The semi-finalists in the 2023/24 Major Singles Championships have been decided after the quarter-finals were played on Saturday May 20. The conditions were not ideal as the overcast weather meant it was cooler which affected the way the green played.
Doug Williams and Chris Coddington had the closest game with the lead changing several times. Coddington started well and set up a 6 – 0 lead before Williams took over and by the 8th end he had hit the lead at 8 – 6. It was then Coddington’s turn to dominate and he built up a very handy 18 -11 lead by the 16th end. Although Williams narrowed the gap in a very close section of the game Coddington managed to keep his nose in front.
After 21 ends Coddington had victory in his sight when he lead 22 – 18 – just 3 shots needed to win! The 22nd end changed things. Coddington had the 3 shots he needed to win but Williams played the bowl of the match with his last bowl. He trailed the jack and from 3 down he won the end by 2 shots and levelled the scores at 22 all. With the momentum Williams was able to win the next three ends to take the game 25 – 22.
Marcel Kors and Peter Macdonald met again in a championship match and another close, tense battle ensued. Macdonald adapted to the trying conditions much better in the early ends and by the 10th end he held a 10 – 4 advantage. The next 10 ends were very tight as Kors played himself back into the game and despite dropping 4 shots on the 20th end the scores were all square at 17 all.
Kors quickly recovered from his poor end and he was able to dominate the rest of the game. He finally grabbed a 25 – 19 victory after 28 ends.
John Monks and Allan McLeod went shot for shot for the first 16 ends of their game. Neither could get a good lead and after 16 ends they were 13 all. However, Monks’ experience started to show from this point. Although he won 9 of the next 11 ends most ends were decided by a single shot. Monks did collect 2 shots on three of these ends to see him come out on top in a very close game 25 – 15 with the final score not truly reflecting how close the game was.
Bruce Lidbury (above) seemed to handle the conditions better than the other players and he was able to dominate his clash with Noel Downie. After 9 ends he led 12 – 2, which became 19 – 4 after 14 ends. As expected the competitive spirit in Downie emerged and he did his best to make it as hard as possible for Lidbury to close the game out. Downie was able to win 6 of the next 10 ends but the damage was done. Lidbury moved into the semis with a strong 25 – 11 win.
In the semi-finals Monks will play Lidbury and Williams takes on Kors.
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