Lawn Bowls Club Isle of Man held its annual Junior Championship at Onchan Park at the weekend.  

The junior bowlers aged 15 years all performed very well, with an initial six ends to determine the top two scores prior to a final of eight.

Tyler Eisinger and Joseph Hussey gained the highest scores to progress through to the final.  

After eight ends with players family and club members supporting them, it was Tyler – who only started lawn bowls this season – that managed to win the majority of ends to claim the title of junior lawn bowls champion for 2024.  

Club president Gary Lenton praised the efforts of the juniors and presented the third-place medal to John Long, a previous junior winner, the runner-up medal to Joseph and the winner's trophy to Tyler.     

The committee hopes the juniors continue their bowls during the winter season.     

OFF-ISLAND BOWLS

Off-island, club members competed in the Bowls Europe Championships in Ayr, Scotland recently.  

A team of five women and five men travelled to compete against a strong field of 18 countries including Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland, Channel Islands and even some countries one may not automatically think of as playing lawn bowls, including Hungary and Czech Republic.   

The Isle of Man lawn bowls team represent the island at international bowls events and during the 2024 European Championships were able to claim several successful wins, including against Scotland, England, Netherlands, Spain, Hungary, Czech Republic, Turkey, Israel and Jersey, including two draws and several very close games. 

The team of men’s and women’s singles, pairs, triples and fours each played four or five games but unfortunately they did not make it through to the semi-final stages, although the women’s triples went close.  

Overall, considering they are one of the smaller nations, the Isle of Man team finished in the top 10 overall ahead of larger nations and did extremely well in this championship which bodes well for the next international bowls event in 2025.  

As the outdoor bowls season will be finishing soon, the last competition of the season is the rearranged men’s fours which takes place this Saturday.    

WIN KEWLEY  

For mor information about lawn bowls in the island, visit the Lawn Bowls Isle of Man website at www.lawnbowlsiom.com

Alternatively, follow the club via its social media channels on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), or contact club secretary Win Kewley for further information by emailing [email protected]