By Stephen Helliwell
Wow! What an amazing achievement for Becky Woodhead, who made history on Sunday by becoming the first lady to win the Halifax Association’s Jackson Heating Handicap since the outdated male only policy was scrapped. In only her third season, the Hill Crest bowler showed her skills and determination by defeating a strong field of opponents and claiming the Sean Frewin sponsored event with a stunning 21-9 victory in the final against Fred Rothwell.
She started her journey with a convincing 21-9 win against B. Fisher, then followed up with a thrilling 21-18 victory against Gareth Swain to face Martin Greenwood in the quarter-final. Woodhead was receiving 5 start but that quickly vanished as Greenwood edged ahead by 9-8. But Woodhead didn't give up and fought back to lead by 17-15 then by 19-17. In a tense finish, the pair were tied at 20-20 before Woodhead snatched victory with a single at the next end. What a nail-biter! In the semi-final, against Terry Jackson, the scores were level at 13 but Woodhead finished with a spectacular break of 8 to win by 21-13.
In the other half of the draw, the vastly experienced Rothwell started with solid victories against S. Williams and Darren Turnbull to face Simon Robinson in the quarter-final. Rothwell made an excellent start to lead by 12, and maintained that 8-point margin to win n by 21-13. In the semi-final, his opponent Josh Talbot seemed to be living up to his status as one of the early favourites after establishing a 11-6 lead but Rothwell fought back to go ahead by17-12 and reach the final by 21-16.
In the final, with two start, Woodhead was just ahead by a single chalk at 8-7 before racing ahead with a brilliant break of eight to lead by 16-8. Rothwell had no response as Woodhead went on to clinch victory by 21-9. Congratulations to Becky Woodhead for this historic and impressive win!