Smiles hide the pain of defeat for Kris Bichard, left, and Dan de la Mare, who were cruelly denied glory in Worthing. (Picture by David Rhys-Jones, 0993975)

THE anguish suffered by Matt Le Ber, who had to settle for the runners up spot in the British Isles men’s outdoor singles championship for the second year running at Worthing on Friday, was nothing compared with the disappointment of fellow Sarnians Kris Bichard and Dan de la Mare in the pairs final.

Not to put too fine a point on it, the Guernsey duo were robbed, after outplaying their Irish opponents Brian Hughes and Gary Kelly for the entire game – and a wave of sympathy swept around Beach House Park, when they were cruelly pipped on a tense extra end.

‘They did nothing wrong,’ said Tony Allcock, now chief executive of Bowls England, but formerly one of the legendary figures of bowls, who added: ‘You could understand it if they had blown up under the pressure of the last few ends, but, if anything, the Guernsey lads tightened their grip at that stage.’

With Bichard, who was making his debut at British level, propelling his bright yellow bowls consistently to within a foot of the jack, sometimes even nearer, de la Mare was at his best – indeed, it was poetry in motion.

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