Thanks to Manchester Live Streaming for the images
A TAMESIDE village found itself home to some of the world’s greatest sporting talent – that many of you will not have heard of.
For Broadbottom’s Etherow Indoor Bowling Centre hosted the Champion of Champions tournament in the short mat version of the sport.
Players from around the UK and Europe flocked to the event on Saturday, March 15 and Sunday, March 16.
And it was Northern Ireland’s Gary McNabb – under an all-Ireland banner – who came out victorious after defeating compatriot and clubmate Mark Beattie in the final.
That could be construed as somewhat of a shock as the world number 18 toppled the third best on the planet.
“I struggled a bit with the weight early on in the tournament,” said Mr McNabb, who won the trophy, a gold medal and first prize of £1,000.
“But I said to myself, ‘If I can get the first bowl behind the jack, I can work from there.’ So I started to work on it.
“As it went in, I got better. Mark and I have had a few tussles in Ireland but in the most recent ones, he came out on top.
“I had no real tactics, other than don’t leave anything loose. In terms of the titles I’ve won, this is up there at the very top.”
“Gary was very steady for the whole game,” the runner-up, who went home with £700, said. “He missed very little and had very few loose bowls, if any.
“While I was getting very limited results, Gary was getting the maximum.”
England’s Jack Pye and Ben Pay took the bronze medals following their semi-final defeats.
Short mat bowls is a variation of lawn bowls, played on a mat of 40–45 feet with a width of six feet.
And the Etherow Indoor Bowling Centre was set out to host bowlers representing Belgium, Sweden and Norway, as well as all four home nations.
