Paul Dudley lifted the Weston Park Trophy in gripping final which left spectators enthralled

Paul Dudley won the Weston Park Trophy, a crown green bowling competition run in memory of Paul Sykes. The tournament at Brockholes raised £800 for the Weston Park Hospital in Sheffield.

A keen bowler Paul died in 2016 at the age of 45. He was cared for at the Weston Park Hospital and the Sykes family have raised thousands of pounds over the last six years in his memory.

Paul’s wife Yeolande and son Liam plus other family members have run the competition out of their local club in Brockholes.

This year’s tournament was the biggest yet, run across two weekends and 64 bowlers took part. Entrants were whittled down to just 16 for the final which was held last Saturday.

Yeolande said: “We had 16 bowlers playing on the final night, most of them county standard – in fact many of them actually played for their county sides on Sunday as the county championships got underway – and they had travelled from all over the country.

“We had a very good attendance of spectators which helped create a great atmosphere. Most of them stayed right until the end at around 10pm, even though the weather was wet and cold. The standard of bowling was exceptional and I know a lot of the spectators really enjoyed watching it.

“The final was really gripping. The eventual winner, Paul Dudley, built up quite a big lead over local lad Jack Dyson but Jack made a monumental effort to claw back the deficit and in the end there was just two points between them.

“I was actually blown away by the amount of support we had, both from members of Brockholes BC and from the number of people who turned up to watch. It was hard work but really worth it. It was an amazing evening.”

Liam added: “This competition is run predominantly for charity and all proceeds go in support of Weston Park Hospital Cancer Charity. A rough estimate is that we have raised around £800 from food, raffle and programme sales. Thanks to all who have contributed to this effort, it honestly means a huge amount to us.

“To see so many top players giving their all to try to win this trophy in memory of my dad is a huge privilege. I was honoured to present Paul Dudley with this year’s trophy and the £1,000 first prize.”

The final day results were as follows:

Last 16

Stuart Mort 02-21 Jack Dyson

Andrew Jones 21-18 Greg Smith

Andrew Deighton 21-17 Dave Worthington

Mark Hughes 16-21 Gary Siswick

James Wilcox 15-21 Paul Dudley

Christopher Mordue 21-15 Ryan Clark

Callum Wraight 21-17 Scott Fisher

Paul Wilczynski 21-12 Matt Gilmore

Last 8

Dyson 21-11 Jones