A brace of previous singles champions made it safely through to the last 16 of the competition at the 54th Southend Ladies Open Bowls Tournament yesterday.

Current holder Peggy Taylor of Prittlewell BC maintained her bid to retain the coveted singles crown after winning at her home ground in Priory Park.

Castle Point's Barbara Overall, who won the singles title in 1995, is also still going strong and aiming to make the quarter-finals this afternoon.

There was disappointment however for the 1997 champion, Victoria's Steve Smith, who was defeated by club-mate Connie Tompkins. Connie is very much on form at the moment and played a good game.

Also through to the last 16 players is Victoria's Margaret Green.

She took a break from organising the tournament in her role as competition secretary to secure her bid for a quarter-final place.

Two matches went right down to the wire and provided great entertainment for spectators.

Kit West of Wickford BC needed a last-end win to defeat Victoria's Esme Robinson 21-20.

Esme had earlier clinched the chance to play Kit when she won her game with Eve McCarthy by the same score on the final end.

There was a close call too for Carol Riley of Shell when she needed a last-end win to secure a 21-20 victory over J Hatton from Hockley.

Also participating was Vera Bayliss of Falcon, who is a great supporter of the Open whether she is playing or spectating.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.