Callum Wraight hits top form

The Shrewsbury giant enjoyed an unbeaten weekend, scoring another British Professional Panel win, triumphing in the latest Winter Sweep at Spen Victoria - on a green he dislikes - and topping his round robin group in the North Shropshire Parks winter series at Tilstock.

However, that’s where his sporting fun stops as his hopes of winning the Christmas Handicap at the panel home of the Red Lion, Westhoughton on the planned finals day of January 2 have disappeared.

“The Christmas Handicap has been postponed due to the number of drop outs and the possible impact of the new Covid wave, so Panel matches will be played as normal throughout the Festive period,” said a spokesman for the Bolton area venue.

And it was there that Wraight’s latest wow of a weekend started with a 41-33 Panel victory over Wayne Ditchfield on Friday afternoon, followed by a £160 jackpot at Spen in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, next day.

He beat Chris Mordue, a fellow British Senior Merit and Champion of Champions winner, 21-18 in a brilliant final.

A Spen spokesman said: “Two of the very best players anywhere in crown green bowls met in the final – and the game didn’t disappoint.

“After nine ends the score was 6-4 to Callum, but then, as he does, he found a short mark to his liking and played very near bowls to suddenly go 17-4 in front.”

Yorkshire star Mordue rallied to score 14 of the next 15 chalks, but the Castlefields man could not be denied another title in 2021.

“In his presentation speech Callum said that from all the major competitions he has won, this was probably his best achievement so far, by actually winning five games on the Spen top green, and in the final beating someone who he's always looked up to,” added the spokesman.

He beat the previous week’s Sweep winner Josh Mordue, son of Chris, 21-16 in the quarter-finals as the mist descended and Chris Ellis 21-17 in the last four after being 15-13 down.