2007 TENPIN BOWLING INTER-SERVICES

The second organised Tenpin Bowling Inter-Services was held at the Astra Bowl, RAF Brize Norton on Saturday 22^nd September 2007 and was participated by the Royal Air Force, British Army and in the absence of a Royal Navy contingent, the British Police.

The Tournament organiser, Chf Tech Chris Hillman had organised a Round-Robin event, each team playing one game against each other, with the overall Champions being the team with the highest pinfall over all the games; eight in total. The team composition was a four-person team with a maximum of two substitute replacements that could be replaced at the start of any new game.

Many of the British Army squad travelled over from Germany and the squad of the Royal Air Force and British Police were travelling from all areas of the United Kingdom. Due to the bowling schedule of the day a 0900 hrs start was decided upon to allow for the pre-requisite lane maintenance and comfort break for lunch.

With one team resting from each Round the first eight teams took to the lanes and the early leaders were RAF 1 with a game of 234 from local bowler SAC Simon Whitbread taking a slender lead over British Army 2. Individual games of 214 from British Army 3 bowler Bob Scott and British Police 2 bowler Tom Walsh in addition to a 203 from British Army 3 veteran bowler Mark Passfield promised a potentially even contest amongst the three Services competing.

Game 2 saw the RAF 2 team make their first appearance and games of 215 from Sgt Anthony Moore and 201 from Chief Technician Myke Cattell gave them a bright start and games of 222 from British Police 2 bowler Al Hopkinson and a 200 from Sergeant Callum Laing of RAF 1 showed early signs of the teams likely to be competing at the high end of the scale towards the business end of the day.

As the day progressed the intensely difficult conditions of the lanes at the Astra Bowl meant for many highs and lows with several bowlers experiencing the turmoil of losing 100 pins between consecutive games and an increasing number of different bowlers scoring above 200. At the end of game 3 four new bowlers had joined the 200 club; British Army 1 bowler Colin Maskelyne with the highest game of the day of 244, Flight Sergeant Chris Quilter of RAF 3 with a 205, Corporal Mark ‘Granny’ Granados making his first ever outing for the Royal Air Force with a 203 game and British Police 1 bowler Clive Knowles with a 201 game.

A swift break for lunch and a lane dress later saw a continuing push by the British Police including a 204 game by British Police 2 bowler Tom Walsh and his colleague John Greathead with a 216 game. Michael Cummings of British Police 2 bowled a 202 game, Ian Burden, veteran of British Army 3, bowled a 201 game and Dan Meaton of British Police 3 bowled a 200 game; all adding to the growing number of bowlers proving that 110% concentration and good luck does allow for a good game in even the most difficult bowling conditions. 4-games into the tournament and the Top positions were held by British Police 2, very closely followed by British Police 1 with British Army 2 in 3^rd position; RAF 1 had just sat out their break game but was very handily placed.

Game 5 came and went with very little excitement or changes in the leading pack but games of 202 from British Army 3 bowler Dave Chapman and 201 from British Army 2 veteran Mike Dawson the highlights.

The following game, the last before the final lane maintenance, saw British Police 2 and RAF 1 consolidate their positions with Tom Walsh continuing an impressive set of games with another 214 game and Dan Meaton scoring another 200+ game with a 208.

The final break had come and gone with British Army 2 in 1^st position due to bowling one game more with RAF 1 and British Police 2 the likely overall champions but with three games to go a consistent team effort from any of the remaining teams likely to cause a final twist. Game 7 saw games of 222 from Jeff Taylor of British Police 1 and another 211 from Tom Walsh of British Police 2 and a lead of 82 pins for the RAF 1 over British Police 2 with British Army 2 a further 73 pins back.

Game 8 saw the overall lead change to British Police 2 with a team game of 770 and individual games of 206 for TomWalsh, Paul Hunt with a 203 and John Greathead with a 207 game. Mark Granados of RAF 2 continued his first outing with an impressive display and a 220 game lifting RAF 2 into 3^rd position and another game of 200 by Dan Meaton completing the highlights.

The final game and with some saw limbs, aching bones and sense of humour wearing thin it was a battle to the finish between RAF 1 and British Police 2. A few of the other teams attempted to finish on a high and games of 225 from British Army 1 bowler Colin Maskelyne, 200 from Bob Scott of British Army 3, 203 from Andy Clough of British Police 1 and 204 by British Army 2 veteran Mark Passfield left the lower positions decided and with a slender 17 pin lead by British Police 2 over RAF 1 and a game of 215 from bowler of the tournament Tom Walsh gave a good account and more than daunting challenge for the RAF 1 bowlers. The never say die attitude however of Sergeant Tony Lee, Sergeant Les Keates, SAC Simon Whitbread and Sergeant Callum Laing meant for the best conceivable conclusion to the 2007 Tenpin Bowling Inter Services organised by the RAF at an RAF bowling centre. The highest team game of the day 802 and an individual game of 234 from the outgoing RAF Team Manager Les Keates meant an overall winning margin of 26 pins and the 2007 Tenpin Bowling Inter Services Champions crowned as Royal Air Force 1.

There were 34 games of 200 plus bowled on the day and despite the demanding conditions laid down by the Tournament Manager the overall average for 36 bowlers and 288 games was 166.6 with Tom Walsh of British Police 2 clearly leading the way with a 206 average on the day.

A large thank you must go to Chf Tech Chris Hillman for organising the event, Steve Morgan and his Astra Bowl staff who as always catered for our every need and the British Army, British Police and Royal Air Force bowlers who have yet again shown outstanding commitment to the sport of Tenpin Bowling. The arrangements for the 2008 Tenpin Bowling Inter Services have been left in the hands of the OIC British Army and British Police. I would like to take this opportunity to make contact with any Royal Navy bowlers that have information of any Committee details or constitution for the Royal Navy Tenpin Bowling Association or who have a keen interest in starting the Association. Please contact Sgt Les Keates on 95221 x 7063 or 01494 497063 in the first instance.