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Blackthorn British skittles championship
...over £6,000 of prize money plus trophies up for grabs!
Skittles Championship 2013
Welcome to the 10th Blackthorn British Skittles Championship homepage!"James Rushton, captain of the triumphant Highwaymen men's champions when asked how he felt, said "Overwhelmed and emotional. We scraped through into the finals and I thought if we could survive the first round, we'd have a chance. We were fielding the same team. We've won lots of stuff and we're experienced but even so….this is the most fantastic feeling. We got off to a good start today and hung on there. Just amazing." James Rushton, Men's Champions - Highwaymen "Jan Miller speaking about the first title win for the Jolly Girls said: 'We're elated to win. We've always been the bridesmaid but not tonight. We've been playing together on and off for thirty years. The secret of our success? We're a very tight knit team. We had a wobble in the middle of the final but came good." Jan Miller, Ladies Champions – Jolly Girls "Chris Stolworthy reflecting on Lucky Devils winning the mixed trophy for the second year in succession: 'It was very tight at the end but we hung on in there. It was the same team as last year. We've only entered twice and won both times. We've never been beaten. Next year’s target is three times in a row." Chris Stolworthy, Mixed Champions – Lucky Devils The ChampionshipsOn Saturday 21st September 64 teams started their quest to become the Blackthorn British Skittles Champions of 2013. Over 850 Skittlers from all across the country joined together at the Riviera International Conference Centre, Torquay to join in the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of this event. With 16 skittle alleys, the sound of crashing pins and balls thundering down the alleys along with all the singing and chanting was an atmosphere not to be missed. Highest scoring man was Ralph Clay with a whopping 73 for the Unstop-a-balls in the first round. Kerry Dangerfield from Gladrags notched up a fabulous 69 to be the highest scoring lady. Top team score of the day came from the Highwaymen in the final with 421 beating last year’s score by 1 pin. The teams were led out to the cheers and screams of support, and this continued right up until the finals were decided. In the Men’s event, last year’s reigning champions from Worcester. The Highwaymen battled to keep their title against the event’s first ever champions Skimmers from Dorchester. Highwaymen were not easily going to let go of the title and they came in champions again winning all 5 legs as the silverware once again headed back to Worcester and the Highwaymen were Crowned Champions for the second year running. The Jolly Girls from Gloucester won the Ladies’ event for the first time. This saw the Dolly Mixers from Totnes runners-up for the second year running. Last year’s winners in the Mixed event Lucky Devils made it to the finals yet again this year and once again were crowned champions by beating the Gladrags from Gloucester to keep their title of Mixed Champions. The winnersThe winning prize money of £1,650 for the Men's, £1,200 for the Ladies and £1,200 for the Mixed were awarded as follows:
Runners upRunners up in each event with the Men's receiving '£800', Ladies '£600' and Mixed '£600' with Blackthorn goodies were as follows:
Plate winners / runners upThe last 32 Men’s teams and the last 16 Ladies and Mixed teams lined up according to the previous evening’s live draw and got the ball rolling at 10am Saturday morning. For teams that fell at the first hurdle a plate event was held and the results were as follows:
The entertainment didn’t stop with the skittles. The celebrations continued with the amazing G.B.Davies on Friday followed by The Soul and Motown Party Band on Saturday. Both nights saw UK Karaoke providing a great disco till the early hours!! |
Press Officers awardThe Press Officers award for presenting the best local press coverage for the event was won for the first time by last year’s runner up Dave Rushton, press officer for Highwaymen from Worcester. Second place was awarded to first time entrant Greg Black of One Step Beyond from Wyke Regis, and last year’s winner gaining third place was Catherine Poole from Bibury. Home Alley AwardThis award is presented to the top home alley venue as voted for by the visiting teams. This year it was awarded to St George Labour Club in Bristol. A huge thanks to all the teams who competed in the Blackthorn British Skittles Championship 2013 and to all the finalists for making the 10th Grand Finals a fantastic success. Some great team photos and action shots were taken by Andy at Not Just Photography. If you would like to view the photos or to place an order please email Andy at andydover@notjustphotography.co.uk or check out the website at www.notjustphotography.co.uk. To register your interest or to find out more about the Blackthorn British Skittles Championships contact us. To view the following results you will need Adobe Reader installed on your computer - it is available as a free download from Adobe if you don't already have it. Get the Adobe Reader
2013 resultsShoot Out Singles and Pairs Skittles Tournament1040 entries made this the BIGGEST ever Shoot Out Singles and Pairs tournament. 16 alleys were in play from 11am on Friday 20th September until the finals at 9pm where the following winners and runners up were presented there awards and prize money.
To register your interest or for more information about the Shoot Out Singles and Pairs Skittles Tournament contact us |
2013 Skittles Champions
Men's Champions
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Testimonials"We nearly didn’t enter the singles and pairs compeitition, but we’re glad we did now - We’ve had an excellent day and we’ll be back next year to defend our title!" Veronica & Mark Millerchip - Mixed Pairs Champions "Wow, this feels fantastic! We’re so excited to have won!!" Lisa & Marian Whittaker - Ladies Pairs champs "This was only meant to be a warm up before the Championships tomorrow, but what a brilliant event! We’re made up!" Neil Carey & Adam Joliffe - Men's Pairs champs "qualifying with two mixed teams and the ladies proved a step too far. The mixed teams both made a quick entry into the plate, enabling the ladies to concentrate on the main event before losing to eventual winners Jolly Girls in the semi final but we all had a fantastic weekend and will be back next year…. with the legendary lucky Sombrero!!!" Mark Messer - secretary of three teams in this year's finals |
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The David Rushton Report
