Pairs Finalists Decided
The finalists for the 2017 Tasmanian Open Pairs Championships have now been decided after another full days play at Devonport Bowls Club.
Trevallyn’s Michael Sims and Longford’s Daniel Baker were our first team through to the final after a strong win against Josh Mabb and Chris Roach. Sims and Baker seemed in control for most of the game taking the lead from the first end of the match, until Mabb and Roach fought back to level the scores at 5 all after 6 ends.
However Sims and Baker hit their straps after this and never looked back winning several ends on the run to take a further lead before securing the victory. Sims and Baker managed to knockout defending champions Lee Schraner and Cameron Tegg earlier in the day, in an edge of your seat thriller that saw the game go to an extra end. Schraner drew the shot with his second last bowl before Sims played the perfect conversion to promote his own bowl and rest the shot bowl. With one bowl to come Schraner took to the mat but wasn’t able to get the shot back giving the Quarter final victory to Sims and Baker.
Local champions Greg Douce and Rodney Horton both of Latrobe were the next to edge their way into the gold medal play off after they beat North Launceston’s Kevin Rowlings and Josh Walker-Davis. It was Rowlings and Walker-Davis that took the early lead in that semi final though, shooting out to a 6-9 lead after 10 ends, however a couple of multiples on the next two ends saw Douce and Horton take control of the match and all of a sudden were in front 12-9 after 12 ends. Douce and Horton never looked back after this and ran away with the match.
The Latrobe boys had beaten the strong Burnie outfit of Mark Nitz and David Gamble in their quarter final match the game before. Rodney Horton will be hoping to add to his medal tally on Sunday after being a member of the men’s fours team that won that title yesterday.
The women’s pairs final is setup to be just as entertaining with a field of past and present state players making the cut.
Dee Harman and Alison Venn have progressed through to their first women’s pairs final after knocking off defending champion Hollie Keen (Sheffield) and North Launceston’s Courtney Hobbs. The semi final clash between the four state teammates was an exciting match with no more than three shots ever separating them throughout the match until the last few ends.
Harman who hails from the Wynyard Bowls Club and partner Venn from the Penguin and Longford Bowls Clubs have managed to go two steps further this year after making last years quarter finals of the same event. The coastal duo defeated former winners Rebecca Van Asch and Erin Sesara on their way to the semi final in a very consistent performance.
Their opponents in the final will be former champions Gaylene Elsworthy (Penguin) and Kim Saunders (Invermay) who progressed through their semi final with a similarly close encounter with Trevallyn’s Gail Linger and Scottsdale’s Jean Claridge. The lead changed hands several times throughout the match before Elsworthy and Saunders jumped out to a 12-7 lead after 13 ends. However Linger and Claridge bounced back with consecutive singles to get back within two shots with three ends remaining.
The experience of Elsworthy and Saunders shone through with multiples over the next 2 ends to shoot out to a 16-10 lead going into the final end. Earlier in the day the former champions had defeated the Sandy Bay sisters, Yvonne and Perri Buckley in their quarter final clash. Elsworthy and Saunders will be hoping to go one better in this final after claiming the runners up prize in yesterday women’s fours final.
Good luck to all of our finalists when they play their final on Sunday commencing at 9.30am
The singles action will recommence tomorrow with the men’s round of 16 kicking things off at 9.30am before both the men’s and women’s quarter finals at 11.30am.
