Wilson peaks at Everest
Dudley Park $64,000 Everest of Bowls Wrap Former Victorian and Australian representative Aaron Wilson capped a remarkable four days of play at the Everest of Bowls at Dudley Park Bowling Club, Western Australia on Sunday September 15th winning the final against NSW’s Ben Twist 31-22. In claiming the inaugural title Wilson also took the mammoth $50,000 prize first cheque – believed to be the biggest any where in bowls.
Main Photo: Dudley Park President Peter Urich presents Aaron Wilson with the winners cheque for $50,000
An idea by local WA bowler Barry Kalinowski to run a bowls event which rivalled the Everest horse race in Sydney was taken up by Dudley Park Bowling Clubs Men’s Captain Russell Tyrrell and Everest of Bowls tournament director who with the support of the clubs committee and band of volunteers turned it into a magnificent event which saw the best bowlers from around Australia, New Zealand and even the UK turn up to compete against a strong local WA contingent for a crack at the whopping first prize.
Spots in the field were sold off at $1000 each and many were purchased by WA clubs who held their own mini-qualifiers. Other spots were bought directly by players or bowls enthusiasts and syndicates who then approached players to represent them in the competition.
64 spots in total were purchased and the competition played sections of four with eight sections on the Thursday and a further eight on Friday before 25up knockout finals on Saturday with semi-finals and the final on Sunday.
All four days of bowls were played in near perfect weather conditions. Fine and sunny with minimal wind for the notoriously gusty Mandurah region and on some excellent synthetic greens running 15-18 seconds made for great play and great viewing for the many locals and visitors who turned out to watch some exceptional play.
Some big names that fell by the wayside early in sectional play included Ellen Ryan, John Slavich, Nathan Rice, Shannon McIlroy, Ali Forsyth, Jeremy Henry and Karen Murphy.
In the last 16 further big names to bow out included Corey Wedlock defeated by Aaron Wilson 25-15, Matt Pietersen defeated by Arron Sherriff 25-18 and Aaron Teys ousted by Ben Twist 25-21.
The quarter finals saw WA local Robbie Tiller progress 25-11 over the Dudley Park hope Mark Simpson, Aaron Wilson beat the big driving Ryan Bester 25-19, Nathan Pedersen win over Wagin bowler Warren Holt 25-19 and Ben Twist with a big 25-20 victory against Arron Sherriff.
The semi-finals again saw some brilliant performances. Aaron Wilson was in red hot form dispatching of the remaining local Robbie Tiller 25-8 whilst Ben Twist had to work much harder against South Australian Nathan Pedersen. Twist and Pedersen thrilled the crowd some exceptional ends before Twist came out on top with a 25-20 win.
The final saw a strong crowd of several hundred spectators witness a terrific final which went a marathon 42 ends over 3 and a half hours.
Wilson set the tone early by killing the first end and on the replay after a brilliant trail opened the match with a three. Twist however was red hot on the draw and it was only the accurate hitting of Wilson who limited the scoring as Twist took the lead 6-5 after 8 completed ends. This was to be the only time Twist would lead the match, Twist later stating that the green began to slow as the afternoon wore on with the temperature dropping, although it was hardly having an effect on the players.
Ben Twist was in great form early in the final.
Wilson had lifted his draw game and was regularly peppering the jack through the next dozen ends to open up a 20-10 lead. Twist who had missed a couple of crucial drives started to hit and that resulted in a reversal on the scoreboard. The match looked like going to the wire as he closed to 24-19 over the next dozen ends.
Aaron Wilson in action during the Everest of Bowls final.
A few ends later the match once again swung Wilson’s way – he landed a front toucher and Twist immediately went for the drive which was successful, the jack ended up in the ditch near the peg and all the bowls off the green. Wilson’s next was shot but about eight feet away and Twist was able to just beat it. Wilson drew much closer with his next before Twist who looked to have a better one on the way in unluckily edged off the front bowls and ran out of bounds. Wilson then drawing for a second turned his own bowl in to count and ran on himself making three and taking a commanding 28-20 lead.
The next two ends saw brilliance from both players but it was Wilson who finished closer and was on the verge of victory at 30-20. Another toucher from Wilson forced Twist to drive and much to the delight of the crowd he hit killing the end. Twist played a brilliant bowl on the next end to again kept the match alive and pick up two shots but the very next end Wilson again drew close and this time Twist missed with the drive.
Both players received a tremendous round of applause from the appreciative crowd.
The players embrace after a marathon final.
Wilson was obviously pretty thrilled at winning against such quality opposition and of course collecting the $50,000. Twist collected $10,000 as runner-up with the beaten semi-finalists Pedersen and Tiller taking home $2,000 each.
Speaking with Wilson after the event, the question was asked if there was any more pressure with that amount of money up for grabs,
“This is the biggest event in Australia at the moment with the biggest prize pool in history and with $50,000 first prize there is no doubt a little bit of pressure on you and I wanted to do well for the team. With Damien McGee sponsoring me for the whole trip I haven’t had to pay for a thing which has been fantastic to have a free shot at it and help him out, he will be stoked to get a number of dollars back – it feels great to be on top.” He responded.
As mentioned by Wilson he was sponsored by Damien McGee and his refrigeration business Oz E Cool. McGee who also bought over Australian rep Nathan Rice and played himself was full of praise for the tournament.
“Dudley Park and the staff should be proud of the effort and involvement of all concerned. I can guarantee all players will return. Awesome effort guys. Just fabulous.” McGee said.
Wilson who recently transferred to Cabramatta Bowls Club where he works as a High Performance Manager thanked them for giving him the time to head over and compete against the world’s best at Dudley Park.
“I have been to Perth three times now and it has always been quite sunny when I’ve come across, it’s been really good here at Dudley Park. This is probably the best synthetic in Australia in fairness, as far as carpets go, very consistent, it’s always going to be tricky with the wind but as far as carpets go definitely one of the better ones.”
Wilson is noted for his aggressive play and this was evident in the final especially in the early stages when Twist was on fire with his draw game. ‘If I see them get something close I go yep I’m going go get it straight away and it puts the pressure back on them. To have that in the artillery is definitely good and I have worked on it pretty hard.” He commented.
So what is next for Wilson? The Australian representative who has played 56 games in the green with gold which includes a World Championships Pairs Gold and Fours Silver is looking forward to once again playing for Australia.
The Trans Tasman Test Series, to be played at Broadbeach from November 10 to 12 where Wilson is part of the six man Australian team will be the last chance for players to impress before Commonwealth Games at the same venue in 2018. The impressive victory at the Everest of Bowls certainly won’t hurt his chances of selection.
Congratulations to the Dudley Park Bowling Club on an excellent event, already the feedback from the top players is that they will be back again next year.
To view the full draw and results for the Everest of Bowls Click Here
What the stats said in the final
Category
Aaron Wilson
Ben Twist
1st Bowl Effective
27/42 – 64%
25/42 – 60%
2nd Bowl Effective
26/42 – 62%
24/42 – 57%
3rd Bowl Effective
23/42 – 55%
17/40 – 43%
4th Bowl Effective
16/39 – 41%
15/39 – 38%
Total Effective
92/165 – 56%
81/163 – 50%
Touchers
18
15
Drive Efficiency
12/20 – 60%
11/22 – 50%
Dead Ends
4
2
