High class bowls in State Championships
Close games and outstanding bowls were the order of the day at North Launceston today when the knock-out open singles championships whittled the field down to just the grand finalists in the women and the semi-finalists in the men’s competition.
Bowls Tasmania’s Gala Week of lawn bowls will finish tomorrow at North Launceston with grand finals in the prestigious men’s and women’s open pairs and singles state championships being the highlights of the day. Also being played will be the men’s and women’s B grade singles grand finals, the bowling arm triples grand final and the final two rounds of the para bowls men’s singles championship.
Post-sectional winners in the men’s open singles championship were Jade Groenewege, Glen Frame, Mark Strochnetter, Rob McMullen, Chris Lee, Grant Wakefield, Brad Carver and Ollie Morrison. In the quarterfinals, Jade Groenewege defeated Glen Frame, Rob McMullen beat Mark Strochnetter, Chris Lee, Grant Wakefield outlasted Chris Lee and Ollie Morrison had to play three touchers on the final end to overcome a gallant Brad Carver by two shots.
One post-sectional game was held in the women’s open singles championship with Maureen Zoon defeating Amity Bickley. In the quarterfinals, Lyn Triffitt defeated Linda Rose, Cheryle Fielding beat Crystal Brooks, Rae Simpson defeated Jill Silvey and Maureen Zoon beat Heather Thompson. In two high-class the semi-finals, Triffitt defeated Fielding 25-14 and Saunders beat Zoon 25-19.
The bowling arm triples championships started today. Sectional winners were Geoff Buchanan, Joe Reissig and Vaughan Eaves and Ray Dureau, Rex Kidd and Cheryll e Pedley who will play off at North Launceston tomorrow for the championship.
Grand finals in the open pair’s championships will be held tomorrow. In the men’s open pairs championship, Dover RSL’s Rick Ormerod and Cam Norris will play the young guns in Cremorne’s Reiley Banks and Brighton’s Rilie Davie. The women’s open pairs championship will be fought out between Port Sorell’s Rae Simpson and Invermay’s Jean Claridge and Penguin’s Glenda Fielding and Port Sorell’s Tracey Little.
Other state championships being decided tomorrow include the men’s and women’s B Grade singles, men’s para bowls singles and the bowling arm triples.
In the men’s B Grade singles championship, Taroona’s Rob Winterbottom will play Penguin’s Dean Gilchrist and Cosgrove Park’s Wayne Wright meets Kingborough’s Gavin Clearly in the semifinals with the winners to meet in the afternoon grand final.
In the women’s B grade singles championship, Kings Meadows Lyn Cornelius will play Cosgrove Park’s Shaz Hyland in the grand final.
Para bowlers had a day off today but will be back in action tomorrow. In the men’s para singles championships, the final two games of the sectional play championship will be played with current leader’s Glenorchy City’s Jason Dent and Wynyard’s Chris Newman playing each other in the first game of the day with the winner likely to win the championship.
Finals commence at 9.30am with the men’s and women’s open singles championships grand finals starting at 3.30pm. Food and drink will be available all day at North Launceston.
Bowls Tasmania will be live streaming the open men’s pairs grand final at 12.30pm and the open women’s singles grand final at 3.30pm on its Facebook page.
