Shropshire's Callum Wraight bounces back for a tournament double
A quiet spell, including a couple of near-misses, has been ended in sensational style by Shropshire bowls great Callum Wraight.
The Castlefields king returned to what he does best at the weekend, winning two tournaments worth £1,600 in prize money and qualifying for the finals of another open in Blackburn.
Having finally come to terms with not qualifying to try and defend the British Senior Merit crown, Wraight struck a £1,000 jackpot by triumphing in the Hadfield Open Classic on Saturday at the Glossop club.
And not content with that, the 36-year-old made the short trip to Urmston next day and won the Flixton Invitation 64 to net another £600. He survived a 21-20 scare against Gareth Coates first game as the last 16 set off at Hadlfield, but 21-11 and 21-17 victories followed before he defeated Jack Hargreaves 21-18 in the final.
Competition promoter Peter Conway said: “Congratulations to Callum and commiserations to Jack – it was a great final.”
Wraight beat one his fellow greats of the game, Yorkshire star Chris Mordue 21-17, to come out on top from a quality line-up at Flixton.
That started with a 21-10 win over Hargreaves and included 21-9 wins over Welsh star John Bailey in the last eight and another in the semi-finals against Sam Day.
Wraight’s partner Zoe Edward declared: “Another great win from Sunday at Flixton, beating one of the greatest 17 in the final.
“A great weekend all round after also qualifying in Blackburn on Sunday night!”
Now the Shrewsbury-based father of two turns his attention to the Garswood Hall Super 8 Invitational today at the Wigan club when he joins Mordue and the in-form Graeme Wilson in chasing a £400 first prize in a 31-up knockout.
The agony of losing in last year’s final of the Oswestry Merit has been eased by a title success for league officer Trevor Roberts.
Johnstown bowler Roberts, the league’s fixture secretary, won the Oswestry Veterans Singles when 33 contested the title at The Rhyn.
He beat Dilwyn Edwards of Llanymynech 21-14 in Sunday’s final, organiser Roger Candlin saying: “Congratulations to Trevor and thank you to The Rhyn Bowling Club for their hospitality.”
But Roberts had a scare in the semi-finals before easing past Paul Salisbury 21-20 while Edwards was defeating Mark Kirkham to 16.
Quarter-final scores: Dilwyn Edwards 21 John Edwards 13; Mark Kirkham 21 John Martin 20; Trevor Roberts 21 Mel Jones 17; Paul Salisbury 21 Mike Callaghan 15.
