Current Bure Singles Champion Chris Mann was seeded to play in the Woodbastwick heat but his recent decision to reduce his bowling commitments saw him withdraw from the event. A wildcard draw saw Halvergate invited to enter a player to fill the spot and current National Under 18’s champion Ryan Fox was his replacement. Fox opened well with a 10-6 win against Thorpe Marriott’s Andy George and followed that with a 13-6 win against Robbie Lamb of Halvergate. By the third game Fox was flying as he stormed to an 18-2 win against Vic Durrant of Horsford BC and he completed the evening’s play with another huge win, 18-1 against Dave Brown of Horsford Heroes. Robbie Lamb secured the second qualifying position by winning his other three games. He beat Vic Durrant 15-7, Dave Brown by 13-4 and Andy George by 9-6. Last season’s runner-up David Lamb of Halvergate was the seeded player at the Horsford Heroes heat and took no prisoners as he rattled off four straight wins. He opened in style with a 13-2 win against Woodbastwick’s Lianne Mills before beating Mick Harris of Windows 15-6 in his second game. East Tuddenham’s John Turner was his next victim as Lamb cruised to a 13-3 win. Lamb’s last game provided him with his hardest game of the night but he emerged with a 9-8 win against Hevingham’s David Sharpe. That was Sharpe’s only defeat of the evening though and he collected five points to secure the second qualifying spot for finals night. In his first game Sharpe had beaten Lianne Mills by 11-8 and in his second he beat John Turner 15-4 before drawing 11-11 with Mick Harris. At the heat hosted by Halvergate seeded player Melly Woods opened with a 14-3 win against Andy Drummie of Windows and never looked back. Woods then beat Hevingham’s Steve Hall 7-6, Peter Fox of Horsford Heroes by 14-2 and finished off with an 11-4 win against Paul Isgate of Horsford BC. The other qualifying place was decided when Steve Hall played Andy Drummie in the final session. Both bowlers were level on four points each but Hall had a better shot difference going into the game. This proved to be the vital factor when the game was drawn 9-9 so Steve Hall clinched the second qualifying spot. Halvergate’s Jason Woods won the Hevingham heat after opening with a 12-4 win against Tony Turner of Thorpe Marriott before beating Woodbastwick’s Les Harman 19-3. The third session saw Woods draw 8-8 with East Tuddenham’s Robert Howlett who had already beaten Woodbastwick’s Les Harman 11-4 and the seeded Margaret Harman by 12-4. Jason Woods won his final game by 17-4 against Margaret Harman leaving him on seven points. Howlett in second place on five points was already guaranteed to go through to Finals Night so a decision was made by the players not to play the fifth session so Woods was declared the heat winner with Howlett as runner-up.
Ryan Fox - brilliant results in Bure Singles heat at Woodbastwick