Ceillam sets his sights on the world

ALDERNEY'S list of modern sporting greats could be scribbled on the back of a ciggie pack. Boxer Paul Rose and marathon runner Nikki Neal immediately come to mind and in the distant past there was the fine Beeches footballer Jonny Mannion and the Venton brothers.

Ridunians making it on the Channel Islands stage is one thing, doing it on the international one simply very unlikely.

It could happen, though, with bowler Will Ceillam.

Sound judges of bowling skills rate the 19-year-old, who could win gold in the men's singles at Hougue du Pommier this week, highly.

Should he comfortably beat the Western Isles' Duncan Macmillan today and the Isle of Man's David Thomas in his final match, Ceillam could be lining up in tomorrow's final.

He would be as good as there had he not been edged out by Thomas in the tightest of matches on day one.

Thomas won 21-19.

'I could still go through on shot difference,' said the product of Mavis Richards' Tigers junior club.

Ceillam knows the Guernsey rinks particularly well, having played here during his sixth-form years at the Grammar School and in a period when he boarded locally.

'I started in Alderney on the short mat inside and on the outdoor rink at the golf club. Once I came over for school, I started coming down here.'

He has already represented Guernsey at junior level against Jersey and the Isle of Wight.

He also played in the Shetland Games, for Alderney, in 2005.

Longer term, he hopes to play on bigger stages.

'It would be nice to win a medal at the Island Games and nice to play in the world indoor under-25s before I'm 25.'

Craig Dorey, recently returned from a long stint playing on the Australian summer bowls scene and a semi-finalist at last year's world under-25s, has no doubt Ceillam has the talent to succeed at international level.

'I had him down to win this week,' said Dorey, who was among some fine players in an island under-35s singles field which was forced to bow to Ceillam a couple of years back.

Ceillam now works locally at the Royal Bank of Canada and is getting back into the bowls scene after a quiet summer.

He does not play outdoors, or to be correct not for four years, and was just ticking over with a game a week indoors over the summer. And while he bears the letters ALDERNEY across his shoulders this week, Guernsey is now his home.

'All my dad's family is in Guernsey. Just mum, dad and an uncle are left in Alderney.'