Young Greenock bowler qualifies for Scottish finals at Northfield

Victoria Bowling Club member Astyn McKechnie bowled over his opposition at the recent Bowls Scotland District 26 under 25s finals.

The prodigious youngster is now through to the Scottish National Finals at Northfield Bowling Club in Ayr on July 23, which will see him face off against the top young talent from across the country.

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The 13-year-old told the Telegraph the big win had been a bittersweet one, as it had meant beating Brandon Miller of Wellington Park Bowling Club, who he recently won an under 15s pairs title alongside.

He said: “Brandon’s one of my best pals, I was gutted to beat him but you have to do what you have to do.

“But I’m really chuffed with myself.

“It’s five games to get to the final, so I’ll get past the first and see what happens.

“You have to go game by game.

“There are a lot of people I need to say thank you for supporting me, I’m lucky to have had their help.”

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Astyn will be cheered on by his proud friends and family at Northfield who are planning to make the trip down to support him.

Among them will be his uncle William, who is also Victoria Bowling Club’s president, and his dad Mark.

William said that the club were delighted to have his nephew as a member.

He added: “It’s fantastic to have someone so talented at the club.

“He’s been doing a lot of work with the older guys too.

“We’ve got Astyn and another boy Jack at the club and they’re both doing really well.

“Getting through to Northfield is a big opportunity, he’s the first young guy the club have had go through to Northfield.

“We’ve had other guys go through because never anyone who’s as young as Astyn.

“The whole family’s proud of him, his gran even came along to watch him get through to Northfield.

“He’s done really well it’s an absolutely fantastic achievement, there’ll be a fair few of us going along on the day to cheer him on.”

After joining Victoria Bowling Club in 2016, Astyn went on to win three under 10s tournament titles in a row before the pandemic halted his progress.

His dad Mark said he hoped his boy could add to the silverware he had already earned and praised his fellow bowlers who had helped Astyn develop as a player.

He said: “He’s had good support.

“Stewart McAlees and Sandy Wotherspoon of the Port Glasgow Bowling Club have been a big help in the past year indoor and outdoor and our current club champion Robert Davidson has given him a lot of support.

“Our late friend John Coombes also did a lot of work with Astyn when he started out.

“Him and Brandon are the same age and have competed against each other, but they also won the district pairs championship which was an honour for Victoria and Port Glasgow Bowling Club.

“It’s a total honour having him go to Northfield, it’s something he’s looked forward to for years.

“We went down last year to watch a few games and it’s one of his dreams achieved now.

“He’s the youngest from this club ever to go and we think he might be one of the youngest ever from the area.

“It’s great to have such a talent at this club.”