The Rheuben Thomas Memorial junior trophy event was played for in very hot conditions at North Ramsey Bowling Club on Saturday.

In its second year of competition, it attracted 28 junior bowlers from across the island.

The competitors were divided into seniors and juniors, dependent on age. The juniors were then divided into two groups, A and B, who played a round-robin format of seven ends.

The winner of group A was Bailey McMullan and the winner of group B was Olivia Johnson.

Both girls then played a seven-end final which was very close with Bailey narrowly finishing in front to claim the under-11 round-robin title.

The senior group of 17 bowlers played a knockout competition of 11 ends, providing some excellent bowling for the large number of spectators to enjoy.

The early rounds left eight bowlers in the quarter-finals. Grace Gawne defeated Clark Kelly 10-6, Madison McMullan beat Shannon McMullan 13-3, Ryan Hargraves beat Alex Hampson 8-6, while Aalish Moore got the better of Alex Colquitt 7-6.

The semi-final between Ryan and Aalish was very close with the latter winning 9-7, but a more convincing win in the other semi between Madison and Grace 13-3 took Madison through to the final.

This was played over 13 ends and Madison managed to maintain the quality of bowling she had shown all morning to win 17-2, however the score did not reflect how well Aalish had played all morning in tough matches to reach the final.

At the end of the competition Rheuben Thomas’s widow Heidi presented the prizes, along with a bronze medallion for each competitor to mark the occasion.

Her daughter, Milli, thanked the North Ramsey Club for running the event and all the competitors for taking part.

Pat Lenton