RADCLIFFE’S Mark Dawes is toasting an “unbelievable” double double at the World Indoor Bowls Championships.

The accounting assistant added the singles title to his open pairs crown to pick up two major trophies at the Potters Resort having done the same back in 2018.

However the experiences were very different for the 37-year-old given the lack of spectators for the BBC-televised event at Hopton-on-Sea this year.

“This mirrors what happened in 2018 – although it was a completely different atmosphere with this event played behind-closed-doors and in total silence with no spectators,” Dawes said afterwards.

“To win this title once was beyond my wildest dreams but to do it twice is just unbelievable – particularly regaining the pairs too.”

He took the singles title with a 10-3, 11-5 victory over 2010 champion Greg Harlow to lift the Langham Glass trophy for the second time and win £50,000 in prize money.

It was the second time Dawes had been a thorn in Harlow’s side at the event, the duo having also met in the pairs final.

Dawes, with partner Jamie Chestney, got the better of defending champion Harlow and Ellen Falkner, a replacement for his usual partner Nicky Brett who was out with a broken wrist.

The pairs final was an epic battle with the winners unable to be called until the very last bowl in a sudden death best-of-three shoot-out. Dawes was in top form but along with Chestney went down 7-6 in the first set.

The Radcliffe man and his partner hit back though to take the next 9-2 and force a tie-break to decide the winners.

Harlow drew the shot with his last bowl to take the first end, and despite drawing the match-winner in the second and third ends Chestney rose to the challenge to seal a well deserved victory 6-7, 9-2, 2-1.

In the singles, Dawes’ progression to the final had been sealed by a 7-4, 7-5 straight sets quarter-final victory over Simon Skelton. He was given a bye through to the decider on Sunday after Wayne Willgress and Perry Martin had to bow out of the event after testing positive for coronavirus.

In the final, against Harlow, Dawes produced a masterclass of drawing prowess and when needed he executed his running shots to perfection to claim victory and the title.