Shrophire's Callum Wraight targets another big bowls title

The 36-year-old heads to Blackburn for the re-arranged finals night in the £1,000 31-up Alexandra Classic having enjoyed four more successes in the space of a week as his season gathers pace.

Wraight, a past winner of the Classic crown, faces his good friend Dan Williams as the last eight go into battle – and his form could not be better.

The Shrewsbury giant won three titles at last week’s East Coast Festival based on Scarborough – the set play, two man team and the main singles – and then on Sunday hit the £750 jackpot in the Gordon Swinton Memorial at the Packhorse in Macclesfield.

He beat Bill Speed of Lancashire 21-9 in the final of the one-day competition for 64, having defeated his step father Rich Goddard by the same score in the semi-finals

Fellow Castlefields man Goddard beat another former County Merit winner in Jack Hewitt 21-16 in the last eight on a good day for Premier League bowlers. A spokesman for the Packhorse club said: “After a thrilling day of bowls – with downpours and wind – it came down to Callum Wraight versus Billy Speed in the final.

“Callum, finding his lengths early on in the competition, ended up retaining his trophy.”

After tonight, Wraight has a £500 first prize in the Rhyn Open on Saturday at Weston Rhyn in his sights en route to next week’s Isle of Man September Festival as part of a big Shropshire contingent chasing slices of a huge prize fund.