A STELLAR cast of national and international bowls stars battled it out for a �1000 top prize at the City Of Ely Bowls Tournament held at the weekend. The tournament, which saw an appearance from the world indoor champion and no less than eight England in

A STELLAR cast of national and international bowls stars battled it out for a �1000 top prize at the City Of Ely Bowls Tournament held at the weekend.

The tournament, which saw an appearance from the world indoor champion and no less than eight England internationals, was played over two gruelling days of competition with Melton Mowbray's Les Gillett claiming victory in a thrilling final.

Ely club president told the Ely Standard: "The championships have been very well supported and it has definitely been a great couple of days for the club which we hope we can repeat again for next year."

The championships themselves began at 9am on Friday (April 10) with local and regional players battling it out for the chance to make it through to the second day where they would have the chance to face off against the big names.

The likes of Ely's Greg Harlow and world number two Mark Royal, took to the green on the second day in their attempt to take glory but both came up short with Harlow out in his first round match and Royal losing out in the semi-final to Danny Brown.

There was also disappointment for world indoor champion Billy Jackson, and Ely's former world number one Nicky Brett, as they were also knocked out in the early stages of the second day.

In the final, Gillett came up against Danny Brown who was in fine form having edged past Royal in the semis. Brown's momentum carried him into a strong lead in the first set and some extraordinarily accurate bowls saw him ram home his advantage to take a one set lead.

Things looked considerably bleaker for Gillett in the second set as Brown continued his unremitting assault, moving into a commanding 5-1 lead after five ends. Gillett was inexplicably handed a lifeline in end six however, as some unusually bad bowls from Brown afforded the former four points and a way back into the match.

Gillett seized some momentum of his own having restored parity and, following a tense umpire's decision, took the second set 7-5 to force a tie-break.

Having forced his way back into the match, Gillett was determined to give his mercurial opponent no quarter and some brilliant bowls in the tie break saw him secure the title.

Gillett said: "It's been a long time since I had my hands on a trophy so it's nice to win again at what has been a fantastically run tournament.