Isle of Man bowlers enjoyed a successful trip to the Canary Islands to take part in the 2026 edition of the Tenerife Open Pairs last week.

The event is a very popular pairs tournament in the annual bowls calendar, with the entry including a sprinkling of international players from across the UK and some of the best from the host nation and Spain.

This year was no different and a quality field battled through a week-long competition for the coveted trophy.

The Manx bowlers making the trip were Karen and David Slack together with Bernice and Clive McGreal who have competed previously at this event, with David and Clive claiming the title in 2024 and David repeating the trick last year with a local partner.

Having enjoyed some recent success at the senior Atlantic Mixed Fours event in Cyprus just before Christmas where they won gold in the plate competition amidst 24 competing nations, the Manxies were full of confidence for this tournament.

The women's pairing of Bernice and Karen had a tough draw in their group matches in order to win through to the playoff stages and they achieved that with some aplomb.

In their pool phase, David and Clive had an equally difficult route through to the knockouts with fine results against previous winners and notable locals from the host club who are always dangerous to play on their home turf.

With both Manx pairs progressing through the quarter-finals with some fine performances, fate intervened to draw them together in the semi-final.

This is another first for Lawn Bowls Isle of Man, having achieved two pairs at the last-four stage at any recognised regional or national open event.

Such achievement is classified as a performance qualification standard by the Isle of Man Commonwealth Games Association for this year's Games in Glasgow.

The semi-final clash was a classic, with the women dominating play for much of the match with precision bowling and composure.

With only four ends remaining and nine shots behind, the men needed something special. As the momentum changed, some exceptional shots from Clive and David brought the pairs level after 18 ends, forcing a tie-break which is just a single-end shootout.

In a match of epic proportions, it was Clive who managed to deliver the shot that counted and took the men into the final.

While the women were naturally disappointed by the result, they can rightly proud of their performance on the day.

In the final Clive and David came up against the Scottish pairing of Andy Spiers and Stuart Hulme, multiple previous winners of the event who have travelled to Tenerife over many years to play in this tournament.

The final was a closely-contested affair with some great shots on display and, despite their best efforts, it was not to be for the Manx pair as they lost out by only a couple of shots 19-17.

The players would like to thank host club Tenerife Green Bowls for its first-class administration of this top event.