King’s Cup Reintroduced to Malaga Province

Exciting finish toMalagaprovincial play-off!

After a lapse of some years, an important event has returned to Malagaprovince under the auspices of the Andalucian Bowling Federation, (FAB). The provincial final between 2 of the strongest clubs on the Costa del Sol was fought out at Santa Maria BC between Benalmadena, captained by Mike Stapleton, & Benavista, captained by Barry Pemberton, on 26^th September and the result could not have been closer, with Benavista winning a one end play-off after both teams had tied on points.

Malaga Club Finals Results

National King’s Cup Final – Mojacar, Almeria

The National Final, hosted byAlmeriaBC, (Los Gallardos), Mojacar,Almeria, should have been a play-off between the winning clubs fromAlmeria,Malaga, Alicante North & Alicante South. Unfortunately the 2 Alicante teams dropped out of the tournament close to the planned dates, (13/14 October), leaving some tough decisions to be made by the Almeria and Malaga Federation Delegates, Jan Dando & John Carr, respectively, Benavista Captain, Barry Pemberton and the Benavista Team.

I am pleased to report that goodwill and determination, from all the parties, to stage the final, despite the obvious setback, won through. It was decided that to make it worthwhile for theMalagateam to travel, the weekend would include the King’s Cup final between Benavista & Indalo clubs and 2 matches between Team Almeria & Team Malaga, (making it the first time these 2 provincial sides would play against each other).

The logistics, accommodation and event formatting proved severe challenges for this ‘hybrid package’ and thanks must go to Margaret Kane, Team Malaga Ladies Captain, for producing a workable format and Sue Mannall, Almeria Fixtures Coordinator, for recruiting the Almeria team at very short notice.

Despite the challenges, the visit to Mojacar proved a great success in terms of bowling skills and social interaction between the two provincial bowling communities.

The results of the 3 matches gave comfort to both provinces, withIndaloBCbeatingBenavistaBCin a close contest for the Spanish National King’s Cup Final and Team Malaga winning both of the two matches against Team Almeria.

The social climax of the weekend occurred Saturday night, when the visitors & hosts got together for dinner in a restaurant close to the visitors’ hotel, after which the King’s Cup was presented to Jan Dando by John Carr, who thanked all concerned for converting a near disaster situation into a resounding success. Margaret Kain ended procedures by entreating the Almeria bowlers to take part in the reinstated Andalucian Championships, to be held in Malaga province from the 23^rd to 27^th April 2013, where the warm welcome received from the Almeria bowling community over the weekend would be fully reciprocated.

Report by John Carr & photos by Garry Aldridge