Men’s 100 Up Singles Championship

The Finals of the Men’s 100-Up Championships were completed on Sunday 10th October in mild conditions with a light to occasionally moderate breeze, first from the northeast and then switching to the southwest. In the quarter-finals, Alan Walton had a convincing win over John Sturk, while Ross Cunningham prevailed over Frank Tyson and Paul Knight beat Jan Konig in closer matches. The final match saw Barney Fleiser open up a good early lead over Gary Bayne before Gary fought back to win a cliffhanger 101 to 99.

The first Semifinal was won by Cunningham over Bayne with Cunningham starting strongly and never being headed, although Bayne put in some good counters to extend the game to 19 ends. Knight had to work harder against Walton, with the game being tied at 75 apiece after 15 ends, but Knight finished strongly to win 101 to 89.

The Final between Knight and Cunningham was a very close affair, with some classic draw bowling and the occasional on-shot, watched by a small but appreciative crowd. Ultimately, the slightly more consistent bowling of Knight narrowly prevailed, but not without major twists to the script in the last two ends. On the 19th end, Knight was lying for 9 points, which would have given him the win, before Cunningham came precisely through the head to move the jack back, tie the end and leave the score at 94-96. Down the last end Cunningham took control of the head and was lying 7 points, before Knight’s final drive – the first one of the match – took the jack back to the ditch giving him 8 points and the win.

Pictured: Chair of Match Dan Greig (L) presents winner Paul Knight with his trophy.