Ed Morris and Travis Meller were recognised at the Bowls England Men’s Annual Dinner and Presentation of Prizes held in Coventry on Saturday.
Essex bowler Ed was acknowledged in the senior category, sponsored by Taylor Bowls, in recognition of his fine performances at the 2017 Bowls England National Championships.
Ed Morris was part of the winning mixed four that cruised to a 23-16 win in the final alongside Sue Kemp, Elaine Score and Mark Nullmeyers against Oxfordshire.
Three of the four were beaten finalists last year in this event.
Ed went on to skip the Essex team to victory in the Balcomb Trophy, beating Jamie Chestney’s rink 23-11 in the final to take the inter-county two fours trophy back to the county for the first time.
Having qualified in the two-wood singles and being named as a reserve for the senior men’s international team, Ed has a bright future ahead of him.
Also commended were clubmates Jamie Walker and Darren Childs of Northampton West End, who made history when they met each other in the final of the national singles, Jamie taking victory with a 21-14 scoreline.
This was the first time players from the same club had contested the final, and the first victory for the county in this event since 1910.
Walker’s win now brings his national singles tally to six since 2011.
Mark Atkins and his son Ryan featured in the winning men’s four for the second time in three years, winning it with different counties.
This year they teamed up with Phil Middleton and Tom Holmes from the Ledbury club in Herefordshire, winning comfortably in the final against Kent’s Josh Tingey, Roger Williams and Dex and Ken Weyand.
Herefordshire defeated the Isle of Wight in an extra end victory to reach the final.
Mark Atkins also reached the quarter final of the national singles.
Brothers Ean and Tristan Morton teamed up with Disability Bowls England open singles winner and Commonwealth Games player Mike Robertson to win the national triples by a single shot against Devon’s Louis Ridout, Jamie Chestney and Sam Tolchard.
Sam also lost out in the champion of champions semi final, losing 13-21 to eventual winner Glenn Williams.
Along with girlfriend Harriet Stevens, Sam lost out in the quarter final of the mixed pairs, again by one shot, to eventual winners Andy and Amy Walters.
The Worcester duo beat Essex pair Elaine Score and Ed Morris by just one shot in the final.
The Bowls International sponsored junior award went to the Isle of Wight’s Travis Meller, from Shanklin BC.
Travis, 22, secured only the second ever national title to go to the Isle of Wight by winning the men’s junior singles.
The junior international, who plays for the Shanklin club, claimed victory after a thrilling final against BJ Byles which went to the wire, Travis getting over the line with his last bowl to win 21-20.
Travis also had to work hard in the semi final, picking up a full house to defeat Oxfordshire’s David Leighfield 21-19.
This year’s junior bowler of the year is Travis Mellor.
Meller also skipped clubmates Robbi Hayes, Darren Griffith and Tony Lloyd to the semi-final of the Men’s National Fours Championship.
The men’s junior pairs saw a strong field of players this year, with Cambridgeshire’s Alex Walton and Jamie Barker emerging victorious against Gloucestershire’s Ben Coldrick and Nathan Kitchen in the final.
The St Neots duo picked up counts of four and five in the opening five ends of the match which helped their campaign.
Harry Goodwin shone in the White Rose, where Devon achieved the double by adding to the women’s Amy Rose win.
Harry’s rink had a massive 28-9 scoreline against Lincolnshire which proved pivotal for the team to reach the final.
He also skipped his fours rink to three wins in the men’s top club which was won by Kings, as well as being part of the winning club two fours team.
Twenty-three-year-old Sam Watts won the men’s two-bowl singles, a relatively new addition to the calendar, coming back from a 5-11 deficit to beat Nottinghamshire’s Aaron Brownley 15-12 in the final.
Ryan lost out in the quarter final of the men’s champion of champions by a single shot and Travis Mellor reached the semi final of the men’s fours, also losing out by a single shot to Worcestershire, which Ryan was a part of.