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Irish star Alan Paul won the SMPT World Masters 2019 in Belfast by beating England’s Ed Sawbridge 11-6 in the final. The Irish bowler has now won four SMPT events out of seven while Ed Sawbridge’s consolation is that by reaching the final he has moved top of the SMPT World Rankings. James Trott remains at number two in the rankings with Belgium’s Jonathan Payne dropping one place to third followed by Nigel Nicholls making it three English bowlers in the top four. Isle of Man’s Stephen Gale drops to fifth while Norfolk’s  Jack Pye of Wymondham SMBC remains at number twelve. Jack Pye finished second in Group 30 winning four games out of five to qualify for the main knock-outs with group winner Paul Duff of Ireland who won all his five games. In the first knock-out round Jack Pye beat Ireland’s Jonathan Jacob 7-6 and then beat Marty Trainor, also of Ireland, by 9-8. His involvement though came to an end when he was beaten 9-4 by James Trott in the last 32 stage. Trott went on to reach the quarter-finals where his great run came to an end losing 8-3 to the eventual champion Alan Paul. Debbie Pye finished fifth in Group 7 with her only win a 10-8 victory against Gemma Hamilton and a 7-7 draw against Rob Ferguson gaining her another point. In the Shield knock-out Debbie lost in the first round by 9-7 to John Daniel Jones of Wales. The event was another huge success for the SMPT whose standing in the sport has never been higher as they continue to raise the bar at every event they run throughout Europe. The next SMPT event is at the Falcon Bowling & Social Club in Essex where the SMPT World Cup will take place on Friday 23^rd August and the SMPT UK Open will be played on Saturday 24^th and Sunday 25^th August. Then its back to Belfast for the SMPT Irish Open on the 14^th and 15^th September and then the SMPT Norwegian Open at Skien Fritidspark on 26^th and 27^th October. More details of these and other events can be found on the SMPT website. While on the subject of short mat bowls weekends the nineteenth annual Potters Short Mat Bowls Triples Cup will take place at the five star Potters Resort on the Norfolk coast in September and the weekend will also feature some famous names from the world of darts. Those booking the three night option will enjoy a five course meal with selected wine included on the Sunday evening and the opportunity of seeing top darts personalities Bobby George, Bob Anderson, Keith Deller and Peter Manley as well as comedian Ricky Grover in the Atlas Theatre on the Sunday evening following the completion of the Potters Cash Pairs event. The Potters Short Mat Triples Cup will take place on the Saturday as normal. For the weekend event competitors will book in on Friday 20^th September. Your place can be booked for £262 which is a saving of £106 on the £368 brochure price. A booking form can be found on the Norfolk CSMBA website under Open Competitions or phone Teresa on 01603-403628. Please be aware that entry to the Potters Cup cannot be made through Potters Resort only Teresa. Any bookings inadvertently made directly through Potters Resort will be charged at full brochure place and will not include entry into the Potters Cup in the International Arena. Due to the high level of early bookings for this event all single accommodation is already gone but doubles and twins are still available at this time.