IT was a weekend to remember for Callum Wraight as the ‘touring’ bowler made it a clean sweep of tournament victories – culminating with the Alex Classic.

The Shrewsbury bowler headed to Blackburn having already pocketed the first place prize money in competitions in Preston and Altrincham.

Despite his busy schedule, Wraight proved to be just too good for the field as he defeated Neil Grant 21-13 in the final and left East Lancashire £400 to the good.

The competition, once again sponsored by the Red Star Pub Company, brought together some of the best bowlers in the region following two weekends of qualifiers.

The Classic, first played for in 1979, is now a firm favourite in the bowling calendar and that was again underlined by the fact that five of the eight finalists came from outside of the area.

East Lancashire hopes hinged on the trio of Ishy Patel from Blackburn, Peter Renwick from Haslingden and Clitheroe’s Malcolm Wensley.

And with Renwick and Patel going head to head, the competition, watched by a big crowd at the Dukes Brow venue despite the poor weather, was guaranteed local interest in the semi-finals.

And it proved to be one of the matches of the night as it went right down to the wire, with no more than three chalks separating the two men throughout the contest.

In the end, it was Renwick who got over the line as he secured a slender 31-29 victory.

Wensley’s hopes of progressing to the last four were denied by eventual runner-up Grant, with the Swinton man winning 31-15.

Peter Kissock from Barrow booked his place in the semi-finals thanks to a 31-22 win over Preston’s Ashley Woof.

And Wraight was looking in ominous form as he eased past Peter Hawkes from Preston, winning 31-11.

The Shrewsbury bowler was equally as impressive in the semi final as made sure the trophy would not be staying in East Lancs as he defeated Haslingden’s Renwick 31-14.

However, on the other side of the draw Grant was looking in good shape. He controlled both his quarter and semi games with some consistent good bowling as reached the final thanks to a 31-20 win over Kissock.

The wet weather made conditions difficult but Wraight made light work of it as he bowled superbly throughout the night to clinch his second Classic title.

Organiser Garry Fielding said: “It was another superb night of bowling but, on this occasion, Callum was unstoppable.

“He dominated in all his games and his excellent striking throughout the night proved to be a winning tactic. While his opponents struggled in the conditions, Callum’s combination of good lead bowling and his striking was just too good all night.”

He added: “I would like to thank the Red Star Pub Company for once again sponsoring and supporting the event, and everyone who turned up to watch despite the weather not being so great.”