ONE of York's up-and-coming bowlers, Paul Humphreys, won the men's singles title in the 38th York Open Bowls Tournament at the first attempt.

He beat experienced Hull bowler Tim Winters 21-19 after staging a tremendous fightback.

It did not look good for the Holgate BC man as he trailed 13-6 after 13 ends and was still struggling to reduce the deficit after 17 ends.

But a one followed by a four at the next brought the match back to the boil. A three by Humphreys took him to within one shot of the title but he was denied at the next end. However, he kept his nerve and picked up the one shot he required to win the blue riband event.

Judy Abel retained her ladies singles crown by beating Betty Richardson 21-13 in a rain-lashed final at Clarence Gardens.

Richardson, who had won the doubles crown with Carol Williams the previous day, had been chasing three titles.

That triple bid ended in the semi-finals of the mixed pairs when she and partner Ian Hodge were beaten in the semi-finals by Gill and Ray Clark, last year's beaten finalists, who raced into a 15-1 lead before closing the match at 24-15.

However, the Clarks were to finish runners-up again as they were edged out 18-17 by Anne Peacock and Martin Foster, who pipped Pauline and John Cooper by one shot in a see-saw semi-final in which there was never more than two shots between the pairs.

It was a similar story in the final with the Clarks moving 7-5 ahead after seven ends before Peacock and Foster forced their way into a 14-7 lead. The Clarks hit back to level at 16-16 with two ends to play but Peacock and Foster clinched an excellent final 18-17 with two shots on the 17th end.

Richardson kept her hopes of a double alive by beating Riccall's Jane Simpson 21-6 in the singles to set up an all-York final with Abel, who defeated another Riccall player, Sue Shrimpton, also 21-6.

Richardson, a former champion, had showed no signs of fatigue despite the large number of matches she had played throughout the week.

In the final, which was played with the weather at its worst, Richardson led 13-12, but a sudden run of successful ends brought Abel a second successive title.

It was the perfect send-off for Abel, who is representing Yorkshire in the English Two-Wood singles competition at Leamington Spa this month.

York duo Alan Close and Eric Wilkinson triumphed in the men's pairs, defeating Hull's Graham Whiting and Jim Moulds 26-13.

They raced into an 11-0 lead after five ends and although the Hull partners reduced the deficit to two shots at one point, Close and Wilkinson regained control to win 26-13.

Wilkinson produced some excellent woods in the all-York semi-final clash with David Kermode and Brian Gray to turn a 7-3 deficit into a 23-10 victory.

Whiting and Moulds beat another York pair, 25-16, in their semi-final with a six at the 16th end proving decisive.

Zoe Eagles (York), last year's beaten junior finalist, went one better this year, defeating Dominic Kelly (Nafferton) 21-17.

The scores were 4-4 after five ends, but Eagles never fell behind after that and a string of twos between the 17th and 19th ends took her to the brink of victory.

Results:

Mixed Pairs

Semi-final: G and R Clark 24, B Richardson-I Hedge 15; P & J Cooper 15, A Peacock-M Foster 16.

Final: G and R Clark 17, A Peacock-M Foster 18.

Men's Singles

Final: T Winters (Hull) 19, P Humphreys 21.

Men's Pairs

Semi-final: D Kermode-B Gray 10, A Close-E Wilkinson 21; G Whiting (sub)-J Moulds 25, E Howcroft-G Brooke 16.

Final: G Whiting-J Moulds 13, A Close-E Wilkinson 26.

Ladies Singles

Semi-final: S Shrimpton 6, J Abel 21; B Richardson 21, J Simpson 6.

Final: B Richardson 13, J Abel 21.

Junior Singles

Final: Z Eagles 21, D Kelly 17.

Updated: 10:59 Tuesday, August 02, 2005