By Nicholas Truscott

Cornwall County Short Mat Bowls Association latest

SALTASH Kernow bowler Ian Crossett won the Shield competition at the Short Mat Pro Tour English Masters on Sunday, February 9 in Essex.

Crossett was amongst nine representatives from the Duchy to head up to Chelmsford, and as a result of his victory, closed in on the top 200 in the rankings.

After scoring four points in the group stages thanks to a 9-9 draw with Ireland’s Don McNamara and a 20-3 victory over England’s Andrew Scott, Ian then put together a run of results to win the Shield competition on the second day.

Wins came against Frans Roberts (11-10), Caroline Trubshaw (15-10), Faye Ray (19-0), Grace Doorey (15-9) and Tommy Mikkelsen (12-11) to set up a re-match against Andrew Scott in the final which Ian won 14-8.

Ian gained five points from the weekend to increase his total to 119.5 ranking points and move up to 203rd overall.

Three Duloe bowlers – Mark Slack, Alan Trubshaw and Caroline Trubshaw also took part.

Mark was drawn in Group 22 where he started with a 17-7 win against Declan Hegarty (IRE) which was followed up with a 12-7 loss to Matthew Hamilton (IRE).

An 11-10 win against Glenn Harvey (IRE) was followed by a 10-7 loss to Graham Wickens (ENG) at the end of Saturday’s play.

Sunday morning’s final group game ended with a 16-10 win against Melissa Morris (ENG) securing a place in the Plate competition.

A first round 13-3 win against against Phil Spry was followed by a 14-4 defeat to Kris Mckee in the last 32.

Mark adds 39 ranking points to increase his total to 118 and move up to 207th in the rankings.

Alan Trubshaw (Duloe) was drawn in Group 16 where he opened his account with losses to England’s Dawn Parkes (10-8) and Ireland’s Mark Beattie (15-6).

Saturday afternoon saw a 16-5 win against David Ryste (NOR) and a 11-6 loss to Gareth Wilkinson (IRE). Sunday morning’s final group game against Mitchell Young (ENG) ended with a 11-9 defeat, but his run was over In the first round of the Shield as Alan lost 10-6 to Pat Goodchild.

Alan gained three ranking points to increase his total to 43 and move up to 405th overall.

Caroline was drawn in Group 27 where she also failed to pick up any points with losses to England’s Peter Ainslie (10-7), Ireland’s Tony McHugh (17-5), Wales’ Antony Mills (14-5), Ireland’s Antony Lewis (13-4) and another Welshman, John Jillings (13-8).

The first round of the Shield brought an 9-8 win against Angharad Brideaux before she was beaten by eventual winner Ian Crossett in the second round.

Caroline picked up three points from the weekend to increase here total to 18 and move up to 538th overall.

The final Short Mat Pro Tour ranking tournament of the season, the World Masters, takes place in Belfast over the weekend of April 26 and 27.

The Cornall County Short Mat Bowls Association will be hosting an ‘Open Practice’ between 10am and 3pm on Sunday, February 23 at Carnmoggas in St Austell.

A contribution of £4 per player towards the cost of venue hire will be payable on the day.