8 hours Ago By [email protected] (James Bedford)
Spalding Indoor Bowls Club has a new world champion in its ranks after a childhood dream came true for Dominic McVittie. McVittie won the mixed pairs title with Solihull’s Emily Kernick at the World Indoor Bowls Championships in Aberdeen, Scotland. He also secured a silver medal in the singles after losing out in the final to Jack McShane from Australia.
McVittie said: "What a week it was. "It ended with a gold and silver medal which I never imagined I would ever achieve. "It was a childhood dream come true.
" McVittie earned his place to represent England at the event after winning the national singles title last season. In the singles, he had mixed fortunes in the group phase with wins against France (21-0, 18-1), Jamaica (20-0, 13-3), Cyprus (12-1, 10-2), USA (8-2, 13-2) and Hungary (13-1, 14-1), but lost against New Zealand (4-6, 11-6, 0-5) and Wales (6-3, 3-7, 2-3). This meant that McVittie finished third in the group and was required to book his place in the knock-out rounds with a play-off win against the Isle of Man (6-9, 8-1, 6-0).
In the quarter final, McVittie hit top form as he beat multiple world bowls tour champion Stewart Anderson from Scotland (9-4, 6-3). He then played Ross Owen from Wales - who had already beaten him in the group phase earlier in the week and in the final of the British Isles singles only a month ago - in the semi-final. McVittie showed his class as he won in straight sets (6-2, 5-3) and booked his place in the final where he played 19-year-old McShane.
Unfortunately, McVittie found the Aussie in top form as McShane won in straight sets (4-9, 2-7) to leave the Spalding ace with a silver medal. In the mixed pairs, Kernick and McVittie topped their group with wins against Macau China (8-3, 12-1), Ireland (5-5, 7-5), Jersey (5-10, 9-6, 8-0) and Japan (8-4, 17-0). They played exceptionally well in the quarter-final to beat Australia's Kelsey Cottrell and Jack McShane (9-2, 7-5) before a tense semi-final match where they defeated Scotland’s Claire and Stewart Anderson on the last end of the tie break (2-7, 6-5, 3-2).
They took on Lauren Gowen and Ross Owen from Wales in the final and the crowd were not disappointed and were treated to an epic. The first set was drawn 6-6 which meant that, unless there was another drawn set, the championship would be decided over the next seven ends. Kernick and McVittie had their backs against the walls as they were 5-2 behind playing the last end.
However, they played a good end and, with his last bowl, McVittie's delivery earned four shots which sent the bowls social media world crazy. It saw them win the match 6-6, 6-5 to be crowned World Indoor Mixed Pairs champions. This is also a championship that McVittie's club-mates Annie Dunham and Martin Spencer won back in 2017.
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