Nairn outstanding in singles triumph
Men’s State Singles wrap-up Bassendean premiership hero Blake Nairn is the 2016/17 State Singles champions winning his second state event. He defeated newly crowned State Pairs champion Anthony Williams 25-16 in the final at Doubleview on Monday and was understandably happy about it.
“It feels pretty damn good, I’ve been trying for a few years to get another title which is pretty good,” Nairn said. Nairn had to rally from five shots or more down twice in his semi-final against Glenn Pauling (South Perth) in a performance that was indicative of several of his performances throughout the tournament.
In the other semi-final Williams faced a tough game against his State Pairs finals opponent Clive Adams (Cambridge) in a tight game littered with high scoring ends to both players that Williams won by a shot in a final end measure.
In the final Nairn raced out to an early lead with his best start to the tournament scoring 16 shots in just eight ends of play. The 16-1 score line was a testament to Nairn’s gameplay as he nailed the jack regularly to put Williams under consistent heavy pressure.
Williams started to even up the game as Nairn lost a little bit of that consistency in the middle of the game but was still held to a 21-5 score. Two threes to Williams showed signs of life in the match but a steadying three from Nairn followed and took him to within a shot of victory.
Williams responded with four shots making Nairn pay for ripping his own bowl out of the head but ultimately had too much catch up to do. Two ends later Nairn scored the final shot to win 25-16 and became the State Singles champion.
Nairn said his fast start was a focus leading into the match.
“I started off every game before this very very bad so I said to myself I’ve got to start off like a bullet and just get out there, get as many shots as I can and hopefully hold on to them,” he said.
Nairn has a team focus for the rest of the season and also hopes to push for next year’s state team.
“Make finals in pennants, that’s another goal,” he said. “If we scrape into the four I think we’ll be hard to beat because we’ve got a solid team.”
“I wouldn’t mind getting a crack for the state, that’s probably one of my biggest ambitions.
“I’ve been trying hard for a long time but just haven’t quite got there.”
There is little doubt that the prestigious Singles triumph holds him in good stead to fulfil that ambition.
Main Photo: Bowls WA President Kerry Andersen with Blake Nairn
Sectional results of Men’s State Singles
Knockout results of Men’s State Singles
