BLACKBURN bowler Mick Chapman won the £1,000 Vaux Classic staged at the Rishton Free Gardeners WMC last Sunday. He beat Liverpool's Aiden Kenny in a very one-sided final to collect the £300 first prize.
Aiden's passage to the final began with a very competitive game against Mick Opie from Haslingden, winning 21-18, then another close game with Accrington's John Eborall, a match that could have gone either way, but Aiden just found the good bowls when required to give him a 21-17 victory. Then came a surprisingly easy 21-11 win in the semi-final over Blackpool's Alan Ward, who was fancied to go all the way to the final.
Mick's path to the final had some very hard stumbling blocks in the form of last year's finalists. First came Frank Lord from Rawtenstall who lost 21-12 then local favourite John Chatwin, who was unlucky to lose 21-19 in a game that had the substantial crowd enthralled until the final bowl was delivered.
Then came the semi-final against last year's winner Chris Slater - a Yorkshire county bowler from Keighley -a game that was level across at 5-5, 9-9 and 16-16, from which point Mick upped the tempo to give him the 21-17 win to enter the final against Aiden. After the three hard games to reach the final, Mick strolled to the championship with a 21-6 win never being threatened by Aiden who could not match the accuracy to which he was subjected by a player on top of his form.
Results - Last 16: Mick Opie (Haslingden) 18, Aiden Kenny (Liverpool) 21; Alan Fidler (Billinge) 12, John Eborall (Accrington) 21; John Hanson (Chipping) 21, Graham Roberts (Rishton) 9; Alan Ward (Blackpool) 21, Ian McNeil (Rawtenstall) 12; Frank Lord (Rawtenstall) 12, Mick Chapman (Haslingden) 21; John Chatwin (Rishton) 21, Ken Channell (Gt Harwood) 7; David Scott (Silsden) 14, Brian Tomlinson (Blackburn) 21; Chris Slater (Keighley) 21, Ray Turner (Chatburn) 10.
Quarter-final: Aiden Kenny 21, John Eborall 17; John Hanson 16, Alan Ward 21; Mick Chapman 21, John Chatwin 19; Brian Tomlinson 8, Chris Slater 21.
Semi-final: Aiden Kenny 21, Alan Ward 11; Mick Chapman 21, Chris Slater 17.
Final: Aiden Kenny 6, Mick Chapman 21.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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