GUERNSEY NatWest INTERNATIONAL ISLAND GAMES XIX

The teams are in and the draws are made for the NatWest International Island Games Indoor Bowls.

With just a little over a month to go. The teams and draws have been made for the Indoor Bowls event to be held at the Guernsey Indoor Bowls Center, Hougue Du Pommier, Vale, Guernsey. GY6 8BD. From Sunday 9th to Thursday 13th July 2023.

The first games are scheduled to start at 9am on Sunday 9th July where we will see the start of the triples championship. Group A features the Guernsey Men, Jersey Women, Falklands Islands Men, Ynys Mon and Orkney. Group B features Guernsey Women, Jersey Men, Falkland Islands Women and the Western Isles. Play in the triples is over the Sunday and Monday culminating in the final where the two group winners face off at 9am on Tuesday 11th to see who will be the triples Island Games Champions.

At 12 noon Tuesday we are into the Open pairs and Open singles events and some exciting ties are in place in the very packed schedule.

Guernsey’s Alison Merrien MBE, who won the ladies Singles event when Indoor Bowls was last featured at the Island games, is certainly no stranger to competing in Open events being one of only a handful of women to win a World Bowls Tour qualifier outright. But she has tough opposition in her singles group where she has to face Jerseys Michael Rive who has had great Commonwealth games experience and has shown he is a tough opponent on the indoor carpet. Also Merrien has to face Falklands Islands Cecil Alexander who made a name for himself at the recent World Indoor Championships taking Alison’s husband Ian Merrien to a tie break. Cecil is proud to be from home roots in the Falklands and wears his Falklands Island heart on his sleeve. But so does, the very proud to be from Guernsey, Merrien and she will face these two opponents in her last 2 games in the round robin stages.

Could we see an all Merrien final in the Singles as Ian, Alison’s husband is in the other group? What a spectacle that would be for all the hard work the Guernsey club had put into the planning of this extravaganza of bowls. But both Merrien’s have a lot of work to do before that point.

The finals of the singles and pairs are at 6pm on Thursday 13th July.

Pairs Group A: Falkland Islands Men, Guernsey Women, Jersey Men, Orkney and Wester Isles. Group B: Falkland Islands Women, Guernsey Men, Jersey Women and Ynys Mon.

Open Singles Group A: Daphne Arthur-Almond (FI), Ann Cross (J), Paul Richardson (Alderney), Ian Merrien (G), Raymond Worthington (YM), William Nelson (WI) and David Leach (Bermuda).

Group B: Cecil Alexander (FI), Michael Rive (J), Susan Wood (Alderney), Alison Merrien MBE (G), Ann Worthington (YM) and Mark Causer (Orkney).

There are two groups for each discipline with the winners of each group contesting the Gold and Silver positions and the group runners up receiving Bronze medals. Singles play will be 4 bowls and first one to 21 shots or 2.5 hour time limit. The pairs will also be four bowl with 21 ends or 2.5 hours being played and the triples will be three bowls and 18 ends or 2.5 hours.

There will be a live streaming programme for the Indoor Bowls games during the event and links will be provided for you to watch nearer the time. So look out on our social media and events channels for the links and sit back and enjoy full commentary and some exciting bowls.

The Indoor Bowls will be part of the games website and you can find full information there at guernsey2023.gg, the results will also appear on this site during the Games along with details of the live updates service. Updates will also be issued on the games social media pages (search Guernsey2023).

Tune in to watch.

by Janice Gower