WA champions head East
Australian Championships Preview The Australian Championships finally return with competition set to begin at Merimbula on Tuesday and concluding on Friday. Only state event winners are invited to compete at the championships with almost all winners attending. Western Australia is represented in every event as the Sandgropers look to show what they can do on the national stage.
Schedule of Play
Men’s & Women’s Fours: Tuesday November 28th
Men’s & Women’s Triples: Wedesday November 29th
Men’s & Women’s Pairs: Thursday November 30th
Men’s & Women’s Singles: Friday December 1st
Reigning Connie Hicks Brooch winner Helen Morss (Manning) will be among the busiest competitors at the championships as she competes in three events. Morss missed only the triples in her attempt at a grand slam last season. Only Australian star Natasha Scott (NSW) will play more games having won state championships in all four disciplines last season. Therese Hastings is the only other West Australian to feature in multiple events after winning the pairs and fours with Morss last season.
WA’s singles representatives will be Morss and Bassendean’s Blake Nairn. Morss biggest initial threat will be New Zealand representative Katelyn Inch who she has drawn in her section along with Victorian Kylie Whitehead. Other players with strong claims are Scott and current National Champion of Champions Collen Orr (NT). Nairn faces a star-studded field in perhaps the biggest test of his career to date. Nairn will face Aron Sherriff (NSW) in his section who many believe to be the best player in the country. He’ll also face ex-West Aussie and now Northern Territorian Trystan Smallacombe. If he is able to make his way into the final he will likely face one of the two Australian Jackaroos in the other section; Nathan Rice (QLD) or Barrie Lester (VIC).
Morss and Hastings go into a tough pairs section which contains Scott and her Raymond Terrace teammate Genevieve Delves. The Manning pair will also face sides from Victoria and the ACT to get out of the section. The other favourites for the title would have to be Lynsey Clarke and Natasha Jones (QLD). Clarke currently holds a position as Jackaroos captain while Jones had extensive junior success. Manning team mates Shane Knott and Anthony Williams also compete and will be in a three team section. Smallacombe and Graeme Kitto will be an awkward combination while Carl Healey (NSW) will be no walkover either. The best team from the other half of the draw looks to be Helensvale pair Anthony Kiepe and Des Cann Jr (QLD).
In the triples Osborne Park’s Pam Chalmers, Hailey Adams and Helen Stevens face a number of players already mentioned. In the section they’ll face an NT side skipped by Collen Orr while the Raymond Terrace combo of Natasha Scott and Genevieve Delves are joined by Lynne Thompson for the triples. Also competing in the event is Australian rep Rebecca Van Asch who leads a side of Invermay teammates to represent Tasmania. Men’s competitors Justin Opie (Bassendean), Daniel Patterson (Cambridge) and Mark Simpson (Dudley Park) face a massive test against Queensland’s pre-event favourites. The Broadbeach side includes Canadian master blaster Ryan Bester, Scottish gun Kevin Anderson and born and bred local Sean Ingham. Also in their section is an ACT side containing state rep Adam Jeffery. The likely winners of section two are the Tasmanian side who are led by Champion of Champions Lee Schraner.
Morss and Hastings return in the fours joined by Robyn O’Brien and SHenayde Heldt to compete in a tough section. Lynsey Clarke, Julie Keegan, Chloe Stewart and Natasha Jones (QLD) will go into the event as favourites with all four players having played for Australia at senior or age restricted levels. Collen Orr will again lead an NT contingent against the West Aussies while the ACT round out the group. In the other section Scott, Delves, Thompson and Sharon McReynolds would again be right in the hunt. WA is sending an experienced men’s fours side with Steve O’Neill, Pat Caffell, Kevin Pickering and Ian Lilburne (Osborne Park) going over to compete. They could be forgiven for being happier with their section having been drawn to face Victorian and New South Wales teams lacking any of the states’ big names. The most highly credentialed team will come from the other side the draw where Australian reps Nathan Rice and Brett Wilkie spearhead a Helensvale side also containing Matthew Lucas and Des Cann Jr.
Full details of the event are available at https://bowls.com.au/Australian-Championships
