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Finals Weekend 2019
Report by Ian Cole
GRAHAM TUCKER and Denisa Hallam regained their championship crowns as Rayleigh Bowls Club's 60th anniversary finals weekend reached a fitting finale.
The men's final between Tucker and Alan Simpson was rated by many as the best match seen at Rayleigh in years and it ended in dramatic fashion after 27 ends when Tucker, 20-19 down and two shots down, produced a match-winning wood to snatch the title from Simpson's grasp.
The pair had traded blows like two prize fighters, matching each other shot for shot for more than two hours before Tucker settled it to take the trophy he previously held in 2014.
Hallam, the 37-year-old from the Czech Republic, was in outstanding form as she outbowled Eve Turpin 22-3. Turpin, the 2017 champion, was playing in her fifth final of the weekend and was unable to halt her younger opponent's charge to a fourth club championship.
Sadly for Turpin, her busy weekend featured four defeats, her sole success coming in the mixed pairs, in which she partnered Tucker to a 22-12 victory over Ian and Norah Cole. Tucker also triumphed in the 4-3-2-1, beating Keith Vaughan 104-76.
Simpson had featured in the closest final of the weekend when the men's two-wood was level at 13-13 before Keith Gwillim was awarded the final end on the narrowest of measures. Simpson had the consolation of victory in the Jim Clare Trophy, 21-14 over Vaughan, so this mixed competition is still awaiting a female winner.
New names on Rayleigh's honours board this year will include Natasha Patient who, in her first season on grass, beat Hallam 13-9 in the ladies' two-wood and Margaret Butler 22-8 in the junior.
Ken Kemp's long search for a singles trophy ended when he beat Lindsay Stevenson 21-9 in the men's junior. And Dave Stroud, who had produced a string of good results to reach the men's handicap final, didn't need the help of a four-shot start to overcome Mike Attwood 21-8.
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