It was a brilliant day on Saturday for Norfolk in the National Under 18’s Championships at Melton Mowbray IBC. East Harling’s Sid Burton became National Under 18’s champion by beating Kent’s Jack Allard in the final by 13-7. An incredible day for Norfolk’s young starlets saw three of them contest the semi-finals. An all Norfolk game saw Sid Burton reach the final with a 10-7 win against Thetford’s Kacy Suffolk while Chloe Suffolk of Thetford lost by just 10-9 against Kent’s Jack Allard. In the group stages Sid came top in his group with three great wins of 21-2, 21-3 & 16-3. Kacy also won her group with wins of 16-2, 10-4 & 10-8. Not to be outdone by her sister Chloe did likewise with wins of 13-3, 14-8 & 9-6. The younger of Norfolk’s qualifiers, Alfie Woods, gained valuable experience in his group where he achieved a 10-6 win against Essex but went down in his other games but not without a fight. He will be back. In the quarter-finals Sid beat Matthew Harwood of Kent 11-9, Chloe beat Dorset’s Leo White 17-7 and Kacy beat Oskar Bryan of Cornwall 12-5. Sid enjoyed a dream start in the final against Jack Allard with a full house on the opening end. He added a two on the second end to move 6-0 up before Jack Allard opened his account with a single. Sid hit back with three shots on the fourth end and he could almost taste victory. The young Kent bowler kept plugging away though winning the next two ends to cut the deficit to 9-3 but a superb last wood by Sid on the seventh end earned him three shots and an 11-3 lead. He added another single on the next end to move 12-3 up before Jack kept his hopes alive with a three on the ninth end. This left Sid 12-6 ahead with just two ends remaining. An early bowl by Sid on the penultimate end dropped just short of the jack and stayed in place to clinch the young Harling bowler his first National title. The final end was then played with Jack scoring a single leaving Sid Burton the winner by 13-7.
Sid Burton receives National Under 18's Trophy from ESMBA Chairman Barry Hedges
Sid Burton of East Harling and Chloe Suffolk and Kacy Suffolk of Thetford SMBC