Sides Championships complete the Nationals
A report for The Mercury by Peter Kirby
More than a week of elite bowls remain to be played in Bowls Australia’s Nationals Championships, with the Australian Sides Championships commencing today at Club Tweed on the Gold Coast, concluding on Sunday, and the final event, the Australian Championships, to be played over five days from Monday to Friday next week.
The Australian Sides Championships for men and women involve sides from the six states and two territories consisting of twelve players each, divided into three rinks of four. The competition format is round robin with two rounds being conducted on each of the first three days and the seventh and final round played Sunday morning.
Ryan Guy-Rees and Crystal Brooks (Kingborough), Joy Voss (Glenorchy Rodman), Josh Lording (Sandy Bay) and Mitch Banks (New Norfolk) will miss the first round of Bowls South’s Saturday Pennant due to their selection in Bowls Tasmania’s sides. There are great hopes for a strong, competitive display during the competition.
The Australian Championships for Open Men and Women bring together the state or territory Champion Singles, Pairs, Triples, Fours, and Mixed Pairs title holders. Each event will be played over a single day, with the contestants split into two sections of four players (or teams), with the winner from each section playing in the evening to determine first and second overall.
Of most interest for the southern bowls community will be the progress of Chris Norris (Dover), Darren Banks (Rosny Park) and Chris Lee (Invermay) contesting the Men’s Triples Monday 21 October, and Riley Davie (Brighton) and Reiley Banks (Cremorne) in the Men’s Pairs on Tuesday.
While always striving for their best efforts our bowlers have so far have not experienced much success at the Nationals. In the Champion of Champions Singles, Jason Fowler lost several very close games but had a good win over his South Australian opponent.
In his initial Australian Seniors Sides tournament skipping, Chris Norris (Dover) had a good series, winning three of his seven matches and tying a fourth 19-all with his Western Australian opponent. Rosie Geeves (Howrah) and Peri Buckley (Sandy Bay) played lead and two on Tasmania’s best performed rink in the Senior Women’s competition, winning four matches and tying a fifth.
Playing in the U/18 Fours, Riley Davie and his teammates won all three of their games in sectional play and lost their quarter final match by three shots to the four from Queensland, the eventual winners of the Boys U/18 Fours.