Ely’s Nicky Brett won the 2014 Spalding Open singles tournament after seeing off 63 other players the Castle Sports Complex over the festive period.
The annual competition, which is part of the national Planet Bowls circuit, was hosted by Spalding Indoor Bowls Club on December 27 and 28.
Players came from all over to enter the tournament which was played in a two sets of seven ends format with a best of three ends tie breaks should the sets be level.
After some excellent matches in the first three rounds, just eight players were left to compete for the title.
The quarter-finals saw Keith Renwick beat Tracy Nunn 2-0 (9-6, 11-1), Daniel Seabourne see off Jamie Walker 1.5-0.5 (8-4, 7-7), Brett defeat Brian Lees 2-0 (11-5, 6-5) and Ashley Clipston knock off Ben Wilson 2-0 (9-4, 6-5).
An open draw followed to determine the semi-final line up, with Alfreton’s Clipston drawn against Worthing’s Renwick, while Brett faced off against Seabourne from Acle.
In the first semi, Renwick took the opening set but Clipston fought back to win the second set and force the match into a best of three ends tie-break.
The players shared the first two ends and a thrilling last end saw Renwick book a place in the final after Clipston failed to draw shot with his last bowl.
The first set of the second semi was a close affair, with both players finding form and a good last end for Seabourne seeing him take shot and draw the set.
The second set was more straightforward for Brett – and he booked his place in the final courtesy of a 7-1 scoreline. Other semi final scores saw Renwick beat Clipston 2-1 (6-4, 4-9, 2-1) and Brett edge out Seabourne 1.5-0.5 (4-4, 7-1).
The final lived up to expectations, with both players gunning to be crowned champion.
It was Renwick who struck first to take the first set 6-3, but Ely ace Brett fought back to take the second by six shots to four to set up a deciding tie break.
The breaker provided the crowd with some great entertainment, with the shot changing hands with almost every bowl. Renwick won the first end to leave him just one end short of victory, but Brett again refused to be beaten and took the next to leave a one end shoot out.
Amazingly, Brett drew a front toucher while one down – which proved too close for Renwick and sealed the title.
As well as the trophy, Brett collected the £750 first prize, while Renwick’s consolation was a cool £300.
Losing semi-finalists won £150 each, with losing quarter-finalists collecting £50. Meanwhile, local player Rhys Hill collected a £50 ‘bounty’ for beating the highest ranked player at the tournament in the earlier rounds.
The thanks of everyone at Spalding IBC go to tournament organiser Graham Smith and his daughter Beth Smith for keeping the scores updated throughout the day.
Thanks also go to the markers and particularly to Colin Wilson, who was the sole umpire during the tournament.
