Portugal, November 2011

The Cyprus team consisted of:

Players:                      Dorothy Gibbons (Aliathon), Marjorie Healey (Coral Bay),
        Loukas Paraskeva (Aphrodite), Malcolm Rowe (Aphrodite)

Team Manager:         Rod Healey

Gen Assistant:          Maureen Rowe

Logistics:                   John Gibbons

There were just a couple of days break from the Atlantic Championships before the team set off for the European Team Championships in Portugal. We had arranged our arrival in Portugal to allow the team a couple of days to practice and acclimatize. Prior to travelling we had received information on the Vilamoura greens which were reputed to be poor and extremely heavy. However although the greens were not in bad condition, they certainly were very heavy and going to prove a challenge.  The organizers assured us that given a couple of days of good weather, the greens would speed up.  Little did they know that the weather was to get worse and the greens heavier. To counter the elements that we were faced with the Cyprus ladies donned full lifeboat gear to try and stay dry, whereas Malcolm worked on the principal that if he just wore a shirt, there was less to get wet! 

There were 16 Nations teams taking part in the competition, and for the first time, teams representing Turkey, Switzerland and Germany. The competition consisted of Ladies Pairs, Gent’s Pairs and Mixed Rinks disciplines. Games consisted of the best of 2 sets, and on several days, players had to play 3 matches with little or no break between. Our players stood up to the physical side of this very well.

Both Ladies and Men’s Pairs were always close in their match’s, however we came second best more often than not. There were a number of very strong pairs, especially from the UK, who were very familiar with heavy grass greens. Many of the pairs games were played in very heavy rain and our disappointing results were as much down to the green and weather conditions as our bowling skills.  Finishing positions of 10^th in the Men’s Pairs and 13^th in the Ladies Pairs was not the result that we had hoped for.

The Mixed Rinks match’s were normally played early in the day when the greens and the weather were at their kindest. We knew we were in the tough half of the draw with the newer nations drawn in the other half. Our first game, against the Isle of Man, looked good on paper knowing that they had had little or no practice time. However, Cyprus lost the first set but rallied in the second and played to our true potential and won very easily. Perhaps that was the wake up call we needed as we then went from strength to strength. All four players contributed well and gelled together as a team and our positive results against Ireland, England and Israel were evidence of that. Cyprus achieved a superb result finishing 5^th out of 16 in the Mixed Rinks discipline.

Overall the Cyprus team finished 10^th out of the 16 Nations that entered which was a very creditable performance.  

The organisers wanted this to be known as the friendly championships, and indeed they were. There were very good relationships both on and off the greens. Most of the teams were spread around the hotels locally with our own hotel some 10 minutes from the green. There were a number of good restaurants nearby and a number of very enjoyable evenings were had by all.

The next Championships are due in Spain in 2013 when the conditions should be far nearer to that we generally enjoy here in Cyprus.

World Bowls Atlantic Championship

17^th to 30th October, 2011.

Athena Beach Hotel, Cyprus

Proud Sponsors of the 2011 Atlantic Championships.

The Atlantic Championships was the biggest tournament to be held on these shores pitting the Cyprus team against the very best bowlers in the world. The months of training were now history and it was time to see whether the Cyprus team was ready for the challenge posed by some of the best teams in the lawn bowls world.

Cyprus was represented in the Championships by:

Players:                   
Fran Davis, Gill Ford, Chris Lacy, Irene Owen and Tina Woodcock
Alistair Colliar, George Gray, Allen Harvey, Loukas Paraskeva and John Woodcock.

Reserves:                
Marjorie Healey and Jeff Little.

Team Manager:      
Rod Healey.

Assistant Coach:    
Ann Holborn.

A large crowd had gathered in the grounds of the Athena Beach Hotel for the opening ceremony of the tournament and it was evident that the Cyprus team was not going to be short of local and vociferous support.

The first games for both the gents and the ladies were in the triples discipline with the men facing Ireland and the ladies up against Jersey. Ireland soon found Cyprus to be very worthy opponents, trailing the host nation from early on. They never fully recovered and the Cyprus gents recorded a superb win over a very reputable team. The Cyprus ladies also stunned their Jersey opponents and recorded a remarkable 17-5 victory. What a first day!

 Both triples teams continued well but a couple of defeats for the ladies left them needing a win against either Canada or England to qualify for the quarter final play offs. A single shot defeat to Canada and a narrow loss to England left Cyprus just out of the play offs but overall, a very commendable performance from our very inexperienced team of Gill Ford, Fran Davis and Chris Lacy.

The men’s triples team continued to progress and reached the quarter final play offs where they were up against Canada. A winning score of 18-8 did not reflect how close the match was but the Cyprus men were certainly on their game and all three played their part in guaranteeing a bronze medal, at the very least! Celebrations were restrained as the following day promised a semi final clash against Scotland, and the opportunity to improve on our assured third position.

It was a very close game all the way, and although Cyprus had chances, Scotland were too strong on the day and won 14-10. However, at the end of the day, Cyprus had won its first Bronze medal in international competition and that achievement was beyond the hopes and dreams of many. Allen Harvey, Alistair Colliar and Loukas Paraskeva take the medals and the plaudits, and well they deserve it, but everyone in the squad shares in their triumph.

The Cyprus Ladies and Gent’s pair’s teams had a particularly hard tournament against some very tough opposition, and indeed finished their group games well down the table. They never quite recovered from their lowly standing and in the end their performances were not equal to the quality of talent on show from abroad.

The second week of the tournament saw the start of the rinks and singles matches. It was hoped that all of the euphoria and the tiredness from the previous week’s bowling would not affect the Cyprus team performance. The Cyprus men struggled in both the singles and the rinks disciplines and the results were disappointing leaving the team well down the tables in both.

Gill Ford in the Ladies singles lost her first two games narrowly by 2 and 3 shots respectively leaving her a mountain to climb if she was to proceed further. She was unable to recover sufficiently to improve her position, and the situation was exacerbated further with Gill taking ill and unable to continue further. Christine Lacy stepped into the breach and finished Cyprus’s commitment in the Ladies singles. Christine’s place in the Ladies Rink was filled by reserve Marjorie Healey who had sat for 10 days watching the action from the grandstand.

At this stage the Ladies Rink needed to win their remaining two matches to qualify for the play offs. A win against Canada 21-13 set us up nicely for the final game against Jersey and a very efficient performance by all gave us a 17-11 victory.

The quarter final play off against USA was a game where it was felt that Cyprus had a fair chance of victory. However, below par performances on the day saw the USA victorious by a margin of 18-11, and dreams of another medal slipped away. Over the piece, all five members of the Ladies Rink performed very well and to reach the play off stage was in itself a very creditable performance.

The closing ceremony of the Atlantic Championships took place on Sunday 30^th October at the Athena Beach Royal Hotel under a clear blue sky with a cool breeze drifting in from the adjacent Mediterranean.

The ceremony was a very colourful affair with each country’s team resplendent in their team colours and displaying their national flags. The Cyprus team were resplendent in their green and white shirts, which had been sponsored by de Vere Partners of Cyprus.

The Cyprus Gent’s Triples team collected their bronze medals and everyone was proud to see the Cyprus flag raised alongside the likes of England, Scotland and South Africa. The Atlantic Ladies Championship Trophy winners were England from a very close Scotland in the runner-up position. The Gent’s Championship Trophy was an even closer contest with England having the same number of points as Scotland, but edging out Scotland on shot difference.

The World Bowls Atlantic Championships 2011 will live long in the memory of everyone involved in the superb Cyprus performance, both at the playing, coaching and managerial levels.

Finally a very big thank you to the “unsung” heroes, the Cyprus club bowlers, whose hard work and involvement ensured the smooth running of this tournament and contributed to it being such a success. There is little doubt that the visiting players found the Cyprus hosts and the first class bowling facilities to be a resounding success and many look forward to returning to Cyprus, and the Athena Beach Hotel, for future competitions.

The World Cup Indoor Championships

2011

held at the Warilla Bowls Club

Leaving Larnaca Airport on the 5^th April 2011, we travelled to Sydney via a stopover in Hong Kong for three days to reduce Jet lag before the tournament.

On the 9^th April we were met at Sydney International Airport by members of the Warilla BC who took us and the Scottish team who had arrived an hour earlier to our accommodation in Warilla some two hours south of Sydney.

We arrived at the Shell harbour Resort Motel at around midnight and were billeted on the first floor which was less than 50 meters from a busy dual carriageway. As this Motel is also open to the general public there were many other people staying including four couples who were in the rooms beneath our room. They came into their rooms about 1230am, they were drunk, loud and very abusive till 4 to 5 am each morning resulting in our not getting any sleep for the first three days, we found out later that they were there for an Aussie Rules football game.

For three days we complained as did the teams from America, Norfolk Islands, Canada and the United Arab Emirates teams. On the fourth day we made a formal complaint and we were moved to quieter and better accommodation. This had to be done between matches so once again we had no rest and which disturbed our bowling ability.  This also greatly affected our systems which were now completely run down; we both caught bad colds which were being generously shared around the other contestants by the Chinese coach.

The new accommodation was one hundred times better; it was on a quiet caravan site which was on a quiet road within walking distance from the facility. The cabin was self contained see picture  with two bedrooms, a lounge area with TV, kitchen and shower room and for the first time since arriving in Australia we slept for ten hours.

 It took 5 days to recover from the sleepless nights and colds by which time it was too late to do well and get good results in the competition. We both feel that if we had had not had this inconvenience we would have got better results and finished higher up the table.

We feel that the players that Sandi had in the first five days she would in normal circumstances have had a good chance of beating as she was playing the hardest players last, and although being beaten by almost all (only winning one game out of 10) she did beat the Spanish lady and took a set off of the Philippines and the Australian Katie Wright putting her out of the finals.

Mike had his hardest players first gradually getting easier towards the last and managed to win three matches and also took sets off of the Maltese player (although he is actually Australian born who plays at Warilla and lives within a mile of the club and has never been to Malta). The Maltese lady is also Australian and lives in Melbourne. 

The Australian and Southern hemisphere bowlers are bowling machines, all being able to place bowls within 6 to 8 inches of the jack end after end after end. Most of whom have played at international level for 15 to 20 years and are still in their late twenties and early thirties; they have good eyesight and experience and play at this level on a daily basis.

Mike with Bret Wilkie 2010 Australian Indoor Championships – Singles champion and Sandi with Val Smith New Zealand 2010 Silver Medal (Singles), Commonwealth Games, Delhi.

Mike Cooper