Bexhill talent wins bronze medal for England

Ajay Morphett with Mark Cohen, the president of the England Indoor Bowls Association

The Egerton Park Indoor Bowls Club player claimed a singles bronze medal while representing England at the prestigious annual event in Newport, Wales, last weekend.

Morphett, playing as England 1, came second in his group with one win and one loss before going on to win a nail-biting third place play-off.

See also: * Bexhill ace plays for England* Bexhill ace gets England call-up* Bexhill talent triumphs for England* Ace Ajay wins national titleIn the group stage, he lost to J. Breen (Wales 1) in a tie-break after winning the first set 8-7 and losing the second 7-5, but beat B. Buchan (Scotland 2) on a tie-break having won the first set 10-4 and lost the second 11-3.

The third place play-off also went to a tie-break, which Morphett won after firing with his last bowl, having won the first set 11-2 and lost the second 8-7.

It means the 17-year-old has won three gold and one bronze medal in the last three stagings of the British Isles Indoor Bowls Council Under 18 Mixed Championship.

He also played in the triples alongside D. Wild and D. Cooper, but they lost both of their group matches.

A 5-6, 4-7 defeat to T. Rees, D. Hawkins and R. Davies (Wales 2) was followed by a 5-8, 3-7 reverse at the hands of C. Musik, F. Gowan and D. Stevenson (Scotland 1).

England - with the points accrued by England 1 and 2 players added together - came joint second in the overall championship standings with Wales (Wales 1 and 2 combined). Scotland (Scotland 1 and 2 combined) were the winners.

Former Bexhill Academy pupil Morphett has not long since completed another highly successful outdoor season, during which he played for England in an under-18 Test match against Wales and won the county under-25 singles title.

Morphett - a former national under-15 indoor singles champion - plays for Spartan & Lakeside Bowls Club outdoors in the summer.