Absent Tolchard crowned top bowler

TORQUAY teenager Sam Tolchard could not attend the Bowls England annual dinner at the New Connaught Rooms in London this weekend – because he was putting the host country to the sword in a series of Test Matches against South Africa in Johannesburg,

While he was continuing his successful run as England's singles rep on foreign soil, he listened intently on a phone link to the glowing citation that accompanied the announcement that he had been voted the 2008 Times/Taylor Bowler of the Year.

In an unprecedented gesture, following his outstanding success at the national championships, Tolchard, who is only 19, was also named as the Bowls International Young Bowler of the Year.

History was made, because it was the first time that a player had retained the Young Bowler title, as well as the first time that the junior and senior titles have been picked up by the same person.

Tolchard started playing bowls in Totnes when he was a toddler, and instantly showed an aptitude for the sport – but he was also a promising cricketer, who once captained his school in a national final at Lords.

However, his natural talent for bowls meant he was soon playing for his club, then his county, and then for England juniors, and, thanks to a great summer in 2008, he is now hotly tipped to occupy England's singles berth in the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi next year.

After winning the All-England Champion of Champions singles crown in 2007, his attempt to retain the title foundered in the final.

But he still went on to skip a Devon quartet (which included his younger sister Sophie) to the national mixed fours title, played a key role in Devon's Middleton Cup triumph, and lifted the most prestigious prize of all – the Bowls England men's singles title.

There was no rub of the green for the Torbay eight at the weekend, when, after battling their way into the National Over-60 inter-club final, they were edged out narrowly by Cambridge Chesterton in a hard-fought final.