Spalding’s Whyers banks a cool £750 after open win

Spalding Indoor Bowls Club ace Matt Whyers saw off team-mate Graham Smith en route to winning the Nigel Kettle Open in Stamford.

Whyers, who picked up £50 just for defeating Smith thanks to a bounty being put on his head by by the fast growing Planet Bowls Circuit, went on to beat former world number three Mark Royal in the next round.

He then sealed the tournament title by beating Bostson’s Jonathan West 8-2, 9-6 in the final – banking £700 in prize money for his troubles.

Whyers had a tough time of it in his opening fixture as he just about saw off Paul Roberts (Sleaford) 9-5, 2-8, 2-1 in a cracking contest.

He then dispatched Tony Barwell much more clinically with an emphatic 12-0, 12-2 scoreline to set up a meeting with Smith.

He triumphed 11-2, 6-2 in that all-club affair, before showing his class to fend off Royal 7-2, 5-4.

Robert Elmore (City of Ely) was then beaten 9-4, 11-2 in the last four, before Whyers got the better of West to seal a memorable success.

Fellow Spalding man Smith had an eventful time of it at the competition.

After beating Rob Ackroyd (City of Ely) 8-2, 9-1 in the first round, the England international survived a close encounter in the second round when he met up with England under-18 international, Lydia Cutmore.

She had travelled from Hornsea in Yorkshire, where she had been in the semi finals of the equivalent competition in her own club last season.

Winning the first set 7-4, Smith was put under pressure in the second when she showed her class to win 10-5.

This brought the game to a climax in the nerve tingling tie-break situation where both players battle it out to see who can win the end and extra shots become meaningless.

Smith’s experience told in these ends as he calmly managed to get in the necessary nearest bowl to edge out Cutmore – only to fall to eventual winner Whyers in the next round.

Another Spalding bowler, Calvin Leuty, beat James Pullen (Lincoln) 6-5, 3-7, 2-1 in round one and then Andy Clipston (Alfreton) 2-7, 10-4, 2-0 in the second stage.

Leuty then beat Josh Grant (Nottingham) 9-4, 4-10, 2-1 in the third round, but was edged out by West in the quarter-finals

Meanwhile, Spalding’s Jordon Philpott beat Rab McDonald (Boston) 9-6, 12-4 in the first round before also losing to eventual runner-up West 9-0, 8-0 in round two.

Monies for the finalists were kindly donated by Stamford member Nigel Kettle, who presented all awards.

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