Champion of Champions 2023

This year's event was held over 3-4 June at the Stanley Indoor Bowling Centre, County Durham. Rinks Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Sunderland were all off to winning starts. But only Suffolk were able to repeat their win in the second round of games, and therefore led the way. Sunderland were second, still undefeated, after drawing. Suffolk took a comfortable victory over nearest rivals Sunderland in the next session, extending their lead at the top to 2 points, with Herts moving into second with their first win, although they hadn’t yet lost a game. Saturday ended with the top 2 teams playing one another, a game which ended in a draw, leaving Suffolk still 2 points clear, Herts still unbeaten, and tied with Essex and Sunderland for second place. Suffolk and Sunderland both won at the start of Sunday. Suffolk maintained that 2 point gap at the top, but Essex lost, to fall out of contention. Just as the competition was starting to look like it might be settled, along comes a curveball. Durham dropped Suffolk to their first defeat, but with Sunderland only able to draw, Suffolk still held the lead, although it was now down to a single point over both Sunderland and Durham. The closest challengers did all they could in their final games, by winning, but Suffolk did so too, with their result in little doubt after picking up 4 on the first end. Suffolk finished on 11 points, Sunderland and Durham were a point back, and Hertfordshire one further point behind. Winners - Tom & Sam Runnacles and Clint & Emma Watling (Suffolk) Triples Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, and Sunderland all won their first games. Of those four, only Essex and Hertfordshire won their second games, although Cambridgeshire drew to stay undefeated. Herts continued their winning streak, and were now sole leaders, as Cambridgeshire dropped Essex to their first defeat, and moved into second. Both Herts and Cambs both won again in Saturday’s final games, and were pulling away from the rest of the field. They were on 8 and 7 points respectively, with Essex next best on 5 points. For Hertfordshire, Sunday started as Saturday finished, with fifth win, but Cambridgeshire fell to a last end defeat against Norfolk. That mean that with 2 games to go, Hertfordshire were now 3 points clear of Cambridgeshire, and had one hand on the trophy. However, Hertfordshire throwing away a good start in their penultimate game, against Essex, and fell to their first loss. But luckily for them, Cambridgeshire could only manage a draw, which meant that with a game to go, Herts led both Norfolk and Cambridgeshire by 2 points. Herts would play Cambridgeshire in their final game, so it was still possible for the title to go one of three ways. Norfolk’s challenge faltered as they lost heavily, so it was all going to be down to Herts v Cambridgeshire. It should have been a close game, but it wasn’t. Cambridgeshire go their noses in front early, and pulled away to a comfortable 11-2 victory, to take the overall win by 7 shots. The top two finished on 10 points, followed by Suffolk and Essex, both just one point behind. Winners - Jamie Smith and Amy & Simon Missing (Cambridgeshire) Pairs Hertfordshire, Northumberland, Sunderland and Durham all began with wins, with Herts and Northumberland repeating that result in their second games, to jointly lead the way. Those two teams made it 3 wins out of 3, putting them already 3 points clear of the pack. Hertfordshire continued their runs of winning games, as Saturday came to a close, but Northumberland finally faltered, suffering a big loss against Sunderland. Herts now led the field by 2 points, with Northumberland still second. Sunday began with Hertfordshire continuing their run of wins, and extending their lead to 3 points, with Sunderland now moving into second. And it was those two teams who would meet in the penultimate round of games, a win for Sunderland would open the competition up again, but it didn’t go that way. Herts ticked off end after end, to win the game 9-2, and secure the title. Having already won, Hertfordshire almost stumbled at the last, having been behind from the first end, they picked up a 3 on the final end against Northumberland, to grab one final win, and finish with a perfect record, fully 5 points clear of Cambridgeshire and Sunderland. Winners - Craig & Rebecca Hearn (Hertfordshire) Singles Likely to be the most competitive of the four competitions, Durham, Suffolk, Northumberland and Norfolk started with wins, and of those, only Northumberland were unable to repeat that win, making it a three-way tie for the lead. Suffolk took on Durham in the third round of games, and won, and with Norfolk falling to an unexpected loss, it was now Suffolk in the sole lead. Suffolk and Norfolk played one another in their final game on Saturday, and it went the way of Norfolk, meaning that they both finished the day on 6 points, to jointly lead the way, while Durham, Sunderland, Essex, Hertfordshire and Northumberland were all on 4 points. Seven of the eight still in with a shout. Things became a little clearer as Sunday began, Norfolk won, and Suffolk lost, meaning that there were now the sole leader, with Durham, Suffolk and Essex 2 points behind. Norfolk won again to maintain their 2 point lead. Durham and Suffolk also won to keep within range. And with Norfolk and Durham facing off in the last round, it was all up for grabs. A draw would do it for Norfolk, but it was never going to be that easy, Durham had pulled out a 4 shot lead with 2 ends to go. Norfolk grabbed back one on the next, and with one final wood to be bowled by Durham, were holding the 3 needed to pull off a miraculous draw, and take the overall win. But Durham made that last wood count, doing just enough to get third, and take an 8-7 win. Suffolk also won, which meant all three were tied on 10 points, but Durham already had a big shot advantage, and took the title by 11 shots over Suffolk, with Norfolk finishing third. Winner - Ian Clark (Durham) Team With two sessions played, it was incredibly close, Hertfordshire, Durham and Essex were all on 10 points, with Suffolk a point behind. The third round was good for Herts and Suffolk, who each collected maximum points, while everyone else struggled, and a big gap opening up over the rest of the field. Saturday’s final session saw Hertfordshire do well, while Suffolk struggled. Herts were on 25 points, Suffolk 20, and Sunderland and Essex were on 16 points. Hertfordshire and Suffolk held their relative positions after the first round of games on Sunday, but the gap at the top narrowed slightly in the next round, to just 3 points. Meanwhile, Sunderland had moved into in a clear 3rd place. The penultimate round of games saw no change, Hertfordshire led on 33 points, Suffolk were next best on 30, and Sunderland were third on 26, with Norfolk closing in on them, just a point further back. Suffolk were only able to match Hertfordshire in the final round of games, which meant that Hertfordshire regained the title by a 3 point margin. Winners - Hertfordshire RINKS Pts Shots Suffolk 11 66 Durham 10 65 Sunderland 10 57 Hertfordshire 9 63 Cambridgeshire 6 51 Norfolk 5 50 Essex 5 46 Northumberland 0 36 TRIPLES Pts Shots Cambridgeshire 10 63 Hertfordshire 10 56 Suffolk 9 63 Essex 9 50 Norfolk 8 56 Sunderland 5 56 Northumberland 3 47 Durham 2 43 PAIRS Pts Shots Hertfordshire 14 75 Cambridgeshire 9 57 Sunderland 9 54 Northumberland 8 52 Suffolk 6 50 Norfolk 4 56 Durham 4 31 Essex 2 36 SINGLES Pts Shots Durham 10 71 Suffolk 10 60 Norfolk 10 53 Sunderland 6 50 Hertfordshire 6 48 Essex 6 47 Cambridgeshire 4 42 Northumberland 4 36 TEAM Pts Shots Hertfordshire 39 242 Suffolk 36 238 Sunderland 30 217 Cambridgeshire 29 213 Norfolk 27 215 Durham 26 210 Essex 22 179 Northumberland 15 171 You can find all the weekend's results here. Full list of the past winners here. And there's a series of videos of some of the weekend's games here.

updated 05/06/23