Rocks Jewellers Singles End of Season Finals 2020 – Results

An early 8:00 am check-in for bowlers in the first round, ready for the “Double Elimination” finals format in both Scratch and Handicap sections. 8 hours later at around 4:00 pm, 48 head-to-head matches completed (each match decided on – 2 games total pinfall) we were down to the Scratch and Handicap finals.

Paolo DiTofano had lost to Brian in the Winners section 3rd round by 421 to 370 and had fought his way back through the Losers section for the rematch. Paolo started strongly and remained in front throughout to take a 19 pin lead (210 -191) into the final game. Unable to maintain his form Paolo opened 3 frames (2 splits and a 9 miss) to post a 183 to Brian’s 217 (1 split) giving Brian the match and Handicap title by 408 to 393.

Karl Dryer just couldn’t get anything to go his way in the first game of the Scratch section Final and found himself 44 pins down (159 – 203) to Gareth. Game 2 was a different story, Gareth started with 4 strikes followed by a 9 miss, Karl started with 3 strikes and a split and then closed out the game 8 strikes in a row to post a 264 game. This meant Gareth had to close the 10th frame to win, which he did to score 226 and in doing forced the double elimination decider with a 429 win to Karl’s 423.

Karl continued to exert the pressure in the opening game with a 245 to Gareth’s 231 to take a 14 pin lead into the deciding game. An opening split for Karl, another in the 5th frame gave Gareth a 54 pin lead at halfway which was enough to carry him through to take the match with a 209 to Karl’s 169 and the Scratch title by 440 to Karl’s 414.

You can see how all the finalists fared throughout the day as all the results (Scratch & Handicap – Winners & Losers sections) and Prize-winners details by going to the http://www.bowlingforall.ie web Rocks results .

Our thanks go to Lorraine, Sarah, Sean and all the staff in Leisureplex Tallaght (& Stillorgan) for their support during the season and throughout the long Finals day, to John Dunne and Tim Dawson for the web support, posting our results and updates, to Emer, Jason for their continued support and involvement  throughout the extra-long season.

Thanks to Paddy Gibbons for the photo’s from the Finals day and also for putting together a memorable video from the day which can be played/downloaded from his link in the section below for a limited period.

The Last Rocks Jewellers Singles Grand Prix 19:12:2021

Thanks to the bowlers who have participated and supported the Rocks Jewellers Singles over the past 10 seasons, thank you for your kind words when we’ve talked at the last  2 qualifying events and again at the Finals on Sunday and your WhatsApp posts, they are very much appreciated. 

It’s been great to be involved from the start, to run an event that spans all age groups, genders and abilities and see so many bowlers at different levels improve and advance to higher levels in that time.

None of this would have been possible without the continued support of Victor Rock & all at Rocks Jewellers for their sponsorship of the Rocks Jewellers Singles event over the last 10 years.

Many of you have asked …… whats next ?

Our view  …… maintain the above coverage whatever the format is – its good for bowler development, social interaction and competitiveness.

Whether individually or combined it is down to You, the bowlers to get involved, put ideas foward you think will work, talk to Centres, Pro Shops, ITBA committees and potential sponsors to move those ideas forward.  

Signing out for the last time and wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Covid free New Year.



Tom & Barry

Rocks Jewellers Singles 2019/20 – Event 9 Results & Qualifiers for End of Season Finals

The final qualifying event for the Covid interrupted 2019/20 End-of Season Finals once again produced high scoring with 16 of the 28 bowlers ahead of par (200 Avg.).
 
Alan Bride led the qualifying in the Scratch section with a 1234 (246 Avg.), drawn against Mark Moore (1167) in a close first semi-final match, the win going to Mark who finished strongest by 246 to Alan’s 222. Junior bowler Sean Staines who is showing great form at the moment, qualified in 2nd place with 1210 (242 Avg.) but couldn’t maintain his early form against Jason Byrnes (1181) who eased into the by 237 to Sean’s 181.
 
The final was a bit lack lustre, Mark and Jason both struggling early on. Once again Mark closed out the stronger of the two to take the win by 191 to Jason’s 176.
 
Thomas Galvin (1251 incl. Hcp. – 233 Avg.) missed qualifying for the Scratch section by a 1 to lead Handicap qualifying, closely followed by another junior bowler Taylor Williams (2 handed style) on 1250, Ken Foley on 1247 and junior bowlers Abby McKeever on 1223 making her second final in a row. Both semi-finals went down to the last 2 frames with Abby striking out for a 226 to move on to the final against a 201for Thomas. Never more than a couple of pins separated the bowlers in the 2nd semi-final, with Taylor’s 232 giving him a 7 pin win against Ken’s 225.
 
The final here was another really tight match, Taylor leading early on, only to be pegged back in the latter stages. It looked all over for Abby when she failed to make a spare in the final frame but Taylor requiring a mark, left a split which he was unable to convert giving Abby the win by 238 to Taylor’s 232.

Congratulations to the winners of the last qualifying event of the season – Event 9, Mark Moore (Scratch Division) and Abby McKeever (Handicap Division) and all the finalists. 
 
Thanks to Sarah, Becky and all the Leisureplex staff who supported us so well on the day.

Full details from Event 9 are included in this update below and  will also be available on www.bowlingforall.ie on the Rocks Jewellers Tab/Results.

Congratulations to all the qualifiers for the 2020 End of Season Finals who are listed below. Our priority is to get confirmation from you that you are available for the Finals so we can complete preparations for the event

The 2020 End of Season Finals (Double Elimination Matchplay format) will be held on 19th December in Leisureplex, Tallaght.  Format for the Finals included for web here.

The provisional list of Scratch & Handicap Qualifiers for the Finals have been sent via Update email to all members and are included on the Standings sheets posted.

All qualifiers must confirm their availability for the Finals by return email to rocks@bowlingforall.ie , Rocks WhatsApp or Text to Tom Byrne.

More details including Oil Pattern, check-in times etc  will follow closer to the date, please make sure you check the web for up-to-date information on the Finals.
 
Stay safe

Barry, Tom & Victor

Next Event – 19th December 2021 – End of Season Finals

Rocks Jewellers Singles 2019/20 – Event 8 Results

31 bowlers, many playing their first event since the long Covid lockdown, were part of Irish bowling history on the Sunday 21st November in Leisureplex Tallaght when the Rocks Jewellers Singles hosted the first competitive event in the newly refurbished and ITBA sanctioned centre with Qubica/AMF Edge String pinspotter technology.

There was a great buzz to the event, many people meeting up for the first time in over 20 months and when the lanes came on, the scoring certainly didn’t disappoint.

Leading the qualifying in the Scratch section was Chris Sloan with a 1247 (249 Avg), Sean Dempsey was close by with 1232, followed by Sarah Kebble on 1184 and Karl Dryer making up the 4 finalists with 1158. Neither semi-final matches were close with Chris going on to the final by 276 to Karl’s 183 and Sean by 236 to Sarah’s 173. The final went down to the wire with Sean striking out for 215 to draw with Chris and force a one ball roll-off to determine the winner which saw Chris strike twice to take the match after Sean struck on the first ball and got 9 with his second.

Junior bowler Sean Staines who narrowly missed qualifying for the Scratch section led Handicap qualifying with 1298 incl Hcp (230 Avg), closely followed by another junior bowler Abby McKeever on 1277, Mark Moore 1224 and Peter Murphy 1209 to complete the semi-final line-ups. Once again both semi-finals were cut-and-dried with Sean defeating Peter by 294 to 238 and Mark’s 306 to Abby’s 249. The final here was another nip and tuck match with the lead changing throughout until Mark closed the match strongly to take the win by 266 to Sean’s 243.

Congratulations to the winners Chris Sloan (Scratch Division) and Mark Moore (Handicap Division) and all the finalists. 

It was great to see Lorraine, Sarah, Becky and all the Leisureplex staff who supported us so well on the day.

Full details from Event 8 will also be available on www.bowlingforall.ie on the Rocks Jewellers Tab/Results

Next Event – 5th December 2021

Rocks Jewellers Singles 2019/20 – Event 7 Results

Not surprisingly a lower turnout (24 bowlers)  than normal in what turned out to be the final event before the National Lockdown.  

Congratulations to the winners Gareth Williams (Scratch Division) and Des Vella (Handicap Division) and all the finalists. 

 Full details from Event 7 will also be available on www.bowlingforall.ie on the Rocks Jewellers Tab/Results

Next Event – All future events are subject to the lifting of national restrictions currently in place to combat the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. We will keep bowlers informed of any changes using WhatsApp and the Web as soon as we have any updates.

Take care and look after yourselves.

Tom

Rocks Jewellers Singles 2019/20 – Event 5 Results

Round 5 – Results The second Team Ireland ranked Rocks Jewellers saw the biggest turnout of the season with 48 bowlers hitting the lanes, many of whom looking for early practice on the Leisureplex Irish Open 2020 bowling condition.

Three of the top four Scratch qualifiers were previous 2019/20 event winners, with leading qualifier Alan Bride 1183 (236 Avg) going down to 4th place qualifier Jason Byrnes in the 1st semi-final by192 to Jason’s 234. The 2nd semi-final featured Karl Doherty (returning after a couple of years away from the game) against Karl Dryer in a very tight match before Doherty took the win by 234 to 226. The question of whether Jason could win his 3rd event of the season went down to the last frame after Jason left a split/open in the 9th frame. He needed a mark in the 10th frame which he managed to do to win by 210 to Karls’s 206.

Two very low scoring matches in the Handicap semi-finals featured Tom Byrne (182) against Calvin Malone (158) and Joe Clancy (175) against Colm Cloake(189) to setup the Final between Tom and Colm. Opening 3 of the first 5 frames Tom was 70 pins behind at the half way point. Colm closed out the match with 271 to Tom’s 180 for a comprehensive win.

Congratulations to the winners Jason Byrnes (Scratch Division) and Colm Cloake (Handicap Division) and all the finalists. Full details from Event 5 will also be available on www.bowlingforall.ie on the Rocks Jewellers Tab/Results

Next Event – 2nd February 2020

Rocks Jewellers Event 4

Event 4 Results –  4th December 2019 
Highlight of the Event 4 was a closing 300 game (first of the 2019/20 season) from Alan McDonnell to post a season high qualifying score of 1258 (251 Avg) and lead the Scratch section qualifiers. In the 1st Semi-final Alan was unable to maintain his striking form and went down to Paul Chandler by 237 to 194. Anthony Byrne who had shot a a 297 in qualifying couldn’t shake off a persistent Karl Dryer who closed out the 2nd Semi-Final with a 215 to Anthony’s 203. In the Final the momentum shifted to Karl who had a comfortable win by 215 to Paul’s 176.

Qualifying in the Handicap section was very tight with only 34 pins between the top 4 headed by Karl Doherty on 1224 (incl. Hcp). Both Semi-final matches went down to wire with Karl on 213 losing out by 5 pins to Thomas Galvin on 218 and Paddy Dunne getting the better of Ross Kearney by 196 to Ross’s 193. The Final was a case of who could one too many openers for Paddy going down with a 190 to Thomas’s 209.  

Congratulations to the winners Karl Dryer (Scratch Division) and Thomas Galvin (Handicap Division) and all the finalists. 

Full details from Event 4 will also be available on www.bowlingforall.ie on the Rocks Jewellers Tab/Results
Next Event – 5th January 2020 (Irish Open Pattern & Team Ireland Ranking)

Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Barry, Jason, Emer, Tom & all at Leisureplex Stillorgan

Rocks Jewellers Singles 2019/20 – Event 3 Results

Event 3 – Results 

Apologies for the delay in posting these results, I was away on holidays so they are just the raw results.

The high scores continued this event with another great turnout of 45 bowlers.

Congratulations to the winners Jason Byrnes (Scratch Division) and Calvin Malone (Handicap Division) and all the finalists.

Full details from Event 3 will also be available on www.bowlingforall.ie on the Rocks Jewellers Tab/Results

Rocks Jewellers Singles 2019/20 – Event 2 Results

A clash of dates with the Adult Triple Crown in Scotland and the Malta Senior Open meant reduced numbers to 32 for the 2nd Event of the season.

Jason Byrnes led the Scratch section with 1158 (231 Avg) and was joined by Alan Bride, Fran Puzzuoli and Alan McDonnell for the semi-finals. Semi-final 1 with Jason vs Alan McDonnell was tight throughout with both players having only 1 double and 2 splits each, one of which Jason converted that proved to be the difference sending him through to the final by 10pins on a 192 to Alan’s 182. In semi-final 2 Alan Bride opened with the first 8 strikes to take the match by 279 to Fran’s 202. The Final, was a repeat of the Event 1 final, Alan couldn’t maintain his semi-final form opening twice in the first 5 frames while Jason threw 8 strikes in the game to comfortably take the win by 251 to 210.

Heading up the Handicap section with 1251 (incl. Hcp) was Zbigniew Grzesiak aka “Pawlo”, closely followed by Kealan O’Connor, Taylor Williams and Ann Cullen. “Pawlo” took a low scoring first semi-final against Ann by 209 (incl. Hcp) to 194. In the second semi-final Taylor came back from an early open frame, stringing 6 strikes together to move on to the final by 268 (incl. Hcp) to Kealan’s 204. Opening the 9th and 10th frames was a case of one too many openers for Taylor as he went down to “Pawlo” in an otherwise tight final match by 205 to 195.

Congratulations to the winners Jason Byrnes (Scratch Division) and Zbigniew Grzesiak aka “Pawlo” (Handicap Division) and all the finalists.

Full details from Event 2 will also be available on www.bowlingforall.ie on the Rocks Jewellers Tab/Results.

Next Event – 10th November 2019

Rocks Jewellers Singles 2019/20 – Event 1 Results

Round 1 – Results 

It was great to see 42 bowlers turn out for the 1st Event of the season in Leisureplex Stillorgan.  What was even more encouraging was that 8 new players signed up on the morning and with another 8 Seniors away representing Ireland in the World Senior Championships in Las Vegas, the indications are that the 10th Anniversary season of the Rocks Jewellers Singles will prove to be the most successful yet.

Not only did we have the great turnout, we had scoring to match, with 15 bowlers bowling 200+ averages, 2 of whom breaking the 1200 series mark, which also bodes well as throughout the previous 2018/19 season (9 Events) there were only 2 1200+ series.

Alan Bride topped the Scratch section with 1236 (247 Avg) followed by Jason Byrnes on 1218 (243 Avg). They were joined by Alan McDonnell and Amanda Larkin in the semi-finals which proved to be comfortable wins for Alan, who shot 258 to Amanda’s 210 and Jason, who had a 224 to Alan’s 163. In a much tighter final match Alan struck out in the 10th frame to close out Jason by 237 to 216.

Sean Dempsey and Kealan O’Connor playing in their first Rocks Jewellers event led the way in the Handicap section with Sean on 1209 (incl. Hcp) and Kealan on 1200 (incl Hcp). These were joined by John Wilson and Paul Stott, both seasoned senior bowlers for the semi-finals. In the first semi-final there was nothing to separate the players with Sean closing out well to move in the final by a narrow 2 pin margin winning with 216 to Paul’s 214 and Kealan took care of business joining him in the Final by 251 to John’s 198. Kealan’s good form continued into the final to take his first win in his first Rocks Jewellers event by 232 to Sean’s 195.

Congratulations to the winners Alan Bride (Scratch Division) and Kealan O’Connor (Handicap Division) and all the finalists.

Full details from Event 1 will also be available on www.bowlingforall.ie on the Rocks Jewellers Tab/Results.

Cheers

Tom

Next Event – 6th October 2019