BOWLS: Brilliant Cinato seals British Isles Junior title

Connor Cinato has been crowned the British Isles Junior Singles champion after he beat Scotland’s John Meikle in the final at Falcon IBC in Chelmsford.
By Jon Dunham
Published 21st Mar 2019, 06:11 BST
Updated 21st Mar 2019, 06:16 BST
The Northants players pose with the Hilton Trophy after they helped England to victory in the British Isles International Series. From left: Jamie Walker, Connor Cinato, Andrew Manton and Neil McKeeThe Northants players pose with the Hilton Trophy after they helped England to victory in the British Isles International Series. From left: Jamie Walker, Connor Cinato, Andrew Manton and Neil McKee
The Northants players pose with the Hilton Trophy after they helped England to victory in the British Isles International Series. From left: Jamie Walker, Connor Cinato, Andrew Manton and Neil McKee

Kettering bowler Cinato, who plays for Kingsthorpe during the indoor season, qualified to play for England in the Championships by winning the English Indoor BA Junior Singles last season.

First up, he faced Ben Harvey of the Channel Islands in the semi-finals and secured a comfortable 21-4 victory in a match that lasted just 17 ends.

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Cinato didn’t look back after opening up a 9-0 lead after five ends and that advantage was increased to 14-1 after nine before he went on to secure his place in the final.

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The encounter with Meikle was a lot closer and the two players were locked at 5-5 after five ends and 8-8 after nine.

Cinato eased ahead after that and was 18-9 up after 15 but Meikle hit back and added seven shots to his total to trail 19-16.

However, Cinato found the two shots he needed to clinch the title.

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That fine success came after Cinato had helped England win the British Isles Indoor Bowls Council International Series at the same venue.

He played on the same rink as club-mate Jamie Walker while two other Kingsthorpe players – Andrew Manton and Neil McKee – were also part of the England team.

England enjoyed a comfortable first match as they defeated Ireland 134-86 with Cinato and Walker being part of the best performing rink as they won 33-10 while Manton (25-10) and McKee (22-13) were also part of winning line-ups.

Another straightforward success followed as England saw off Wales 131-96.

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Once again, Cinato and Walker were involved in the best performing rink with a 32-16 win and Manton (19-10) and McKee (22-20) also tasted victory with their team-mates.

The battle for the Hilton Trophy came down to the clash between England and Scotland with both sides holding a 100 per cent record.

And it was England who prevailed by a narrow 113-107 scoreline.

Cinato and Walker helped their rink to a 20-17 success and McKee and his line-up also won by the same scoreline, although Manton’s rink were beaten by one shot.

However, it proved to be another impressive outing for the County players in international colours.

Related topics:EnglandBowlsScotland