Teenage bowling talent Ruby Hill continued her sensational season with two medals for England at the Mixed Under-18 International Championships.
The 16-year-old Spalding Indoor Bowls Club ace, who lives in Bourne, was one of a clutch of players called up to the Ballymoney event in Northern Ireland.
The championship pits the best young players from the Channel Islands, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England against each other in singles, pairs, triples and fours.
Each player represented their country in two of these disciplines, with Hill selected to play in the pairs and fours disciplines.
In the pairs, Hill was partnered with Noah Cummings, from Darlington, who is currently the national under-18 singles champion.
The pair cruised through the rounds and sealed the gold medal with a win against the Welsh pairing in the final.
In the fours, the Spalding starlet played number two with Lydia Cutmore (Hornsea), Harry Ward (Huntingdon) and Harry Goodwin (Torquay United).
Again, the four impressed as they navigated through the rounds, but were narrowly edged out by an in-form four from Scotland in the final, meaning they brought home the silver medal.
These consistent performances from Hill helped England retain their title and seal team gold.
The medal double capped a tremendous 2015 for Hill.
During the outdoor bowls season, she won the ladies EBF county singles title – meaning she represented Lincolnshire at the national championships.
There, she reached the national semi-final before narrowly losing to the eventual national champion from Humberside.
She was also handed the honour of representing England in the Youth Commonwealth games in Apia, Samoa.
Hill, who plays for Royal Mail Cart Bowls Club, flew out to Samoa at the end of August in preparation for the games – which were held between September 5-12.
She was one of only two players selected to represent England at bowls during the games – which consisted of a girls’ singles competition and a mixed pairs competition.
Hill was in magnificent form during the singles competition as she topped her group and won enough group games to earn her a place in the semi-finals.
In the end she finished an impressive fourth, just losing out to the Malaysian representative in the bronze medal play-off.
Then, partnering Bradley Coles (Hertfordshire) in the mixed pairs, they just missed out on a semi-final appearance by a single shot.
It was a memorable experience for Hill (then 15 years old) and is one which she hopes to emulate in the coming years.
When Hill returned from Samoa, she quickly got back into the swing of things at the start of the indoor season.
Last season, she played a key role in helping Spalding IBC to become National Mixed Top Club champions for the first time in the club’s history.
