THE first week of the Felixstowe Open Bowls Tournament, sponsored by Kirton Windows, came to its conclusion on Saturday at the Felixstowe and Suffolk Bowling Club with the finals of the Ladies' and Men's Singles, Ladies' Pairs and Mixed Triples, followed by the presentation of trophies and prizes.

THE first week of the Felixstowe Open Bowls Tournament, sponsored by Kirton Windows, came to its conclusion on Saturday at the Felixstowe and Suffolk Bowling Club with the finals of the Ladies' and Men's Singles, Ladies' Pairs and Mixed Triples, followed by the presentation of trophies and prizes.

In glorious sunshine the spectators were entertained with some excellent competitive and bowling producing some exciting finishes.

Janet Essex, of the host club, hit top form in winning the Ladies' Singles, sponsored by Bannister and Co, with a very convincing 21-1 win over Moira Self, of Marlborough BC. This is the sixth time Janet has won this event, the previous five being way back between 1984 and 1994.

In contrast both semi-finals resulted in close finishes, Andrea Dickinson trailed well behind Moira Self for most of the game, but pulled up to within one shot before losing 19-21. Janet Essex was always in front to lead 20-14, but then dropped a four and a two to level the scores at 20-20 before scoring the winning shot.

Mark Addison, of the Felixstowe and Suffolk BC, won the Men's Singles, sponsored by CB Contracts, beating Phillip Last, of Marlborough, 21-18. In a very fine game of fluctuating fortunes, at 16 ends Mark Addison led 15-12 only to lose the next six shots to be 18-15 down. He then recovered to score six shots without reply to win 21-18.

Earlier in the semi-final Phillip Last led throughout and was a comfortable 21-12 winner over Derek Wheeler, of Colchester West End BC, while Mark Addison was also well in control in beating Stan Rutterford, of Ipswich BC, 21-10.

The Ladies' Pairs Final, sponsored by J and C Webb, was won by Moria Self and Sue Bernard, of the Marlborough BC, who beat Pauline Swift and Val Whiffen, of the host club. The early part of the game was very close and at 13 ends the scores were level at 13-13, but from then on the Marlborough pair took control, scoring 14 shots to three over the remaining ends to win 27-16.

In the Mixed Triples final, sponsored by the Marlborough Hotel, Andrew McKenna, of Needham Market, Diana Wolton, of Bramford, and Terry Griffin, of East Bergholt BC, combined to beat Isabel Morey, Eric Titshall, Andrew Morey, of Otley BC, 15-12.

The winners, as in their semi-final, finished the stronger after being 10-6 down at 11 ends. In the semi-finals the Otley trio were comfortable winners over Betty Garwood, Janet Paternoster and Ray Patternoster 24-11, while Terry Griffin's set finished strongly, scoring 11 shots to one over last seven ends to beat Maureen Read (sub for Moira Self), Sue Bernard and Colin Chick 20-10.

The trophies and prizes for the first week's finals were then presented in the clubhouse.

The second week of the tournament starts today with the Men's Pairs followed by the Men's Triples on Wednesday and the Ladies Triples on Thursday with all the finals on Saturday.

Results round-up

Ladies' Singles (sponsored by Bannister & Co): Semi-finals: P Linge 20 J Essex 21, M Self 21 A Dickinson 19. Final: J Essex 21 M Self 1.

Men's Singles (sponsored by CB Contracts): Semi-finals: S Rutterford 10 M Addison 22, D Wheeler 12 P Last 21. Final: M Addison 21 P Last 18.

Ladies' Pairs (sponsored by J & C Webb): Final: M Self, S Bernard 27 P Swift, V Whiffen 16.

Mixed Triples (sponsored by the Marlborough Hotel): Semi-finals: A McKenna, D Wolton, T Griffin 20 M Self, S Bernard, C Chick 10, E Titshall, I Morey, A Morey 24 B.Garwood, J Paternoster, R Paternoster 11. Final: A McKenna, D Wolton, T Griffin 15 E Titshall, I Morey, A Morey 12.