2008 Wheelchair Sports Australia National Lawn Bowls Championships
Introduction
The championships were held from 21-28 July at the Everglades Country Club, Woy Woy. They were hosted by Wheelchair Sports NSW. Other key support groups that should be acknowledged are Wheelchair Sports Australia, Australian Athletes with a Disability, Bowls NSW and Bowls Australia and the NSW Association of Disability Sports who provided vital financial assistance for the event. These championships are an important yearly event and each state gets the opportunity to host them.
The Everglades Country Club at Woy Woy is no stranger to hosting disability bowling events and has previously held the 2005-2007 State Multi-Disability Lawn Bowls Championships. The hospitality extended to participants from all staff and members of Everglades was outstanding. Everglades is known as the "friendly" club and this was certainly evident throughout the week long event. Ray Benton the bowls coordinator did a fantastic job each day to ensure that the program ran smoothly. The markers and umpires did a great job and the lady bowlers were always there to provide assistance with tea, coffee, drinks and an excellent lunch service. Of the three championships greens the event was held on greens one (grass) and two (carpet). Thanks to the green keepers for preparing such a good surface each day and special thanks to the bowling members for allowing the championships to commandeer two of their wonderful greens for the week.
Opening Ceremony and Open Pairs
The Opening Ceremony was held on Monday 21 July at the club and President Brian Crawley warmly welcomed all the participants. In attendance were officials from RNSWBA, NSWWBA and Bowls Australia. Bowls Australia Bowling Director, Des Skinner officially opened the 2008 Wheelchair Sports National Lawn Bowls Championships. A total of thirty competitors took part in the event and they came from NSW, SA, VIC, QLD and TAS. All games were played using “Sets Play – Sectional Format”. The Open Pairs was the first event to be held and competitors were keen to test their skills against one another. The NSW teams got off to a good start with the pairing of Eddie Gollan/Brain Hyatt, Gilbert Hicks/Doug Lambert, Neville Dummett/ Jim Newton and Joanne Hunter/Carolyn Nelson all having wins in the first round.
NSW continued to do well and 4 teams progressed through to the Quarter Finals, E. Gollan/B. Hyatt played G. Hicks/D. Lambert and N. Dummett/J. Newton played J. Hunter/C. Nelson. The matches were played in good spirits and the eventual winners were Hicks/Lambert and Dummett/Newton. These teams went on to play in the Semi Finals. G.Hicks/D.Lambert (NSW) played A. Pardon/S. Lockey (QLD) while N. Dummett/J.Newton (NSW) played D. Bailey/B. Charity (SA). The first set of the NSW/QLD clash was closely contested with some excellent conversion shots played by both teams. The difference on the last end was Steve Lockey who played an excellent draw that got shot and gave them the set 7-6.
In the second set NSW were in trouble early and dropped 4 shots on the 4th end, again thanks to some great drawing from Lockey. On the fifth end NSW got 2 back after Hicks and Lambert outdrew their opponents. After 7 ends NSW 6 – QLD 9, on the 8th end Hicks drew shot with his second bowl and it remained shot making the score 7 – 9 with one end to play. After the 3 players had played their bowls it came down to Lamberts last bowl, he needed to make 3 shots but with QLD holding shot and having third as well it was a tough ask. The drive was good but QLD won 10 – 7 and took the game and progressed to the final. In the other semi final N. Dummett/J. Newton (NSW) played D. Bailey/B. Charity (SA). In the first set NSW didn’t play that badly but were beaten by a better team. In the 2nd set NSW were again in trouble and were down 0-9 after 5th, things didn’t get better in the next end and another shot was lost making the score 0-10 after 6 ends and the match was all but gone. The SA team was won and went on to play QLD in the Final.
The Bronze medal match was fought out by the two NSW teams. After lunch it was time for the Finals and all teams were refreshed and ready to roll. In the Gold Medal game A. Pardon/S. Lockey (QLD) played D. Bailey/B.Charity (SA). The Queenslanders got off to a great start leading 4-1 after 3 ends, SA fought back and picked up 3 shots on the next end to level the score. Both teams played some excellent draw shots and after 7th end the score was 6-9. In the 8th end QLD again outdrew their opponents and with 1 end to play the score was 8-9. The SA team remained cool under pressure and closed out the set.
In the 2nd set SA still had momentum and led 4-7 after 6 ends. QLD knew they had to make a move and the skip Steve Lockey played brilliantly after some good work by his lead Ashley Pardon, QLD picked up 2 shots making the score 6-7. On the 8th end Pardon was holding shot and Lockey again played superbly to draw another 2 shots propelling QLD into a 9-7 lead with 1 end to play. On the last end the SA team could not keep QLD away from the jack and QLD won the set 10-7. In the Tie-breaker SA took back the momentum from QLD and going into the 3rd end were in a commanding position leading 0-3. QLD again fought back hard but could only manage 1 shot. SA team wins the Open Pairs title.
In the Bronze Medal game 2 NSW teams N. Dummett/J. Newton and G. Hicks/D. Lambert lined up against one another and both teams were in good spirits. After 4th end the score was level at 2-2 and it was easy to see that this match would be a close one. Both teams were drawing brilliantly and the lead changed constantly but remained close. At the end of 9 ends the teams could not be separated and the set finished 6-6. In the 2nd set the high standard of bowls continued and the lead again changed regularly. Going into the 9th end Dummett/Newton led 7-5 but Hicks played 2 brilliant draw shots and held 2. Newton couldn’t get a bowl close enough to the jack and Lambert remained cool under pressure and drew a 3rd shot to clinch the set and the game giving them the Bronze Medal.
Singles
On Thursday the singles events were to start however the weather turned nasty and the rain came pouring down. Unfortunately played had to be abandoned, a decision was soon made on how the program of events would continue. It was decided to cancel the men’s plate division games to ensure that the singles games could be completed. The ladies and men’s singles games got under way on Friday and again the weather was overcast with showers forecast all day, this made conditions difficult as both greens were playing slow due to the constant showers. The grass was playing more consistently and the carpet was tricky when judging weight because of some surface water. After all the preliminary games the NSW players had done very well with 3 of the men finishing either 1st or 2nd in their group of 6. The NSW ladies also played well and 3 players qualified for the finals.
In the 1st Quarter Final game Caroyln Nelson (NSW) played Kaytlyn Smith (QLD). This was a great game as the experienced Nelson was up against the young up and coming Smith. Nelson won the 1st set reasonably comfortably but in the 2nd set Smith started brilliantly and was leading 1-6 after 5th end. NSW fought back on the next end and picked up 2 shots but it wasn’t enough to bridge the gap and QLD won the set. In the Tie-breaker Smith continued bowling well and held 2 shots after 1st end. Under pressure Nelson played some great bowls in the 2nd end and with Smith holding shot Nelson trailed the jack, it ended in the ditch and she picked up 2 shots. Going into the final end it was 2-2; Nelson again played some excellent draw shots and trailed the jack to hold 1shot. This proved enough and Carolyn was through to the semi finals. The 2nd Quarter Final game saw 2 NSW players up against each other, Joanne Hunter played Marianne Newton. After 4th end Hunter led 5-1 and was playing excellent draw shots, Newton tried hard to maintain shot but after 7th end Hunter had an unbeatable lead and won the set. In the 2nd set Hunter continued playing well and never gave Newton an opportunity to get into the match. Joanne moved through to the semi finals.
In Quarter Final 3 for the men good mates Neville Dummett played Gilbert Hicks both from NSW. This was going to be a closely contested game as both players were in good form. After 2 ends the score was 2-2 and on the next end Dummett picked up a shot. On the 4th end Dummett was holding 3 shots after some excellent forehand drawing, Hicks tried to limit the damage but went wide with his last bowl making the score 6-2. Hicks came straight back in the 4th end and outdrew Dummett to get 3 shots back. Neville continued playing consistent draw bowls and went on to win the set 13-6. In the 2nd set Dummett continued his good form and led 4-1 after 3rd end. Hicks was not about to go away and outdrew his opponent to take the maximum 4 shots and take the lead 4-5 after 4 ends. The lead changed again in the 6th end with Dummett back in front 6-5 and then Hicks 6-7 in the 7th. The 8th end was the turning point in the set, Hicks was holding 2 shots but Dummett drove his way out of trouble to take shot and level the score at 7-7 going into the last end. In the last end after 3 bowls each Hicks was holding shot but Dummett had 2nd and 3rd shot. Neville drove the shot bowl into the ditch holding 2 shots. Gilbert couldn’t draw shot with his last bowl and Neville won the set 9-7 and the game to progress to the semi finals.
In Quarter Final 1 Steve Lockey (QLD) played Brian Hyatt (NSW). Both these players are exceptional bowlers and have achieved much success in disabled lawn bowls. Lockey got off to a good start and led 3-0 after 2 ends but Hyatt came back well in the following ends and after 5th end took the lead 5-6. In the 7th end Hyatt increased his lead to 5-10 and went on to win the set. The 2nd set followed a similar path with both players drawing and driving well and the lead fluctuated. Brian took control in the 7th end and led 8-4 and again held off the comeback of Steve to win the set and the game.
The Singles Finals
Finals day was Monday 28 July and about an hour before play was to commence it was very wet and bitterly cold. Good luck was favouring the players on this day as the starting time rolled around the rain had stopped and the sky was beginning to clear somewhat. Once again the green keepers did an excellent job to ensure that play could take place. All matches on this day were played on the carpet. With 5 NSW team members in the running for a medal placing the NSW team was excited about the days play. In the Ladies Finals Marianne Newton (NSW) played Kaytlyn Smith (QLD) in the Bronze Medal playoff while Carolyn Nelson (NSW) played Joanne Hunter (NSW) in the Gold Medal game. In the bronze medal game Newton was drawing well and led Smith 4-0 after 3 ends while Hunter had skipped out to a good lead over Nelson 6-0 in the gold medal game. After 6 ends Smith had got some shots back but the set was gone in the 8th end with the score 10-5. In the other match Hunter also played well and would not let Nelson into the set, comfortably winning. The 2nd set saw a reversal of fortunes for both defeated players with Nelson leading Hunter 8-5 and Smith leading Newton 9-3 after 7 ends. Nelson and Smith both went on to win the set and force a Tie-breaker.
In the bronze medal game Kaytlyn (QLD) was playing brilliantly and outplayed Marianne to win the game and secure the bronze medal. In other game Carolyn took an early lead picking up 2 shots on 1st end and another shot on 2nd end making it very hard for Joanne to come back from. Joanne tried to get the shots required but it just wasn’t to be and Carolyn won the set and the National Singles Title.
The Gold Medal men’s game would be played by 2 NSW players, Neville Dummett v Brian Hyatt, while the Bronze Medal would be fought out between 2 VIC players, Josh Barry v Richard McGovern. In the bronze medal game Barry proved too strong for his lesser experienced opponent McGovern and took the game winning both sets comfortably. In the gold medal game after 3 ends the score was 2-2, Hyatt continued to win ends with excellent draw shots and at the completion of the 6th end Hyatt was in front 2-6. Dummett got a shot back on the 8th end 3-8 but the set was gone. In the 2nd set Hyatt maintained his composer to lead 2-5 after 5th end and then continued to outdraw Dummett on the next few ends to take a stranglehold on the set and the National Singles Title.
Presentation Dinner
Good bowls etiquette was displayed by players during the championships and the incredibly high standard of bowls played ensured that all those who viewed the action were very impressed and entertained. The Presentation dinner was held in the evening after the Finals and it was a fantastic finale to the championships. William Tan from Wheelchair Sports NSW was MC for the night and after we all had a delicious meal it was time for the business end of the night to take place. Guest speaker for the night was Bruce Jewell who is on the State Coaching Committee of RNSWBA. He provided the audience with some background on his playing career and then shared with us his philosophy for improving performance and gaining consistency. His insights were well received by the audience and many of us didn’t realise how easy it could be to improve consistency, simply get rid of all the bad bowls. To do this obviously takes plenty of practice, determination and prolonged concentration but I have no doubt that all the bowlers involved in these championships and even those that were not have these abilities. The presentation of the medals and awards then took place and representatives from the RNSWBA, NSWWBA and Everglades Country Club were happy to assist with this memorable part of the evening.
Results
Open Pairs: Gold Medal – David Bailey/Barry Charity (South Australia)
Silver Medal – Steve Lockey/Ashley Pardon (Queensland)
Bronze Medal – Gilbert Hicks/Doug Lambert (New South Wales)
Ladies Pairs: Gold Medal – Joanne Hunter/Carolyn Nelson (New South Wales)
Silver Medal – Joy Boyd/Marianne Newton (New South Wales)
Ladies Singles: Gold Medal – Carolyn Nelson (New South Wales)
Silver Medal – Joanne Hunter (New South Wales)
Bronze Medal – Kaytlyn Smith (Queensland)
Men’s Singles: Gold Medal – Brian Hyatt (New South Wales)
Silver Medal – Neville Dummett (New South Wales)
Bronze Medal – Josh Barry (Victoria)
Individuals were also eligible to win the following awards.
The Clover – Lester Encouragement Award – Liam Buckley (South Australia)
· The Graham Golley International Award – Cathy Vluggen (South Australia)
Each state was also competing for the Interstate Trophy . NSW is the current holder of this trophy and this year managed to retain it again with a solid team performance.
Lawn bowls is played by many persons with disabilities and we would certainly like to see the sport continue to grow. For more information or to get involved please contact Mark Whiteman at Bowls NSW, see contact info on the website.
Some photographs taken during the championships
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