Dawes and Chestney win second Open Pairs title

The 2021 World Open Pairs title was this afternoon won by Mark Dawes and Jamie Chestney, who beat Ellen Falkner and Greg Harlow in the final.

Defending champion Harlow was teamed up with Falkner after Nick Brett was forced to pull out after breaking his wrist.

The England star was making history as the first woman in the final of the event, which has been open since 2013 .

The pair won the first set 7-6 after some stunning bowls from Harlow.

Former winners Dawes and Chestney came back with a strong 9-2 win in the second set, forcing a tie break.

Jamie bowled two cracking bowls to win two ends of the tie break and get over the line to lift the trophy.

Harlow said afterwards: “I thought it was a first class game and obviously we managed to scrape the first set.

“The boys played consistently all the way through and we saw what happened in the second set when I missed a couple of targets, the score disappears very quickly.

“Jamie was match down twice in the tie break and Mark was the most consistent man out there today.”

Jamie Chestney said: “I thought Mark played great all the way through. Greg was fantastic in that first set, he was leaving me incredibly difficult shots to play.

“In the second set luckily we had a little bit more room and we fortunately got over the line in the tie break.”

Mark Dawes added: “I am happy with how I played, I went back to the bowls I play with all the time.

“I thought I gave Jamie good bowls and he does what he does best in the tie break.

“It is fantastic to win the title again.”