.

Westlecot players competing over the weekend at Torquay and Dolphin (Poole) include Neil Smith, Andy McIntyre, Mike Titcombe, Lucy Smith and Chris Cheesley.

Neil Smith won the Easter Dolphin tournament last year, beating England international Mark Royal in the final.