Sun shines on State Senior Championships
Sensational weather and super-fast Beltana greens ensured a great final two days of Bowls Tasmania’s State Senior (Over 60’s) Bowls Championships which finished yesterday.
On Tuesday morning, the first final played was the Bowling Arm Senior Fours Championships. In a high-standard game, a composite team from Penguin, Kingborough and Trevallyn consisting of Peter Thow, Geoff Price, David Sims and Mike Cawthorn established a handy ten-shot early lead after ten ends but then had to fight off a determined fightback from Glenorchy City’s Noel Buckingham, Ken Paris, Trevor Marsh and Sandy Bay’s Ian Salt to finally win by two shots.
In the Men’s and Women’s Senior Fours, quarter-finals, semi-finals and the grand finals were also played on Tuesday.
In the Women’s Senior Fours, the Sandy Bay combination of Carol Bannister, Robyn Leggett, Jackie Phillips and Jan Hobbs won the last five ends to come from behind to defeat a composite team from Glenorchy Rodman, Sandy Bay and Invermay consisting of Jennie Suttie, Peri Buckley, Yvonne Buckley and Jean Claridge by five shots. In the semi-finals Bannister defeated a composite team from Westbury, Invermay and South Burnie consisting of Kim Saunders, Bev Huett, Helen Sturzaker and Denise Middap by five shots and Suttie score eight shots on the final three ends to beat another composite team from Bridport, Invermay, Buckingham and Kings Meadows consisting of Maxine Monson, Debbie Lee, Jeanette Lane and Judy Gurr by four shots.
The Men’s Senior Fours were won by a composite team from Beltana, Dover RSL and Sandy Bay consisting of Shane Young, Cameron Norris, Roger Dale and Steve Graf who defeated Kingborough’s Gavin Cleary, Tony Verrier, Brett Rollins and Royal Hobart’s Keith Hinkley by three shots. In the semi-finals, Young defeated Penguin’s Wayne Manson, Wayne Willcox, Peter French and Trevor Docking be ten shots whilst Cleary had a much tougher encounter prevailing over another Penguin team of Grant Youd, David Jeffrey, Brian Butler and Harvey Clark. by just one shot.
On Wednesday morning, Trevallyn’s Geoff Buchannan and Joe Reissig were too good in the grand final of the Bowling Arm Senior Pairs Championship defeating Latrobe’s Alice and Kevan Gaffney by 16 shots. The Gaffney’s finished strongly winning five of the final seven ends but it was not enough to overcome a brilliant start from Buchannan and Reissig who led by 18 shots after eleven ends.
Quarter finals, semi-finals and grand finals of the Men’s and Women’s Senior Pairs were also played on Wednesday
In the Women’s Senior Pairs, Rosny Park’s Ailsa Milburn and Chris McGrath had a great tussle with Howrah’s Anne Mullavey and Anne Allanby before picking up five shots with three ends to play before eventually winning by seven shots. In the semi-finals, Milburn defeated another Rosny Park pair of Sandy Scott and Patricia Blood by eight shots and Mullavey beat Invermay’s Kim Saunders and Westbury’s Denise Middap by eight shots.
The best game of the championships played out in a nail-biting grand final of the Senior Men’s Pairs Championships. After scored were level after fifteen ends of play, Kings Meadow’s Shane Gurr and Brighton’s John Nicholls prevailed by one shot in the one end tie-breaker with the kitty being moved on several occasions in the tie-breaker end. Vince looked to have the championship in his grasp after his great final bowl but Gurr was not to be outdone and played a superb final bowl of the match to get the shot and win the championship by one shot. In the semi-finals, Gurr was too good for Cremorne’s Ralph Tieman and Geoff Doyle winning by 13 shots and Vince scored five shots on the final end to defeat Dover RSL’s Chris Norris and Roger Dale by one shot.
For all the results click HERE.
