Andrew proves he is the best of British!
Andrew Evans has been involved at the highest levels of short mat bowling for a decade and the very talented Tavernspite player showed the rich vein of form he is in by recently becoming the British Singles Champion for 2012.
Andrew carried the Pembrokeshire flag with some style and so we are delighted to start our new ‘Sports Spotlight’ series by chatting to this popular young feller from Tavernspite.
Having already won the Welsh title this season he travelled to the Potters Leisure Centre in Norfolk for the British Championships hoping to put on a good display in the round-robin singles matches against the top players from England, Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man
He made a confident start on the Saturday by beating his opponent from the Isle of Man by 20-4 over the mandatory 15 ends, and followed up with an equally impressive 19-8 success against a very experienced Irish opponent simply known as the ‘Mighty Quinn’!
Sunday saw him battle to a 13-8 verdict against Scottish opposition, which meant that with other results going his way he could afford to lose by 15 points against England – but he completed his own version of the ‘Grand Slam’ by easing home 15-7 in his final match to pick up the British title!
Long way now
It all seems a long way now from his junior school days in Tavernspite where Dorothy Lewis, one of his dinner ladies, asked him and his brother Alan to try out a game she also played at the local club. The Evans brothers toddled along and were immediately attracted to the sport – and in the intervening 16 years have been very eager and loyal members to Tavernspite Short Mat Bowls Club, where Andrew is club captain and umpire, a county coach and selector. The family connection has also been strengthened because parents Sheila and Tomos have joined their boys in playing short mat bowls on the old ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’ principle. It has clearly worked because the Evans clan has twice won the county rinks title since then – and Andrew’s girl friend Cathy is also very supportive.
Family sporting link
There is also another family sporting link because Andrew is a cousin to Welsh scrum half Mike Phillips, who has played 73 times for Wales.
“It is a bit of a race,” says Andrew with a chuckle, “because I have played 70 times but my record of 41 wins, six draws and 23 losses is a bit better than his!”
Andrew has also played in 38 British competitions, with 20 wins and five draws, and with 21 wins and a draw in 32 games in World Championships. The latter has been achieved over five different appearances at home in Carmarthenshire, Norfolk, Dumfries (Scotland), Ballymoney (Ireland) and Belgium, where he played in the pairs with Haverfordwest ‘legend’ Martin Davies and came a creditable third in their group.
Best performances – and a mini disaster
His best performances have been to come third in the triples at Ballymoney alongside Paul and Andrew Hudson, and fourth in the singles at Dumfries. The bronze world medal in Ireland was obviously memorable but there was another reason why Andrew will remember the trip to the Emerald Isle.
“It was only when we got off the plane and went to collect our luggage that I realised my woods had been left behind, said Andrew. “I had to make a few frantic phone calls and luckily they were sent on a later flight and arrived at the hotel in a taxi just before we were due to set off for our matches! What a way to start a world championships,” he said with a chuckle!
Long list of successes
His long list of successes make interesting reading after he became county under 16s champion in 2006, and has won the county singles twice, the county pairs with Rob Wood, the county triples with brother Alan and Ryan Thomas, and the rink alongside the rest of the family so that he can claim to have held all the county silverware.
At Welsh level he has now won the national singles twice, the pairs with Andrew Hudson and Robert Hughes, the triples alongside Jonathan Gladstone and Andrew Hudson, plus Jonathan Gladstone and Robert Hughes, and the rinks with the latter pair and Neil Crawford. These victories made him only the fourth player in Welsh short mat bowls history to win all four titles, amazingly with three of them in the same year, 2009!
Modest and unassuming
Add in a host of other silver and bronze medals in competitions all round the British Isles and it’s easy to see just how good a bowler Andrew is. But it is great to report that he is very modest and unassuming short mat bowler, ever-ready to sing the praises of others.
“We are traditionally strong in our county,” he said, “with lots of very good young players, experienced bowlers and administrators who include Paul Hudson as a very good Welsh chairman.
“If anyone would like to join us of any age they are guaranteed a warm welcome. Pembrokeshire traditionally do well in inter-county matches and I would like to wish everyone success as we soon take on Montgomeryshire for our first match of 2013.”