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18 IRELAND DOMINATE THE
IRELAND DOMINATE THE

INTERNATIONAL SCENE
INTERNATIONAL SCENE
It is now getting on for almost 30 years since the main
British Isles Championships started in 1986, followed by
the “A” team event in 1997. Two of the first four Premier
events (1988 and 1989), were on short games played in
Scotland and Wales before the Championships became
Short Mat only in 1990.
Excluding these “other” games, Ireland have won
the team event 25 times, with England winning 2 and
Wales 1. In the Singles Ireland have won 12 times,
Wales 11, and England 5. In the Pairs Ireland have
recorded 16 wins against England’s 7, Wales 3 and
Scotland 2. In the Triples Ireland 15, England 8, Wales
5. In the Fours, England 12, Ireland 11, Scotland 3 and Wales 2.

In the “A” team event, mostly played every other year until 2013, Ireland have won all 11
Team Championships. In the Singles it’s Ireland 6, England 3 and Wales 2. In the Pairs, Ireland
8, Wales 2 and England 1. The Triples once again show Ireland leading the way with 6 wins to
England’s 4 and Wales 1. It’s a similar story in the Fours with Ireland 8 and England 3.
IRELAND ARE PREMIER TEAM CHAMPIONS YET AGAIN
IRELAND ARE PREMIER TEAM CHAMPIONS YET AGAIN
The Championships opened with the team event, with favourites Ireland opening up with a com-
fortable 45 - 22 win over Wales including a 14 - 3 game from Alan Paul’s rink. The other match
saw England being pushed a little by Scotland, losing two of the four games but still winning 37 -
30, helped by a 12 - 5 result from Steve Proctor’s rink. In the second round of matches Ireland
had another comfortable win by 56 - 22 over Scotland. Three of the games were relatively tight
but Leigh Harrison’s Rink romped home 25 - 3. The other match was a very tight affair between
England and Wales. Both teams won two rinks each and just four shots separated the teams at
the end with England winning 40 - 36.
The third round saw the two undefeated teams of Ireland and England facing each other but
in the end Ireland had far too much quality and recorded another comfortable win by 47 - 25.
Wales in contrast bounced back in style from their loss to England with a stunning 69 - 20 win
over Scotland, with Luke Haddon leading his rink to a 23 - 3 win.
The second day’s play saw a repeat of the first day’s matches and Ireland once again got
the better of Wales with a 44 - 26 scoreline. England recorded their second win over Scotland with
a 47 - 25 result with Barry Hedges ring winning 14 - 5. Ireland’s next victims were Scotland and
won 65 - 18, with Kevin Conroy’s rink winning 24 - 3. Meanwhile, Wales were reversing their pre-
vious defeat by England and got their own back with a 41 - 36 result, again it was two rinks each
but a 14 - 3 win for Luke Haddon’s rink made the difference.