Weekend wonder Callum Wraight at the double

All the latest action from around the county’s bowling greens.

The man who reigns over Shropshire bowls headed to the Fleetwood Festival £1,800 richer after winning two titles in 24 hours.

Terrific at Todmorden – Callum Wraight with the trophy and some of his local admirers | Contributed

placeholder image — Terrific at Todmorden – Callum Wraight with the trophy and some of his local admirers | Contributed

Callum Wraight brushed aside Potteries ace Garry Owen to hit the £1,000 Jackpot in the Bridgewater Open 64 at the Whitchurch club.

And next day in Todmorden the 39-year-old Castlefields king produced a string of red-hot performances in the continuing heat to win the £2,650 Walsden Classic with its £800 first prize.

Wraight stunned his Midlands rival Greg Smith 21-7 in the final, having earlier raced past big guns Chris Kelly 21-13, Chris Mordue 21-17 and Gareth Coates 21-6 on finals day.

In Shropshire the previous day Wraight had Lee Brown as his 21-14 semi-final victim and his weekend feats put him in the perfect mood for Fleetwood week, where he has enjoyed great success over the years.

Bridgewater promoter Richard Proudlove managed to fill all but one of the 64 places and the quarter-final results were: Wraight 21 Paul Bradley 14; Brown 21 Peter Farmer 16; Owen 21 Leighton Roberts 12; Nathan Lacey 21 Chris Dodds 12.

Molson Coors Mid Shropshire League Monday Merit

Smiling Monday Merit finalists – winner Steve Watkins and Stefan Whitehouse | Contributed

A title and trophy he missed out on two years ago is now safely in the keeping of Steve Watkins.

The Sir John Bayley bowler is the Molson Coors Mid Shropshire League’s new Monday Merit champion, having lost in the 2024 final to county selector Mick Jones.

This time, at Edgmond on Saturday night, Watkins was not prepared to be runner up again, powering away from Bowring’s Stefan Whitehouse to lead 9-2 in the vital showdown.

“But Stefan came back to lead 12-11 before Steve pushed on again to go 19-12, only for Stefan to fight back again back to 19-17 in the corners, Steve finally then getting the two he needed,” said a league spokesman.

“The semi-finals saw Steve be 8-0 and 16-2 up on fellow Bayley bowler Ben Delves and win 21-9 while Stefan again rallied from 8-4 down to junior Jamie Pritchard (Horsehay) – a finalist in this last year – to run out from 11-9 up.”

A record entry of 76 produced a finals day field of 16 and a decent crowd saw a proud Watkins secure the £60 top prize.

Earlier in the day the league’s first round robin event at Bowring was won by Logan Church, beating John Potter 21-14 in an all-Sinclair final, while the consolation prize went to Owen Cherrington (Wrockwardine Wood).

Grace Howells Doubles

A duo from the Telford Ladies Afternoon Bowling League table-toppers proved the tops in its Grace Howells Doubles too.

Louise Cotton and Georgia Rawlins coped best on a Newport green that got quicker as the action to cope with 14 entries continued.

It ended with them beating Lisa Wilson and Amanda Hardman (Sir John Bayley) 21-9 in the final, leading to their Bowring team-mate and league secretary Carol Faulkner presenting them with the trophy.

“The competition was well supported with 14 entries plus a good attendance of supporters and the losing semi-finalists were Chris Riley and Gill Baker (SJB) and Jane Wherton and Verena Swinnerton (Worfield),” said Faulkner.