Caerleon Petanque Club’s Kon Tomczyk was crowned the WPA Shooting Champion for the 2018 season when he claimed his second National Shooting Title in an excellent day at the Monkstone Petanque Club in Penylan, Cardiff.
In the morning’s opening round Andrew Howard (30), Gemma Foster (24), Peter Westall (23) and Tomczyk (22) all did enough to claim a direct place in the afternoon’s quarter-final.
As the day progressed and the sun shone brighter, it wasn’t only the temperature that heated up; but also, the competition.
Len Field (Maesteg PC), who narrowly missed out on automatic qualification for the quarter-final sealed his afternoon spot with the highest score of the second round. Tom Mills (Monkstone PC) ensured there was home interest in the afternoon session as he impressed to qualify on his shooting competition debut. Will Thomas (Penarth PC) – who propped up the table in the first round – also did enough second time around to claim a place in the quarter-finals, whilst National Singles Champion Matthew Howells (Abergavenny PC) claimed the final spot.
In the Quarter Finals, the two highest scoring players of Round 1, Andrew Howard and Gemma Foster, were both eliminated by Matthew Howells and Will Thomas respectively. Last season’s Champion Peter Westall used his skill and experience to secure a semi-final spot against the rookie Tom Mills, whilst Kon Tomczyk ended Len Fields’ hopes.
In a nervy semi-final, where neither Matthew Howells nor Will Thomas were able to replicate their Quarter-Final excellence, it was debutant Thomas who claimed the first Final place. The second semi-final was an excellent and tight encounter, with Kon Tomczyk claiming a slight touch on the cochonnet in the penultimate round to just pip Westall by a single point in a thrilling encounter.
In the Final, Kon led through every Round as his experience in this discipline shone through and it was the Caerleon-man who claimed the Title with a 19-5 triumph.
WPA Singles Knock-Out Rounds
Quarter Finals
Andrew Howard 20-28 Matthew Howells
Gemma Foster 14-20 Will Thomas
Peter Westall 28-16 Tom Mills
Kon Tomczyk 18- 12 Len Field
Semi Finals
Matthew Howells 2-7 Will Thomas
Peter Westall 16-17 Kon Tomczyk
Final
Kon Tomczyk 19-5 Will Thomas