Sports

2016 Minor Pairs Champions: John Telfer (substituting for Allan Marr) and Neil McKenzie

Yamba Minor Pairs to Telfer and McKenzie

2016 Minor Pairs Champions: John Telfer (substituting for Allan Marr) and Neil McKenzie
2016 Minor Pairs Champions: John Telfer (substituting for Allan Marr) and Neil McKenzie
  The 2016 Minor Pairs Championships semi-finals and finals were contested on Saturday with John Telfer and Neil McKenzie winning their semi-final over Denis Ford and Cliff Hinton by 23 shots to 11. John Telfer substituted for the injured Allan Marr and made the most of the opportunity laying the foundation for the win with his lead bowling. Don Freeman found a new way to lose a semi-final when his playing partner failed to appear and subsequently had to forfeit to his opposition Roger Pryor and Graeme Quick. Roger was substituting for the unavailable Ron Moore and advanced straight to the final without having to deliver a bowl. The final was a gripping affair with Roger and Graeme starting well and placing early pressure on John and Neil. However, eventually the steadiness of John’s lead bowling and the ability of Neil to ensure that at least one of his bowls each end made an impact took its toll on Roger and Graeme. The game hung in the balance until the final end and it was John Telfer and Neil McKenzie that took the title 21 shots to 17.
CRDWBA 2016 State Mixed Pairs Champions: Cathryn Aitchison and Alan Abbott of Yamba with Runners-up Sandra Ferro and Kerry Wells of Maclean
CRDWBA 2016 State Mixed Pairs Champions: Cathryn Aitchison and Alan Abbott of Yamba with Runners-up Sandra Ferro and Kerry Wells of Maclean
The 2016 CRDWBA State Mixed Pairs Championship was hosted at Yamba on Saturday with eight teams from across the Clarence River District taking the challenge. The teams were divided into two sections with three games to decide the section winners to advance to the final. Each game was contested over two five end sets with a one end tie-breaker if required. Section One was won by the Maclean pairing of Sandra Ferro and Kerry Wells who had to survive a last game scare against Helen and Dave Atkinson of Yamba. Sandra and Kerry managed to just hang on to their section lead defeating Helen and Dave almost by half a point to advance to the afternoon final. Section Two was dominated by Cathryn Aitchison and Alan Abbott who were clear eight and a half point winners of their section. The final was a thriller with the teams drawing the first set six shots each. This meant that whoever won the second set would be the Clarence District winners to move onto the Regional Finals later in the year. Sandra and Kerry played well, but it was Cathryn and Alan who managed to gain control of the head and although Kerry had a faint opportunity of snaring victory with his final bowl, it was not to be. Cathryn and Alan took the set and the title six shots to three in the final set. The club’s Minor Triples Championship final was played on Tuesday evening between the ever reliable combination of Bob Gunning, Peter Cawdrey and Chris Gunning and the effervescent amalgamation of Keith Smith, Graeme Quick and Ron Moore. Bob, Peter and Chris advanced to the final following the total demolition of Allan Marr, Paul Lozelle and Don Freeman in the semi-final. Chris’s team dominated control of the mat for long periods denying their opposition any opportunity to regularly score shots or exert any pressure. Keith, Graeme and Ron tasted semi-final success by defeating Bruce Kilby, Erik Pedder and John Luchetti 26 shots to 19 in a hard fought affair. The two sides appeared evenly matched when after 11 ends the scores were locked together at 11 shots each. However, from this point forward Keith, Graeme and Ron were able to establish dominance by winning six of the remaining ten ends and scoring multiples on four occasions. Results of the final were not available at the time of submission of this article and will be reported upon next week. The 2016 Major/Minor Pairs Championship has one remaining quarter-final between the pairing of Ron Moore and Steve Kliendienst and the duo of Chris Gunning and Brad Johnson to be finalised before the semi-finals which are scheduled to be played on Saturday 23rd July commencing at 9.00am. In a quarter-final contested on Friday, it was John Luchetti and Tom Morrow who booked their place in the next round with a commanding 27 shots to 14 victory over Greg Dickman and Bob Ballantyne. John and Tom established control of the game early and never allowed Greg and Bob the opportunity to get into the match and now must be favourites for their semi-final clash with Erik Pedder and Mark Scobie. Keith Smith and Martyn Wood await the outcome of the remaining quarter-final and believe that they have a good opportunity to advance to the final if they can continue to play as well as in previous rounds. The 2016 Mixed Pairs Championship final where Marjorie Thompson and Peter Forrester will do battle against Denise Burey and Graham Meany will also be contested on Saturday 23rd July commencing at 9am. The nomination sheet for the club’s 2016 Minor Singles Championship is on the notice board with nominations closing on Wednesday 13th July at 4.30pm. The first two rounds will be played on Saturday 16th July at 9am and 1pm respectively. Please check the board for all details. The Lion’s Club Charity Bowls Day on Sunday 17th July commencing at 9.30am. Members, non-bowlers and visitors are encouraged to participate. Cost is $10 and bowls will be supplied if required. The nomination sheet is on the notice board. The next Travelling Bowler’s activity is a visit by the Queensland Veterans on Saturday 20th August, followed by a reciprocal visit to Yamba by the Park Beach Pirates on Sunday 28th August. Participation sheets will be placed at the main bowl’s notice board. Social bowls continues with pairs on Wednesday and triples on Friday. All games commence at 1pm and names need to be on the respective nomination sheets by 11.30am on the day of play. All nominations are guaranteed a game and visitors are most welcomed. Results from last week are: Wednesday 6th July: Winners: J. Bridger and M. Hallaron. Runners-Up: C. Hodgkinson and R. Bordettr. Consolation: Ivan Bell and John Telfer. Friday 8th July: Winners: Frank Pate, Ron Buchholz and Gary Carter. Runners-Up: Harry Ward, Peter Dockery and Neil McKenzie. Consolation: Brian Walkerden, Col Cohen and George Monk. Don Freeman