Ellis equals five-crown haul

Gary Ellis celebrates his fifth Waterloo title with dad Tom and wife Denise.

Bowls: GARY Ellis won his fifth Waterloo Bowls Handicap title in Blackpool with a 21-16 final defeat of his close friend Chris Brown.

In doing so he equalled the Waterloo record of the great Brian Duncan - whom even Ellis himself acknowledges as the greatest-ever player of the game.

Ellis, who can regulary be seen playng at Nimble Nook and Tonge, is a superb ambassador for the crown green game.

Admittedly the Waterloo isn’t the huge challenge it once was: in Duncan’s day it had more than 2,000 entrants, while now it has a quarter of that number.

But there is one thing I’m sure of: Ellis’s granite temperament and sheer refusal to be beaten are unmatched.

I have never seen anyone snatch victory from the jaws of defeat so regularly, or prevail in so many tight finishes. Ellis is the sport’s ultimate competitor.