National success for local bowlers

Medal haul for indoor bowlers

A squad o 22 members from the Mt Gambier District Indoor Bowls Association have recently returned from the 53rd Australian Indoor Bias Bowls National Championships in Sippy Downs – Sunshine Coast, Queensland.

Serena Bourn represented South Australia in the Ladies Singles and came home with the silver medal to the Victorian player Anne Draffen by only the margin of one game.

Serena had two wins on the first day and lost the morning games on both Tuesday and Wednesday, one by seven shots and the other by one shot against the champion. Serena cemented her silver medal position in the last game beating her opponent 29 shots to 10.

The ladies pair’s team that also consisted of two Mount Gambier members of Keisha Pearson and Fiona Pearson were successful in claiming the silver medal in the pair’s discipline. With daughter Keisha leading and mother Fiona skippering the ladies started the week winning their first three games. On the fourth game they played the national champions to only lose by one shot on the last end and last bowl from the opposition. This was the only game they lost as they had two draws and six wins. The ladies went into the last day in the bronze medal position but with a convincing win and the team holding second position losing they were elevated to claim the silver medal.

The Mount Gambier representatives in the Men’s Pairs Daniel Langdon and Tony Bowditch were proud to win the bronze medal. After a slow start early in the week the two started to gel and became competitive against the stronger teams and putting points against their names. There medal came down to the last day. They only had to win and hope other result went there way and that’s what happened. They won 23 shots to 9 and the other two teams fighting for contention lost and the other draw, giving Daniel and Tony the bronze medal.

Mount Gambier player results All results out of 9 Games Played. Ladies Singles: Serena Bourn 2nd 7 wins Ladies Pairs: Keisha Pearson & Fiona Pearson 2nd 6 wins & 2 draws Men’s Pairs: Daniel Langdon & Tony Bowditch 3rd 5 wins & 1 draw Ladies Fours: Veronica Opie, Fiona Rochow, Shirley Gifford & Heather

Glynn 4th 6 wins Ladies Triples:

Emma Freemantle (plus Samantha Hawke & Jodie Hawke) 5th 5 wins Mixed Pairs: Jennifer Bowering (plus Leigh Huckel) 5th 4 wins & 1 draw Mixed Fours: Nola Spencer (plus Gloria Williams, Rocco Ursida & Geoff Amos) 6th 4 wins Men’s Triples: Tim Radley, Gary Bowering (plus Mike Haywood) 7th 4 wins & 1 draw Mixed Fours: Bronwyn Hill (plus Terry Culbertson, Colleen Barclay & Patrick Falckh) 8th 2 wins & 2 draws Men’s Fours: Trevor Williams & Thomas Butler (plus Kevin Rowley & Peter Matan) 8th 3 wins

Men’s Triples: Craig Pearson (plus Milton Hawke & Ian Miller) 8th 3 wins Men’s Pairs: Zac Pearson (plus Chris Chrisakis) 9th 2 wins & 1 draw Men’s Singles: Coehen Keppels 10th 1 win & 2 draws Ladies Fours: Nicola Bowditch (plus Mary Haywood, Jan Miller & Carole Ross) 10th 1 win

Reserve: Jos Breuker – 1st for team support over the week AUSTRALIAN SQUAD SELECTION Throughout the championships a squad of 13 men and 11 ladies were selected to try out for the Australian team. Mount Gambier was lucky to have four players selected in the squad.

Keisha Pearson, Serena Bourn, Zac Pearson and Fiona Pearson were selected to try out for trials in Ballarat in January 2024 to make the final cut of seven men and seven ladies to represent their country in Pukekohe New Zealand in May 2024.

MEDAL WINNERS: (Above) Fiona Pearson, Keisha Pearson, Serena Bourn, Daniel Langdon & Tony Bowditch

AUSTRALIAN SQUAD SELECTION: (Below) Keisha Pearson, Fiona Pearson, Zac Pearson & Serena Bourn