Big weekend for Tanners League
A cup final double header tonight is just the start of a hectic weekend for the Tanners Shropshire Bowling League officials.
The two greens at Old Shrewsbury are the setting for the Tanner Cup and Champagne Cup deciders, both starting at 7pm, and then tomorrow there’s the Frank & Mabel Edwards Mixed Doubles at Bicton from 11am.
Prince of Wales Hotel, having beaten champions Castlefields in the semi-finals, will be favourites to win the Tanner Cup as they take on Crescent on the No.1 green. Hayden Lewis (21-12) and Tony Hotchkiss (21-13) delivered the key cards as the Prince won by 13 at Bicton while Stuart Long (21-7) starred for Crescent as they saw off Battlefield by 25 at Hadnall.
Tonight’s Champagne Cup final is between Meole Brace and Unison on the No.2 green after Meole beat Bicton by 30 in their semi-final at Battlefield, Lucy Lyttle winning 121-13.
Unison won a very close match against Burway at the Prince Hotel by four chalks as the Shrewsbury club’s stalwart Les Evans secured the victory with a 21-14 win at the back.
Entries for tomorrow’s Mixed Doubles will be accepted on the day (£10 a pair) and one of each pairing must be a Tanners league bowler.
n Champion of Champions weekend did not go according to plan for Shropshire’s bowlers. The three qualifiers for the men’s big day managed just one win between them – which went to Alex Hassall before bowing out in round two – while Cheryl Caswell was the county's only winner on ladies' day 24 hours later.
The build-up to champions weekend saw Shrewsbury’s Rich Goddard in the money as a losing semi-finalist in the £100 a man Crown Green Masters at Fleetwood.
