Boston bowlers win National Pairs title

Boston Indoor Bowls Club duo Scott Whyers and Jonathan West triumphed in the Open Pairs category of the EIBA Summer competition to become National Champions for 2026 at the Finals Weekend at Melton Mowbray.

To reach Finals Weekend they had progressed through four rounds of qualifying during the summer months against opponents from Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. 

In the quarter-final at Melton, they saw off two Welsh international bowlers from Bristol, 22-12, then convincingly beat a pair from Northampton 21-9 to reach the final.

In the final they started slowly against two good bowlers from Hartlepool, but quickly found their rhythm and played strongly to win 20-11. 

Becoming National Champions is a fantastic achievement given the quality of the bowlers taking part in the competition.

A recent tradition at the start of a new indoor season at Boston IBC has been the Gentlemen vs Ladies match, played across six rinks with 48 bowlers taking part. 

The Gentlemen won overall with five rinks victorious and an overall advantage of 70 shots. 

The best men’s rink was skipped by Nathan Dunnington as they dominated the game to win 40-4. 

Sandra Copeland’s rink gave the Ladies some cheer as they won 16-12, having led throughout. 

Of the other winning men’s rinks, the closest game saw Alex Tomlin victorious by 20-18, having been 2-15 down at half-way.

Action in the Night League last week saw Strollers maintain their two-point advantage over Holland Fen in the Orchard Health Group First Division as they both recorded 6-0 wins. 

Strollers beat Golfers 21-15 and 18-13, while Holland Fen were too good for Nomads, winning 25-9 and 21-12.

Breakaways are clear in third after taking four points from their game with Desperados, Nick Whitmore’s rink winning convincingly 29-10. 

Dave Allen took two points for Desperados, his rink winning 22-15.

A40 beat IBC 4-2 to claim their first points of the season, but IBC’s two points were enough to keep them in fourth spot. 

Andy Scotney’s rink won 19-13, enough to also ensure the extras for shot aggregate, while Richard Allam won 13-11.

Invaders took all the points when beating Optimists, with Nathan Dunnington and his rink putting in a masterly performance to win 24-5, Scott Whyers also winning 23-14.

Parthians won 29-9 and 19-13 for all six points against Dynamics.

Hotspurs are top of Cammacks Division Two after beating Kingfishers 6-0, with wins of 20-13 for Scot Gray and 15-11 for Mike Long. 

They have a cushion of four points over Royal Mail in second who took all the points against Burtons, with Phil Knapp’s rink winning convincingly 25-8 and Ivan Gill’s 17-13.

Woodpeckers beat Amateurs 4-2, Sean Hutley having a very good game skipping his rink to win 19-7. 

Amateurs took the other rink 15-10 to record the first win for Tom Wickes, bowling with Les Penniston and Michelle Wickes.

Vectors beat Shipmates 4-2, both teams scoring their first points of the season, with Kevin Rockall winning 29-6 and Mick Ross, 23-10.