Father and son combinations rule State Fours Championships
Another hot and muggy day and great bowls were the order of the day at the North Launceston Bowls & Community Club today when Bowls Tasmania’s State Open Fours Championships were finalised.
In the men’s fours championship grand final, six of the eight participants were father and son combinations and five of the grand finalists were from the Longford Bowls Club
Australia’s number one ranked male player, Wynyard’s Josh Walker-Davis, showed his class as his team consisting of Longford’s Chad and Ollie Morrison and his own father Geoffrey Davis started brightly scoring eight shots on the first two ends and were never headed against Longford’s Mark and Lachie Strochnetter and East Launceston’s Drew Berwick and David Minns.in the grand final. Strochnetter fought back and trailed by just two shots after eight ends before Walker-Davis strung together four winning ends on the trot to restore his eight-shot lead and held on to win the championship by nine shots.
In the men’s semi-finals, Walker-Davis raced out to lead by seven shots after four ends against Kingborough’s Nic Courto, Brad Carver, Michael Andersch and Tony Rowe and won by eight shots. Strochnetter established a similar early seven shot lead against Turners Beach’s Bailey Bellchambers and Mathew Mitchell. Penguin’s Trevor Docking and Ulverstone’s Lachie Thurley and won by ten shots.
Invermay’s Rebecca Van Ash and Jess McMullen followed up their win in the State Women’s Open Triples Championships in January to win the Women’s Open Fours Championship today. Van Asch and McMullen teamed up with East Launceston’s Courtney Hobbs and Trevallyn’s Kirsten Viney and beat Latrobe’s Erin Moore, Ulverstone’s Ali Venn and Chloe Flanagan and Penguin’s Bronny King in the grand final by nine shots.
In the women’s semi-finals, Van Asch defeated Wynyard’s Dee Harman, Glenorchy Rodman’s Crystal Brooks, Dover RSL’s Barb Liddington and Penguin’s Linda Rose by 13 shots and Moore beat East Launceston’s Heather Thompson and Janet McCarthy, Cosgrove Park’s Maureen Zoon and Invermay’s Lisa Coppe by twelve shots.
The championships continue tomorrow with sectional play in the Men’s and Women’s Open and B Grade Pairs Championships at North Launceston, Trevallyn, Invermay, Cosgrove Park and Longford.
