WILTSHIRE bowlers, who won three titles last year, made a slow start in the first week of the 2015 National Championships being staged this month at Royal Leamington Spa.

Box duo Sue Cooke and Alex Jacobs made a fine start in the O55 senior pairs with a comfortable 28-15 win over Herefords’s Sandra Pritchard and Fran Hargest but lost heavily 24-6 in round two to Dorset’s Sally Rowe and Lyn Howard.

The ladies championship competitions continue to take top billing for the next week, with the men’s championships not starting until Friday, August 14.

This weekend will see Jacobs begin the defence of her O55s senior singles title that she won last year when beating Sue Latham (Gloucestershire) 21-9 in the final.

Jacobs is due to face Pat Thornton (Notts) in the first round at noon.

  • SPENCER Melksham staged the annual Mary Weir Mitchell Memorial Trophy at their Beanacre Road green last Sunday.

The mixed tournament was in memory of Mary Weir, who died in 2013 and had been very influential in the starting up of a ladies bowling section at theMelksham-based club.

Eight players - Steve Edwards, Roy Hawker, Mandy Gough, Eileen Hawker, Dennis Berrelly, Clive Gough, Brian Copland and Patrick Mitchell - all qualified for the knockout stages of the event from the earlier round robin competition.

In the semi-finals, Mandy Gough beat Steve Edwards 7-5 to book her place in the final against Dennis Berrelly, who edged past Brian Copland on the last end 6-5.

In the final, Berrelly was as a comfortable winner, beating Gough 12-3.

Mary Weir’s husband Patrick Mitchell presented the trophies to the winners.