The Hunts Bowls Federation finals day proved as hot on the green as the weather off it.

Held at St Ives Bowls Club's Priory Road home over one full day, the winners not only secured the county title but advanced to the national finals in Skegness.

Toby Furzeland of Sawtry was the big winner, claiming four of the five finals he played in.

He started by lifting the men's champion of champions prize with a 21-11 success over Peter Hutchinson of Needingworth and followed it up with a 21-12 victory in the mixed pairs alongside club-mate Emma Gardiner.

They beat Steve and Sandra Gentle of Eynesbury and Buckden.

Win three fittingly came in the men's three bowls with Sam and Matt Nickerson, also of Sawtry, beating the Buckden trio of Richard and Joe Stevens plus Mac May 22-9.

And the final success was the U25 singles, where he beat Matt Nickerson 21-9.

The one that got away, however, was the mixed rinks, where he, Gardiner and Karen Martin lost 24-12 to the host club's Trevor Dighton, Jane Baldwin and Robert Jepson.

That was not the only success for St Ives either.

Baldwin also claimed the ladies' senior pairs with Christine Morris in a 19-10 victory over Nicky Hastings and Lynn King of Hemingford while Richard Wilson took the men's two-wood singles against the unlucky Matt Nickerson, 21-18.

Sophie Purell completed the roll of honour at the club, beating Jorja Jackson of Needingworth 21-12 in the ladies' U25 singles, although she, Baldwin and Pat Cook were beaten 22-11 in the ladies' two bowls by Hemingford trio Janet Chapman, Lynda Childs and Barbara Clutterbuck.

St Ives' Trevor Dighton was beaten 21-13 by Barry Kitto of Eynesbury in the men's secretaries singles while the closest game of the day saw Robert Jepson beaten 21-20 by Mac May in the men's four bowls singles.

Kitto was also the winner of the men's pairs with Steve Gentle, beating Phil Swannell and Nick Perrin of Warboys 22-16, while May added the men's two bowl title, beating Kane Phillips, Sly Crane and Bunny Johnson of Papworth 19-9, with help from Buckden team-mates Richard and Joseph Stevens.

May and Joe Stevens lost in the U25 open pairs though, 18-3 to Sam Brugnoli of Huntingdon and Jorja Jackson.

Sabrina Parnell of Brampton was a double winner, winning the ladies' two bowl singles against Ali Wilson of Buckden 21-9 and the ladies' four bowls 23-16 over Sandra Gentle but she couldn't make it three, going down 22-18 to Emma Gardiner in the ladies' champion of champions.


Gentle and Karen Reid also went down 19-14 to Ramsey's Gill Willis and Alison Yeoman in the ladies' pairs but she did manage a victory in her fourth final, beating another Ramsey squad, this one containing Patsy Coles Jill Francis and Joanne Balmer 25-9 in the ladies' three bowl with Juliet May and Ali Wilson.

The men's senior pairs went to Malcolm Scott and Derek Dellar of Sawtry with a 23-7 win over Royal Oak's Eric Verrall and Brian Fairbrother while Tony Chapman of Hemingford and Somersham's Sandra Day won the mixed pairs 22-16 against Hemingford's Janet Chapman and Peter Reason.

The final two titles were singles.

The ladies' senior singles was won 21-19 by Nicky Hastings against Hemingford team-mate Janet Chapman while Richard Coles of Ramsey took the men's senior singles with a 21-17 success over Bunny Johnson of Papworth.