Local bowlers shine at Victorian championship

THE Mount Gambier District Indoor Bowls Association competed in the Victorian Inter Group Championships for the fourth time, winning two gold and one silver medal for Mount Gambier District Indoor Bowls Association.

The Mount Gambier Association was still on a high going into this year’s tournament, after winning last year overall, but was overwhelmed with three events medalling and placing fourth in the J & L Clifton Shield only finishing 33 points behind the winner.

The Mount Gambier District Indoor Bowls Association travelled to Ballarat on the long weekend to compete against teams from Northern Districts, Ballarat Blue, Warrnambool Orange, Ballarat Gold, Heytesbury, South/Eastern & Warrnambool Blue.

Each team comprised of twenty six players, of which 10 different team disciplines were fielded.

The Mount Gambier District Indoor Bowls Association showed that it was competitive once again winning medals in its fourth time at the championships.

The first player to win a gold medal was the Ladies Singles player of Fiona Pearson.

It was her first time playing singles at these championships, Fiona lost her first game and then won five games except for a draw in her sixth game.

The results came down to the last day with Fiona winning and the other two leaders playing each other and having a draw, moving Fiona from third place to first.

The Mixed Fours team of Leonie Wastell, Val Alma, Gary Walters and Garry Burke had a fantastic tournament winning six out of seven games.

The team had the gold medal sealed going into the last day being two games clear of their nearest rival.

The Men’s Pairs team took home the silver medal; the team being Coehen Keppels and Zac Pearson went into the last day sitting tied in second place by percentage.

They had to win to secure the silver medal and that’s what they done.

With five wins and one draw they collected the silver medal.

The other teams that contributed to the J & C Clifton Shield were;

Men’s Singles – Jos Breuker 1 win & 1 draw

Ladies Pairs – Bronwyn Hill & Emma Freemantle 1 win & 1 draw

Ladies Triples – Nola Spencer, Veronica Opie & Heather Glynn 2 wins & 1 draw

Men’s Triples – Kevin Burn, Josh Ferrazzola & Craig Pearson 5 wins

Ladies Fours – Carolyn Walters, Tanya Burke, Lorraine Van Den Hoogen & Shirley Gifford 3 wins

Men’s Fours – Trevor Williams, Craig Reynolds, Thomas Butler & Tim Radley 3 wins

Mixed Pairs – Fiona Rochow & Stephen Von Duve 1 win

All the regions points were tallied for the J & L Clifton Trophy with the final placings:

Warrnambool Orange 102