Surfing

BEN CONQUERS EUROPE:

Surfing superstar Ben Skinner has conquered Europe with a hat-trick of European titles to round off a dream year.

In his latest triumph, he beat the current world champion again to reclaim the ESF European Longboard championship which he won in the event's first year in 2007.

This came in the wake of his two other big successes this year – the Eurosurf Championship in Jersey, when he was a member of the Channel Islands team, and his men's final success in the ASP European Longboard event at Tapia de Casariego in Spain.

Perranporth-based Ben, 24, sealed his hat-trick with an outstanding performance in the fourth and final leg of the ESF European Longboard Tour at Estoril, Portugal.

He finished the tour with total points of 5,768, comfortably ahead of current world champion Antoine Delpero, who came third with 4,046, and his brother Eduard Delpero, second with 4,318.

In classic conditions, Ben once again achieved world-class scores before judges who will also be involved in the world events.

He knocked out Antoine Delpero in the quarter-final and then took an unassailable lead in the overall event when beating Eduard in the semi final. Ben scored a nine and an eight in the semi (to add to a nine in an earlier heat) and totalled 17.25 semi-final points against Eduard's 15.

With the pressure off, and by now understandably tired, Ben cruised to a final heat win over another Frenchman, Alexis Deniel, with heat totals of 14.6 and 13.93.

"The semi-final was massive and I gave it absolutely everything, with the 17.25 being my biggest score in the whole event," reflected Ben.

"It was a man-to-man heat against Eduard and I was determined not to let it slip. I just put my head down and tried to control the controllables.

"It all came down to the last event in Estoril and the conditions were once again amazing. The waves were quite scary. There were a lot of rocks around, and not everyone was very confident of hitting the edge and making the big drops, but I just decided to get on with it!"

He added: "I'm absolutely over the moon, but also a little tired! I've travelled 2,500 miles over the last three weeks to complete this tour and it's all been pretty tense."

Ben's super 2009, in which he has scarcely put a foot wrong, reinforces his conviction that he can eventually achieve his lifelong ambition to become world champion. Earlier this year, he gained bronze in the Billabong ISA World Surfing Games in Costa Rica.

And Estoril was confirmation of Ben's great return to form this year, having finished a disappointing third in last year's tour after injury, and it was another boost for his Skindog board, made by the namesake company at St Columb Major in which he has a stake.

It was the third year in a row that Ben had won the Estoril leg of the European Longboard Tour.

And it followed another outstanding performance a month earlier in the Maldives leg of the ASP World Longboard Tour, where he beat defending ASP champion Bonga Perkins in the first round. Although he came unstuck in the next round, it was enough to secure Ben tenth place in the ASP overall world rankings.

Motor trial

FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP TRIAL:

The 2009 Cornish Trials Championship season has come to a close.

Run by West Cornwall Motor club, the Ellis cup trial rounded of the nine round series in the excellent Trevaylor Woods venue near Penzance.

With most classes still to be decided the trial proved tough and gave everyone a fair chance to have a good result.

On the Blue course the Cornish Trials Championship went to St Austell all-rounder George Edyvean 103, with Ian Martin 85 in second place and brother Shaun Martin 75 third.

On the new Clubman Expert route Robin Martin 82 took the honours from Shane Orchard 82, but only by virtue of more round wins, with Tristan Barnicut 74 in third.

On the White route another close finish ensued, and with one more point, the win went to Gavin Yelland 99 from Dave Kemp 98 and Steve Tabb 76.

In the Youth A class, Charlie Mooney 105 took a convincing win from Liza Maria Orchard 57 and James Hull 48, and the Youth B went to Sam Jeffry 109 from Dan Yelland 102 and Dan Hull 52.

Down on the Yellow course the Mono win went to Chris Anstee 83, who had a tight tussle with runner-up Simon Ferris 79 and Paul Carter 70. In the Youth C class, the win went to Ashley Wilcox 60 from Sam Morcom 27 and Callun Mallabar 22.

On the Red route beginners' course it was a case of experience over youth, with the win going to ever youthful Tony Stuart 94 from James Wilcox 73 and Dylan Browne 42.

A resurgent Sidecar class ran alongside the solos, with the Championship win going to the newly crowned British Clubman Trials champions Gareth Andrews and Keith Morcom 93 from Shaun Jenkin/Phil Highland 86 and Mike Jewel/Ali Smith 84.

In the Novice class, a dominant win went to Carl and Tristan Jenkin 117 from Alan and Rosie Maynard 48 and Dave Wilcox and Mike Ripper 38.

Motorsport

BOOK LAUNCH RAISES £330:

Jeremy Jackson's book launch & social evening, on Friday raised £330 for the ACU Benevolent Fund charity.

A large gathering of riders and supporters came from far and wide. Paul Spargo, the former hillclimb maestro, made the special effort travelling from Ibiza.

Many disciplines of the sport were well represented including trials, moto X, enduro, sprint, hillclimb, grasstrack and car trials. Jeremy's 112 page Champions 4 Celebration will be available locally from him at 85, Park Way, St Austell at £10 + £2 p&p or available from GNC or Kingsley Village; My Motors, Redruth and Hurley's Mevagissey.

Snooker/billiards

DAVE'S BIG BREAKS:

The draw for the next rounds of the Cornwall Billiards & Snooker competitions have been made.

Highlights of the last rounds included 185 and 106 breaks for Dave White (Bude SC) who defeated Chris Mitchell (Dobwalls) in the first round of the Billiards. Charlie Gay (St Day) ran out with a 58 unfinished break to defeat Ian Hunn (St Dominic) by six points. Geoff Lingard (Camelford WMI) also had a 133 break in his win.

In the Individual Snooker, young Bobby Southworth (Bell's Court) set the highest break of 97 in his 3-2 win over Gary Spencer (Bugle WMC). Defending champion Kevin Steed (Dobwalls) had a hard fought 3-2 win over Alan Hurley (Illogan Highway) while possibly tie of the round saw Paul Williams (Bell's Court) defeat Steve Downing (Clinton SC) 3-1. Paul had breaks of 63 and 67 while Steve had a 72.

In other competitions, there were repeats of last year's finals. In the Individual Handicap Jake Stewart (Penponds) turned the tables on Tim Johnson (Godolphin Cross) with a 3-0 victory, while in the over 45's handicap last year's runner up Bob Stephens (Bugle WMC) defeated last year's champion Jim Kelly (Launceston CC) 3-1.

St Day put out last year's 5 a side champions Bugle WMC 3-1.

Full draw and results on page 110

DEFEAT FOR COUNTY:

The Cornwall Billiards and Snooker team travelled to Torquay last week to play their annual match against Devon.

Unfortunately, the team lost 17-12 to a strong Devon Side

The Senior Snooker team lost 11-3 with only captain, Kevin Steed (2) and debutant Simon Hosking (1) picking up any points.

The juniors played well for a 6-4 win with victories coming from captain Simon Hosking and Nathan Strick, who won both frames, and Ryan Gilbert and Chris Kendall with one win apiece.

The billiards team won by three matches to two with wins coming from Dave White, Geoff Lingard and Derek White.

Short mat

WINS FOR EAST AND WEST:

On Saturday the second round of Inter Area League matches was played at the Dragon Leisure Centre, Bodmin.

The West came up against North with Central taking on East, each with teams of 20 players drawn from clubs in the respective areas. In total 25 clubs were represented across the four teams.

West started strongly claiming all four games in the morning Singles and Fours.

North claimed an advantage in the second session, the morning Pairs and Triples, to leave the score at the halfway point at West 11 points 91 shots, North 5 points 65 shots. West claimed three of the four games in the afternoon Singles and Fours to ensure the overall match win with a session to play.

North claimed all four games in the final session to leave the final score West 21 points 173 shots, North 15 points 159 shots after application of the bonus points for most shots.

Central and East finished level on points and shots in the morning session of Singles and Fours.

The second session, the morning Pairs and Triples, saw the East edge ahead overall in the match claiming three of the four games to lead 10 points 86 shots to 6 points 85 shots at the halfway point.

East further stretched their advantage in the third session, the afternoon Singles and Pairs, with three wins out of four to move into a 16-8 points lead.

A shared final session saw East claim the overall match win with a final score of East 24 points 180 shots, Central 12 points 174 shots with the bonus points applied.

COUNTY TRIPLES:

On Sunday 38 teams contested the County Triples qualification competition at the Dragon Centre, Bodmin. The competition was run on a round robin basis in groups to determine the qualifiers for the finals.

Three of the groups of six were claimed by teams unbeaten on the day, Meg and Ken Horrell (Withiel) and Brian Wakeley (Luxulyan) claimed Group One with 6 points plus 25 shots.

Melba Kitt, Graham Reeves and Darren Woolner (Saltash) took Group Two honours with 6 plus 17 with Group Three taken by Bob Williams, Joe Coups and David Studden (Troon) with 6 plus 12. The remaining groups of four were also all won by undefeated teams, Group four going to Phil Hicks (Luxulyan), Gillian Cawrse and Chris Cawrse (Lostwithiel) with 6 plus 36, the best score recorded by any of the qualifiers.

Group five was claimed by Joe Dixon, Eric and Joan Boddy (Withiel) with 5 plus 22 on shots difference ahead of Henry Kendall, Joyce Ward and Roger Edwards (Withiel) after a drawn final group game between the two teams.

A closely fought Group six where no game was won by more than five shots went the way of Pam Williams, Jim and Carolyn Stanley (St Newlyn East) with 6 plus 8. An equally close Group seven went the way of John Thomas (Penzance), Margaret Jenkins and Nigel Nicholls (Newlyn Trinity) with 6 plus 6. The final group, Group eight, went the way of Pam Hamley (Lostwithiel), Carol and Graham Ford (St Newlyn East) with 6 plus 18.

The qualifiers will return to Bodmin for the finals to be played in March.

NATIONAL QUALIFERS:

On Sunday Luxulyan Village Hall will play host to the local ESMBA National Championships with opportunities to represent Cornwall in Bedford next April are up for grabs in Singles, Pairs and Triples.

Cornwall will have no representation in the Fours at next year's championships as insufficient entries were received by the closing date.

Bowls

SUCCESS FOR BODMIN MEN:

Bodmin men had a successful week, which started with an impressive win against Veryan in the County Top Team competition. In each of the five disciplines Bodmin came out on top and move on to the next round where they meet Carnmoggas in January.

Then, in the Inter-club league, both Bodmin A and B picked up maximum points in their encounters with Caradon A and B. Meanwhile, despite dropping one rink against Newquay in the Bergen Shield, Bodmin managed a win in overall shots.

Rink scores: Top Team: 2 Wood: D Drew 17 D Iddles 10; Four Wood: I Drew 21 T Beale 13; Pairs: N Coad/A Hawke 14 M Fuller/A Laity 12; Triples: G Levett/G Mugford/A Barron 28 P Ells/ R Danyiuk/N Laity 2; Fours: P Cook/G Bunt/K Corris/P Bennett 26 P Smith/D Travers/J Wilson/T Reid 5. ICL: Bodmin A: N Coad 47 I Whale 6; A Barron 17 R Pacey 14; I Drew 19 J Lennon 17; A Hawke 26 P Truscott 14. Bodmin B: M Wilkins 28 J Garner 12; B Crowle 21 G Jones 20 I Burnard 17 R Marchants 14; R Thompson 22 J Martin 16. Bergen Shield: L Trendall 33 F Brooks 10; J Masters 18 P Andrews 26.

In contrast, Bodmin ladies had mixed fortunes. Their progress in the national Yetton Cup was halted in the second round by an strong Newquay side. Although the two rinks playing at home narrowly won, the two away suffered heavy defeats and Bodmin lost overall by 22 shots. However, playing Carnmoggas away in the Caradon Cup, Bodmin garnered a win by six shots.

Rink scores: Yetton: E Rowe 20 J Rowntree 17; W Greig 21 E Bray 20; B Mugford 18 J Jones 32; B Jones 19 P Brooks 31. Caradon: C Wooders 16 E Ward 27; J Gould 26 J Harding 9.

DOMESTIC LEAGUES:

Roy Lambden has pulled away in the Morning Triples Division 1 and is five points clear of his nearest challengers. Colin Parsons' lead in Division 2 has increased to two points from second-placed Reg Harris. Three teams share top spot in the Evening Triples, Roy Lambden, Mervyn Emment and Geoff Bunt, but are separated by games played and shots difference. Ian Burnard and Mel Cooper remain two points apart in the Rinks. It's all square in the Ladies Triples with Karent Emment and Berenice Mugford equal on points. Daphne Chenoweth is four points clear of Berenice Mugford in the Rinks. Dave Tynan maintains his unbeaten record in the Mixed.