The 2021 club Minor Pairs Championship commenced on Saturday August 7, with round one and the quarterfinals played under brilliant conditions. The bowlers themselves didn’t disappoint with an array of magnificent bowling on display for the enthusiastic crowd of spectators to enjoy.

In Round 1, Mark Bilton and Gary Taylor executed an almost Lazarus-like revival when they came from 19 shots to seven down to take their game against Steve Farrar and Jake McHutchison by 27 – 22.

Keith Smith and Len Yeomans had a terrific battle against Jim Stone and Trevor Allen before holding on to win by 19 – 15.

Keith Hall and Gary Gregor pushed Rod Berry and Peter Retallack all game and after 17 ends of play Rod and Peter led by 16 shots to 15. However, Keith and Gary failed to trouble the scoreboard over the remaining four ends to go down by 15 – 28.

Peter Julian and Brian Pennell proved that Glenn Fifield and Bill Williams are not morning people when they surged to a 33 – 5 victory.

Bob and Chris Gunning were almost as dominant against Phil Maddison and Steve Grodzki taking their match by 32 – 10.

The quarterfinals were all great games in their own way. Keith Smith and Len Yeomans scored three on the final end against Mark Bilton and Gary Taylor to win by 17 – 16.

Bob and Chris Gunning had a see-sawing tussle with Dave Beaumont and Paul Lozelle before taking the win by 17 – 12.

Jack Atherton and Paul Conley played a marathon, low-scoring game against Don Lee and Tony Reynolds to advance to the semi-finals with a 17 – 13 victory.

While the score in the final game didn’t reflect the closeness and quality of the encounter, when Rod Berry and Peter Retallack defeated Peter Julian and Brian Pennell by 22 – 11.

The semi-finals and final will be played on Saturday August 21 at 9am and 1pm respectively. In the first semi-final, Keith Smith and Len Yeomans will be up against the new membership duo of Rod Berry and Peter Retallack, while Bob and Chris Gunning will tackle Jack Atherton and Paul Conley.

Don Freeman