England’s Ian Bond won the inaugural Ambassador Cruise Line World Indoor Bowls Championships masters. World Bowls Tour’s Anne Dunwoodie recaps the event:
It was an interesting tussle for the inaugural Ambassador Cruise Line masters title from former players of the WBT, who first came to prominence about 25 years ago when the Tour set their stall at Potters Resorts from its 1999 beginnings.
In the first-ever masters championship, former world pairs champion Ian Bond and Billy Jackson – who won the principal open singles title in 2009, emerged as the finalists in this first-ever event, after initial wins in the semi-finals against Scotland’s Graham Robertson and BBC TV commentator David Corkill.
There was never more than one shot between the players in the opening set of the all-England title decider, and it was fitting that it should end up 7-7 after the nine-end definition of the set.
Devon’s Bond surged 6-0 ahead in the second set after four ends, and Jackson bounced back to stand level at 6-6 playing the decisive last end.
Connecting with the head, the deciding verdict went to Bond for the narrowest of 6-6, 7-6 margins, to take possession of the traditional Langham Glass Trophy which was presented to the winner by Ambassador Cruise Line’s Gordon Nardini, chief marketing officer, alongside World Bowls Tour’s Tom Weir.
SEMI-FINAL RECAP
In their earlier semi-finals, Jackson was the first to succeed, ending the hopes of BBC TV Bowls Commentator David Corkill 2-1 on a tiebreak.
Jackson trailed 2-7 in the opening set then reeled off seven shots over the last four ends to post a 9-7 score line.
Corkill only dropped two ends in the second set, winning 12-3, but it was Lincoln’s Jackson who sealed the deal, taking the last two ends of the tiebreak.
A world pairs winner in 2010 with Andy Thomson MBE, and a prolific winner of other WBT titles, Bond won in straight sets 9-4, 8-3 against Graham Robertson, who held a high point of sixth place on the WBT Ranking List in 2000.
RESULTS
Semi-finals: Billy Jackson (England) bt David Corkill (Ireland)1.05-0.05 (9-7, 3-12, 2-1); Ian Bond (England) bt Graham Robertson (Scotland) 2-0 (9-4, 8-3). Final: Bond bt Jackson 1.05 – 0.5 (7-7, 7-6).
The Ambassador Cruise Line 2025 World Indoor Bowls Championships run from Friday 10th to Sunday 26th January at Potters Resorts Hopton-on-Sea.
The draws from the five events and schedule can be found at the following links:
For coverage, see BBC2, the World Bowls Tour’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.
Caption: Masters winner Ian Bond (third from left) with from left: Tom Weir (WBT), Billy Jackson (runner-up) and Gordon Nardini (Ambassador Cruise Line). Credit: WBT
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