THE team of Chris and Bill Richards claimed the Port MacDonnell Bowls Club’s men’s championship pairs competition on Saturday, with a solid performance in the grand final hit out.
From there the club hosted the women’s grand final on Sunday morning, with Val Praetz and Kay Feast claiming the honours.
A total of 12 teams played in the men’s competition and the grand finalists were decided after the Richards team defeated Peter Bruhn and Adam Wilson in the semi-finals, while Barrie Schmidt and John Broadbent accounted for Geoff Ward and Bill McGregor to book their grand final berth.
In the opening ends of the grand final, little could separate the two sides until the Richards pair won the next four ends to produce a handy lead over Schmidt and Broadbent, who could not contain their opponents momentum.
The lead remained until the finish to give the Richards team the title.
The women’s event began on Saturday, where Gill Bartley and Joy Bilney went down to Shirley Taylor and Lorraine Mackereth.
Judy Grosvenor and Jennie Tilley claimed the win over Taylor and Mackereth to advance into the semi-finals, while Sharon Perryman and Jan Dowdell defeated Lyn Jones and Elaine Pruis to meet Grosvenor and Tilley for a semi-final spot.
Colleen Tarca and Roma Henderson played the mother and daughter team of Karen Petersen and Robyn Burley, with the former the stronger pair on the day.
Carol Schmidt and Heather Richards had a tight game against Val Praetz and Kay Feast, with the win coming down to whoever scored on the last end.
It was the Feast pair who took the win to meet Henderson and Tarca in the first semi-final.
In that match-up it was Praetz and Feast who held their nerve against Henderson’s pair to go into the grand final.
Their grand final opponents were Perryman and Dowdell after they defeated Tilley and Grosvenor in the corresponding fixture.
The grand final was played on Sunday morning in fine conditions with a decent crowd at hand.
Feast and Praetz were off to an early lead, thanks to Feast who played some impressive bowls to just nudge out the opposition’s holding bowls.
Perryman and Dowdell struggled to keep up, as Praetz and Feast combined well to win the title in convincing fashion.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Saturday, January 12: Men’s championship singles 8:45am, Social bowls, 1pm.
Sunday, January 13: Women’s championship singles 8:45am; Men’s championship singles (if needed).
Tuesday, January 15: Night owls 6:30pm.
Wednesday, January 16: Social bowls, 1pm.
Saturday, January 19: Triples championship, men and women, 8.45am.
