A silver lining
MATT LE BER, watched anxiously by proud dad Len, picked up the silver medal in the Atlantic men's singles championship at Ayr in Scotland yesterday to crown a highly successful event for the Guernsey team.
MATT LE BER, watched anxiously by proud dad Len, picked up the silver medal in the Atlantic men's singles championship at Ayr in Scotland yesterday to crown a highly successful event for the Guernsey team. On Tuesday, Len had played his part as middle-man in the Sarnian trio that bagged the bronze in the triples, and here, just five days later, 22-year-old Matt was going one better and snatching the silver.
'What made it all the more amazing was that I was the second oldest of the four semi-finalists,' said Matt, after his 21-15 defeat at the hands of Canada's Ryan Bester, who won the world outdoor pairs championship on the same Northfield greens three years ago.
'Ryan is a couple of months younger than me, while my old mate Jamie MacDonald, from Jersey, whom I beat in the semi-finals, is only 19,' he explained. 'Only Nick Cole, from Spain, who is 40, was older than me.'
Young Le Ber started the weekend by toppling the favourite for the title, Darren Burnett, from the host country, 21-17, after shaking the partisan spectators by storming into a 17-5 lead in the quarter-finals.
Burnett, the WBL world number one, and an officer in the Tayside police force, closed menacingly to 17-15, but the Sarnian courageously held off the Scottish challenge and got home with a double on the 24th end.
Le Ber's mate MacDonald also made his mark with an excellent 21-17 win over Welsh star Mike Prosser and it was, in a way, unfortunate that the two Channel Islanders were drawn to meet in the semi-finals.
Le Ber found his touch from the start and dominated the game, winning 21-10 and leaving a disconsolate MacDonald licking his wounds and wondering what had hit him.
Early exchanges were fairly even with MacDonald holding his own until the 11th end when the scores were level, 7-7, but Le Ber allowed his opponent only three more singles, as he pressed home to a surprisingly easy victory.
'That's three times we have played recently and Matt's won every time,' said MacDonald, who was still remembering the 21-8 defeat handed out to him by his Guernsey pal in the British Isles semi-finals in Edinburgh only three weeks ago.
In the final it was a different story, with Bester, who now plays professionally in Australia, in top form and it was Le Ber's turn to struggle, as the Canadian opened up a 19-4 lead after 16 ends.
To Le Ber's credit, he did not panic. Getting his act together, he scored on eight ends in succession, closing the gap to just four shots at 19-15 and he came close to tying things up with a drive on the 25th.
'If I had hit the target, Ryan's bowls would have gone out of the head and I might have got four shots,' said Le Ber. 'Instead, I missed by a fraction and he took the two shots for game, match and championship.'
His father, looking on proudly but nervously, said, 'Matt did tremendously well to come back into the game and could have won. He's a bit disappointed, but I'm sure he'd have taken a silver medal if you'd offered it to him at the start of the event.'
Len, who partnered Paul Wakeham and Ian Merrien to the triples bronze, revealed that he has played his last game for Guernsey at this level: 'I've had a great time and this seems like a good time to retire,' he said.
'Now it's time for me to keep an eye on Matt's progress. Of course I will still play in the Le Quesne - if selected - and will continue to enter the Guernsey championships, so I will compete in the British championships if I qualify.'
