​Kyleakin Indoor Bowling  Club

Norma has completed her "Great Wall" walk in aid of the MacMillan Cancer Support. As she said on her return, "...it was incredibly tough but just fantastic and a photographers dream!!"

When Norma received our donation before leaving, she sent us a lovely thank you note which I would like to pass on:

Dear all,

I was taken by surprise this morning when a gentleman arrived at my door with an envelope with £170 in it! I would like to thank you all for this kind kind donation to my Macmillan fundraising which, with your donation added to it, stands at £5,412.64. An amount I never thought in a million years I would achieve but once again I have been so touched by the kindness and generosity of so many. I am looking forward to my adventure which begins on the 22nd of April and am more than ready to take on the Great Wall of China especially with such huge support around me.

Thank you again.

Norma Morrison.

In fact, Norma raised considerably more than the £5412.64. It was actually in the region of £11,000! Again, in her words, "Just amazing and as I said I have already said I have been overwhelmed by the huge support I have had."

It was a fantastic effort Norma, and I hope a wonderful experience you will savour for a long, long time, not just for the trip but for the amount you raised. We all heartily congratulate you.

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I am sure we all want to wish every success to Chris & Jill Mackinnon and to Roddy Gillies and Craig Cummings who are all travelling down to Manchester from Skye & Lochalsh to represent Scotland in this year's World Championships. 

We have provided a link to the page for the World Championships information and results as they happen. Please check on our Links page for this.

David McH.

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Many of the group games were very tightly contested, with little to choose between players. Because time was running short, and unfortunately for those who narrowly missed out, it was decided to have just the two group winners play each other in a final instead of winners and runners-up advancing to semi-finals.

So Dave Harrigan, who had been on fine form throughout his group games, played David McHutchison who sneaked through by a very narrow margin over Roddy Morrison, meaning the write-up of the final would inevitably be confusing. With that final being just 4 ends, and David 2-0 down to Dave after two ends, it was looking like Dave would be the winner - but there was a twist in the plot to come. The remaining two ends saw David pull back and finally win by a single shot.

There, I hope that wasn’t too confusing!

David McH.

The SLLBA Pairs were held in Kyleakin with a very healthy 18 pairs contesting the title. After the qualifying groups were completed and the quarter finals played, the two semi finals were contested by David McHutchison and John Booth (Kyleakin) playing Scottish Winners Roddy Gillies and Craig Cummings (Kintaill). The other semi would see Dave and Heather Harrigan (Kyleakin) playing previous winners and clubmates Kenny Macpherson and Chris Mackinnon. David and John, who had played to a consistently high level all day, managed to narrowly beat Roddy and Craig and in another close game Kenny and Chris prevailed. The final looked to be heading for another win for Kenny and Chris as they led 7-0 after 5 ends but Dave and John had other ideas and chipped away at the lead and found themselves 9-7 up with an end to play. Kenny and Chris were lying one shot, with the final bowl needing to count to force an extra end, but Chris’s effort fell short to give David and John a well deserved victory.

Chris Mackinnon

The 5th,6th, and 7th February saw the usual contingent of west coast bowlers travel to Dumfries for the annual tilt at the Scottish Short Mat Championships on the Friday with the Open Triples and Pairs competitions held on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

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There were varying levels of success but the main achievement was Craig Cummings and Roddy Gillies of Kintail winning the Scottish Pairs title. Craig and Roddy played the defending champions in the final, who they had comprehensively beaten in the round robin stages, but the final was a much closer event with the Kintail pair securing victory in the last end.

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In the Triples Championships the Kyleakin trio of Jill Mackinnon, Kevin Lawley and skip Chris Mackinnon fought their way through to the final but there was to be no happy ending for them as they were outplayed by a very strong Stranraer trio.

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Twice winner in the past, Dave Harrigan, did supremely well to play his way into the semi-final of the singles and in a very tight tussle with the eventual winner, Sandy Macdonald, Dave couldn’t find the two shots he required to force an extra end.

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The fours of Rose Mary Finnie, Sandra Dew, Geoff Harrington, and skip Roddy Morrison found themselves up against it in a very strong group, and with only the winner advancing to the knock out stages, failed narrowly to make it.

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Chris Mackinnon.

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Note: please see our gallery of photos from the weekend.

January's monthly medal saw Kevin Lawley in unbeatable form, sweeping away all before him in both the group and knockout stages. Congratulations Kevin, a well-deserved and dominant victory!

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My apologies for the tardiness of this news item. It was not, as some have suggested, due to our surprise at Kevin not finishing second but was, in fact, due to my Internet service disappearing for a couple of weeks.

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David.

This year's Singles Championship was well attended with 6 groups of either 5 or 6 players. It may have been cold outside but competition inside was hot. Almost everyone found conditions difficult with early ends seeing a large number of bowls off the carpets, even from some of the most experienced players. The dreaded carpet 6 was causing a few raised eyebrows and scowls. Much would come down to who would adapt quickly.

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Group winners and runners-up plus the next 4 best performing players made it through to the knockout stage. Unusually this saw 4 players through from just one group. All four had finished with 3 wins and 2 losses, so perhaps justice was done there.

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Two players who had played strongly throughout the day made it through the knockout stages to the final: Ian Sikorski and Kevin Lawley. Neither was new to the final, Ian having won twice before and Kevin having been runner-up for the last two years. Would he be able to go one step further this year? Well, he got off to a good start, taking a single in the first end, but then Ian came back strongly taking two shots in each of the next three ends. With his back to the wall now, Kevin fought back with two singles, leaving him three behind with two ends to play. In the next end the jack was pushed awkwardly towards the edge of the carpet and, despite his best efforts, Kevin was unable to prevent Ian taking two shots to move into an unassailable lead.

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So the day ended with Ian taking his third SLLBA Singles title, and Kevin his third successive runner-up spot. Rumour has it that next year he'll be playing in a bridesmaid's dress. Congratulations to Korky for his well deserved win after fine play throughout the day.

This year saw 12 teams entered. Very sadly our own John Govier had to withdraw the night before because of a death in the family. However, Roddy Morrison agreed to step in even though he had not intended to play in his own event this year due to a painful knee problem.

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Play began shortly after 9.30am with two groups of six, each match lasting 7 ends. Some very tight games, and some not so tight, left the unbeaten Chris & Jill McKinnon and Lennie Chiffers as winners of group 1, with Dave & Heather Harrigan and David McHutchison runners-up. In group 2, Ian Sikorski, John Booth and their substitute, Roddy Morrison, were unbeaten through their first four games, with some of those wins being quite substantial, securing their place in the finals. When they found themselves 14-0 down after 5 ends of their final group game, there were a lot of bemused expressions and even some talk that they now might not even win the group!  Competition for the last remaining semi-final place was intense though, with it all coming down to the final bowl, which saw Kevin & Sue Lawley and Roddy MacKerlich squeeze through as runners-up.

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The first semi did not go to the form book at all, with Kevin, Sue, and Roddy beating Chris, Jill, and Lennie. Meanwhile the other semi reached 9-9 after 9 ends, needing an extra end to see Dave Harrigan’s triple defeat Ian Sikorski’s.

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The final was a close affair, swinging one way then the other. It was eventually decided by a brilliant final bowl from Dave Harrigan, trailing the jack into the ditch and leaving Kevin no way to turn the result around.

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All in all it was another successful and enjoyable day. Sincere thanks must go to everyone who contributed to the running of the day, and of course to our sponsor for the triples, Roddy Morrison.

A slightly belated congratulations to our deserving Christmas Pairs winners, Ian Sikorki and Sandra Dew. In spite of moving to a different - and awkwardly playing - carpet for their semi-final, they settled in quickly and never looked like faltering. The final was much the same story so nobody could deny they were very worthy winners. Well done Korky & Sandra!

Some very tight games in the groups saw Geoff, John G, and Kevin go through to the semis as group winners with David McH joining them as best runner-up. Geoff continued his good form, narrowly beating David in one semi, while John G triumphed over Kevin in the other. However, it was Geoff who was able to raise his game to take the final. Congratulations Geoff!

Last week saw a triumphant return for Roddy Morrison who romped to victory in our October Monthly Medal in spite of having his knee in a brace and needing a crutch to get around. Roddy saw off David McHutchison in his semi and Jill MacKinnon despatched Geoff Harrington in hers but was unable to cope with Roddy's consistently fine play in the final. 

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Congratulation go also to Kevin Lawley for winning our delayed September medal in similarly dominant style.

We were all acutely aware that this was the first time the club had met since the sad loss of Donald Adams. The suggestion that we introduce a trophy in Donald's name was very popular, and it will be played for at our Visitors' Competition later this month.