Host of England call-ups for Spalding Indoor Bowls Club stars

Spalding Indoor Bowls Club will be well-represented on the international stage in the coming months after an impressive number of their players were selected to represent England.

In the under-25s, Ruby Hill and Chelsea Tomlin form the back-end of one rink, with Tomlin captaining the side in the series which will be held at Nottingham IBC on February 10 and 11.

Special mention also goes to Danielle Wild, who has been selected for her debut in the under-25 British Lions team for their series, which is also at Nottingham.

Jordan Philpott, meanwhile, retained his place in the men’s under-25 team. His series will be held in County Antrim on February 17 and 18.

In the seniors, Annie Dunham, Tomlin and Hill have been selected for the ladies’ series at Paisley IBC on March 9, 10 and 11.

Matt Whyers, Graham Smith and Martin Spencer all retained their places for the men’s series, also at Paisley, on March 15, 16 and 17.

• Spalding IBC’s annual open singles tournament will be held at the Castle Sports Complex on December 29 (Friday) and 30, with two sessions of play starting at 6pm on the opening day.

Play then commences from 8am on the Saturday, with the final expected at 9pm.

Supporters are urged to come along and support this great free event, which is part of the Open Singles Circuit and sees some of the best players in the country in action.

• Spalding IBC’s ladies beat Barwell in the latest round of the Yetton trophy, winning by 79 shots to 61.

Julie Hicks’ set led the way as they posted an impressive 23-12 scoreline away from home.

Also winning away was Gloria Haney’s set (20-15), while Chelsea Tomlin won 17-14 at home.

Annie Dunham narrowly lost 20-19 at home, but it mattered little.

Next up for Spalding is South Forest on Saturday, January 6.

• Spalding IBC’s friendly team played their latest match against Cambridgeshire VPs on December 3.

The game was played in a great atmosphere, with Spalding coming out winners with a score of 134-76.

The best winning rink was Alan Garrett, Gill Haydon, Mick Laidler and Ian Stafford.

Captains of the day were Maisie Belding and Jan Sinclair.

• Nine Spalding IBC juniors travelled to Horncastle with hopes of qualifying through to the next stages of the county 18 and under singles competition.

In the senior section, Aaron Wild and Aaron Barnes qualified, with Nathan Puttrell, Harry Mycock, Jamie Goodliff and James Cherry reaching stage two of the junior section. Other bowlers who narrowly missed out were Jonathan Field, Emily Day and Bailey Day.