Swedes continue to dominate Kamala Bowls Majors

PHUKET: Swedes continued to dominate the ongoing series of major competitions at the Kamala Lawn Bowl Club last Saturday as Uffe Egerstaad saw off late challenge from South African Garry Anderson to win the Phuket Open Singles Championships.

Bowlers from seven countries competed in the tourney, and the high caliber of this year’s field saw no clear favorite. This was strongly emphasized as last year’s winner Ulf Danielsson became an early casualty and joined other first-round losers relegated to the Plate competition.

As the main competition moved on to the latter stages, bowlers from Sweden, South Africa, Germany and Australia contested the semi-finals.

Coming through to reach the final were Egerstaad and surprise late-entry package Anderson. A tight game was expected as both had performed extremely well to that point.

However, experience and local knowledge proved to be crucial as Egerstaad – also exploiting a possible element of fatigue from Anderson – was far too strong for the South African and ran out a comfortable and worthy winner, adding the Phuket Open title to his previous success this year in the Champions League pairs.

In the Plate competition, Welshman Rich Tuck finally showed a return to form with a comprehensive win against “The Big Canuck” Gregg Layton.

The next major tourney at the Kamala Lawn Bowls Club is the Champions League Singles on March 21.

To enter or for more information about the club, which is open six days a week from 10am-6pm, call 089-5926059.

— Robert Knight