Tassie Men proving they belong!

by admin on November 10, 2016

Two of Tasmania’s elite male bowlers are showing the rest of Australia they belong at the highest level during the Victorian Open being played at Shepparton. Lee Schraner has had an outstanding tournament and today will play in both the Singles and Pairs final. A win in both events would be a unique double for Schraner who has previously been successful in the Pairs and Mixed Pairs but a win in the Singles has always eluded him. Michael Sims will play off in the Mixed Pairs final after earlier defeating Schraner and Sims will be keen to add a title to his resume.
In the blue ribband event Schraner will face ex-team mate Matthew Flapper for the title that every player wants to have. In the pairs, Schraner & Brad Marron will face Dane McKinnon & Liam Garlick-Adams.
It has been a gruelling schedule for Schraner, 25 games with only 2 narrow losses, shows what type of form Schraner is in. He will now play both matches on the “TV rink” with the finals being live streamed by Bowls Victoria. The change from outside to inside (the matches that are live streamed are played on the indoor synthetic surface) shouldn’t effect Schraner too much as he picked up the speed very well in his Pairs Semi Final encounter. “The outside green was flying, probably 18 seconds in my singles semi-final” said Schraner after qualifying for the final of the singles. “To be honest, I feel drained but I’m excited, I’m confident the adrenaline and my mental toughness can get me through the final stages of this event.” Schraner was outstanding in the Pairs final, able to convert heads when required but Marron lead well and ensured Schraner was never under any real pressure.
Schraner’s success in the pairs, has been positive two fold. It gives him a chance to win two titles, but without his pairs success he would have bene playing Matthew Flapper on the indoor green without having played on it before. Until his semi-final match in the Pairs, all of his games had been outside whilst Flapper had played two games inside. This run on the carpet could be crucial in Schraner’s bid for double glory today.
Michael Sims is partnering with Sharon Steele in the Mixed Pairs and after winning their section defeated Schraner 17-12 before dominating the quarter finals 19-6. The Semi Finals was a much tougher encounter getting the win 17-14 but now the pressure will be on with a final and the cameras being on against Julie & Ian Ross.
All the finals will be live streamed via the Bowls Victoria website, www.bowlsvic.org.au. Here is the timing of the finals
 
10:45am Mixed Pairs Final
1:30pm Men’s Pairs Final
6:00pm Men’s Singles Final
 
Best of luck to all players, but of course some special luck to our Tasmanian players!