Thank you to Press Relations Officer Malcolm Fletcher for providing most of the report below on the 2022 Midland Masters.
Alex Hassall held his hands in disbelief as he realised he’d pulled off one of the biggest shocks in the history of the Midland Masters.
A rank outsider in a field of 64 who contested the top regional bowls crown at Penfields, the Wem USC man stunned everyone – including himself – by landing the title with a 21-19 victory over Darren Carter of Derbyshire in the final.
And he did it the hard way, having to run out from 19-11 down on Sunday at the Wolverhampton venue using a three-quarter corner mark to land the £400 plus first prize and a ticket to the Champion of Champions later this month.
Hassall, a postman from Crewe who captains Adderley A in the Whitchurch League, had already endured a 21-20 semi-final success over Warwick & Worcester big gun Ryan Prosser in his fifth game of the day.
“I’m still a bit stunned,” admitted Hassall as he reflected on his shock success after picking up just two Premier League wins from 13 games for Wem USC this season.
“I have been so low on confidence and my form’s been so poor so I was just hoping to win a couple of games for something to build on for the rest of the season.
“I scraped through my second round game against Ivan Smout (21-20) and I thought then I could have a decent run.
“And I kept managing to find good bowls when I need them in the quarters and semis.
“In the final I rode my luck a bit I felt as he ran in the back of me and went through a few gaps.”
Tributes have flowed from all over the county as he did head and shoulders above the the rest of the other 10 Shropshire qualifiers.
Said Hassall: “A big thank you to everyone who has commented or contacted me personally.
“Hopefully I can do myself and Shropshire proud at the Champion of Champions.
“It just goes to show that anything can happen in bowls on the day!”
Alex had defeated Jack Hill 13 first game, Paul Dale 14 in the 3rd round and Steve Davis 17 in the Quarter Finals.
Only two of our other players won a game, Gary Neal defeating Mick McGuinness 15 and Jamie King beating Matt Hill 14, before they lost to Steve Davis 16 and Grant Soller 19 respectively. Our first round losers were Jamie Brookes 16 to Jayne Bates, Dan Taylor 14 to Alan Slater, Stuart Rutter 15 to Natty Tonks, Clay Flattley 12 to Andy Smith, Callum Wraight 19 to Arron Jones, Dave Brown 15 to Michael Warrington, Josh Bradburn 18 to Mick Ledwidge and Jackie Rutter 14 to Elliot McGuinness.
Well done to Alex on his success.
Full results are here.
