The Best Bowlers in Kanto

YC&AC hosted the Bowls Japan Kanto Region Singles tournament for men and women on May 25 and 26.

An impressive eight men representing YC&AC took part, and they were joined by two men from Lawn Bowls Tokyo and one from YLBC. The bowlers were drawn into two groups, with the winner of Group A to play the winner of Group B in the final.

The competition was extremely tight.

In Group A, three bowlers finished with three wins and one loss, but by virtue of having amassed more points, LBT’s Ken Emura topped the group. YC&AC’s Satish Tandon and Jun Adachi finished second and third, respectively.

Group B was won by me, Alex Hendy, with three wins (one by default) and one draw. YC&AC’s Makoto Honjo and YLBC’s Seishi Yoda finished second and third, respectively, with three wins and one loss each.

The tiny margins between success and failure in this tournament may be summed up by my own experience in the first match of the day, against YC&AC’s Toshiharu Saito.

Saito had played brilliantly and was 6-2 up going into the final end. However, my opponent chose this end to play his loosest bowls, and I rolled in four to force an unlikely comeback draw. The all-important fourth wood in the count was only called after multiple attempts with the measure including two by the tournament umpire.

In the final, Ken Emura beat me comfortably by 9 points to 4 with the last end not needing to be played. Satish Tandon beat Makoto Honjo in the third-place final.

The women’s competition on the Sunday featured players from YC&AC, Lawn Bowls Tokyo and YLBC.

In the end, the two YC&AC bowlers contested what Club Vice-Captain Jun Adachi described as a “real final,” Kazuko Yasuda defeating Saori Hamada by 9 points to 6.

Ken Emura, Alex Hendy and Satish Tandon from the men’s tournament, and Kazuko Yasuda and Saori Hamada from the women’s tournament, qualify for the Bowls Japan national finals, to be held in Kobe in October.

Congratulations to us!