Easy as 1-2-3 for ace Ellis

MARATHON MAN ... Gary Ellis coped with his gruelling weekend schedule.

NIMBLE Nook and Tonge star Gary Ellis enjoyed a spectacular £3,700 weekend pay-out on the bowling greens of Stockport and Yorkshire.

First up for Ellis was Saturday night’s finals of the Hillcrest Classic in Sowerby Bridge, where he lined up against a top-class field in pursuit of the £1,200 top prize.

After coming from 26-18 behind to beat club-mate Jimmy Derby 31-30, Ellis saw off Kendal’s Martin Gilpin 31-13 in the semi-finals before overcoming Halifax star Robert Hitchen 31-20 in the final.

The following afternoon saw Ellis travel to the Woodley area of Stockport for the Navigation Open singles in which he was once again dominant.

After defeating Bacup’s Chris Livesey 21-6 in the last eight, he saw off Preston ace Simon Coupe 21-13 before clinching the top prize of £1,500 with a 21-16 verdict over Hyde’s Gareth Gwilliam.

Those two wins would have been enough to satisfy most top bowlers – but not Ellis.

He got in his car following his Navigation success and made the one-hour, 20-minutes drive to Wakefield for the finals of the Sandal Classic.

The organisers there were awaiting his arrival and Ellis had to get straight out of his car and on to the bowling green – not that it mattered.

Ellis beat Huddersfield’s Josh Mordue 21-16 in the quarter-finals and Shropshire’s Paul Williams 21-9 in the semis.

That set up a final clash with Huddersfield’s Ashley Daykin, who hit back from 20-7 down to 19-20.

Daykin played a bowl an inch from the jack, but Ellis took it out as clean as a whistle to win the final and clinch a hat-trick of major titles.

Said dad Tom: “It was an amazing weekend. He had been wondering what was happening as he had been qualifying for lots of finals only to go out early on.

“It just shows how quickly things can change in bowls.”