THIS has definitely been Jessie Buchan’s year. For not only is the Merkinch blind bowler the reigning British Singles Champion, but she also won the Scottish Singles Championship and, along with partner Derek Marland of South Queensferry, she won the 7th World Pairs Championship title!
In fact Jessie’s achievement is a lot more than just being best in the world at her sport. For on top of being struck suddenly with blindness overnight some 20 years ago, a few years ago she woke to find she had had a stroke which had robbed her of speech.
But she has fought back to have her most successful year ever - at the age of 71.

Jessie was born and brought up in the family home in Telford Road and she went to Merkinch Primary. After eight years in Aberdeen she went to live in Spain and was there for nearly 20 years. It was when she was in Spain that a virus paralysed her optic nerves. She has nothing but praise for the treatment she received from her Spanish doctors, but after five years' treatment she decided she wanted to come home. “Rightly or wrongly I thought that the softer light would help me,” she says. “The light is very harsh in Spain.”
She now lives in Cameron Square with her faithful golden labrador Tara. “I couldn't get about without her,” Jessie says. She stresses that she is not partially sighted. “I'm on the Blind Register and classified as B2. The category B1 is the totally blind, B2 is for those with very limited vision, and B3 for those with less limited vision. Bowling championships are held for all three categories.”
Jessie took up bowling soon after her return to Scotland. “It's been my whole life since I came home,” she says. A member of Planefield Bowling Club, she also plays indoors three times a week in winter at the Cameron and Duncraig clubs.

People ask: “How can a blind person take part in bowling?” The answer is with some difficulty. Firstly, they have a “director”, a seeing person knowledgeable about bowls who can act as the bowler's eyes. A cord runs up the centre of the rink and the bowler's director describes the position of the bowls and advises what angle and strength of delivery is required. “It's very much a team effort,” says Jessie and pays tribute to her director Ron Crate of Forfar. He too is 71 and a not inconsiderable bowler in his own right - his daughter Linda is a Hong Kong international bowler.

Ron has been Jessie’s director for the last three years and she often visits him in Forfar where she is also a member of his local bowling club. Previously James Wares of Alness helped her.
Secondly, bowlers have to have help to get to major competitions. “I've been so lucky and I'm grateful to Moray Firth Radio and the Sports Council for all the support they’ve given me,” she says.
Bowling has taken Jessie, a former Inverness Courier Sports Personality of the Year, all over the world - to Canada, New Zealand, and twice to Israel.
“But I knew if I was ever going to win the world event it would be this year when Scotland was hosting it for the first time.”

As if losing her sight at 50 was not enough, Jessie was to suffer a further blow when three years ago she had a stroke. With months of therapy and practice she gradually learned to speak again, although she still has occasional “bad days”. “I'm so grateful to so many people, family and friends who helped me get over my stroke, not least Ron, who encouraged me at every turn.”
Although she has won the Disabled Cup seven years in a row, has been reigning British B2 champion for the last two years and Scottish Singles champion three times - in 1995, ’96 and ’97 - Jessie was disappointed not to be picked to play for Scotland in the Singles, the first time the four-yearly event has ever been held here.

However, she went forward to the 10-nation event in Girvan this August with Derek Marland partnering her in the Mixed Pairs. The pair made a clean sweep, defeating all the other teams in their category to produce Scotland's first international gold medal in blind bowling.
And earlier this month she regained the Scottish Singles title at Grangemouth, making her the first person to ever win it four times.

Congratulations, Jessie, you deserve every bit of your success.

Jessie with the Cup she won in the World Pairs and some of the many other prizes and trophies she has won over the years.