Northern Singles & Shooting 2019
Heckmondwike, England August 2019Sunday the 18th of August, a wild and windy day in West Yorkshire. Heckmondwike Pétanque Club were the hosts for the Northern Singles & Shooting contests. The winner of the singles would be crowned Northern Singles Champion 2019, with the winner of the shooting not only taking the title of Northern Shooting Champion 2019 but will also have the honor of representing Northern at the Inter-Regionals at Hayling Island in September.
18 participants would battle it out for the Singles title. There were good showings of entries from several clubs, with Trafford fielding 3 players & North Stainley with 4 players in attendance. Although not a club contest, it’s always great to see players out and representing their teams with pride. The rest of the entrants were from around the rest of the weekend and it’s also worth noting that three Northern players who would have normally competed were on voluntary duty at the World Transplant Games in Gateshead.
The contest was played out in three groups, with all the group winners qualifying for the semi-finals. Joining them to make up the top four would be the best runner up from one of the groups. After an intense five rounds of pétanque, the top four were decided. Lee edgar would face Charles Stewart with Matt Blyton competing against the former regional President, Alan Swift.
Taking place alongside the semi finals, the players not making it out of the groups could now start their big for the shooting title. A somewhat low scoring affair, 2019 was guaranteed a new champion after last years winner, David Blyton scored 16. This saw him sat in third place, with Lee edgar taking top spot on 18 points after his elimination in the Singles semi-final.
However, there was still time for change. After an intense final in the singles where Alan fought back from behind to overcome Charles 13 - 10, the two players could now take their chances in the shooting. After a narrow defeat in the singles, this time it was Charles to take the glory with a score of 31 in the shooting, taking the title of Northern Singles Shooting Champion 2019.
