
The second title decider of the Ambassador Cruise Line World Indoor Bowls Championships was played out to another full house in the Potters Arena at Hopton on Sea, Great Yarmouth, with the Mixed Pairs taking centre stage, and what an outstanding match it was.
This was the second World title decided in two days. Inverurie's Jason Banks was looking for a double title success, having won the Open Pairs alongside Elgin's Michael Stepney the previous day.
This time Banks was looking to take out the Mixed Pairs trophy where he was partnering 21 year old law student and Scottish international teammate Beth Riva, from Gifford in East Lothian, with both players making their debut in the event.
With four titles in their pocket from previous years, it would be safe to say that their opposition, in the shape of Paul Foster MBE, a three-time holder of the trophy, and top lady player Katherine Rednall from Norwich, who won the title in 2016, were the favourites to add to their title haul. The final though was to take a few twists and turns before the eventual outcome.
With a combined age of just 49, Banks and Riva stood the test against their highly experienced opposition and matched them bowl for bowl in the early exchanges and then hit the heights with regularity in an intense head-to-head.
In the best of two sets of eleven end final, it was a game of two jack lengths, with the Banks/Riva team preferring long-length jacks while Rednall/Foster opted for a shorter length of twenty-five metres.
The first set saw the Scots trail 4-3 after five ends but after some magical, precision play from both Riva and Banks, saw them score nine shots over four of the next five ends, they put the set beyond doubt at 12-5 with an end to spare.
They continued their rich vein of form into the second set, performing intricate draw shots and scintillating, all out firing shots with pin point accuracy, and quickly opened up a 6-2, four shot advantage.
In an intriguing twist to the game, they counted a double on the sixth head, then Riva/Banks played a loose seventh end and lost a full count of four shots, for the match to go level at 8-8.
The match was further tied at 9-9, with Rednall/Foster scoring a single to lead 10-9 playing the last, but in the end, Riva/Banks scored the match winning single on the last end that saw them square the set at 10-10 and that was good enough for them to be hailed as the champions by one and a half sets to a half, and take charge of the Langham Glass trophies.
The capacity crowd gave them a rousing, standing ovation, with runners-up Rednall and Foster both expressing highly respectful and complimentary salutations during their BBC interview afterward.
RESULT
WORLD MIXED PAIRS CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
(Tuesday 21st January 2025)
Beth Riva & Jason Banks (Scot) beat Katherine Rednall (Eng) & Paul Foster MBE (Scot) 1.5 - 0.5 (12-5, 10-10)
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