State Fours Preview
Our first state event of the season is finally here with the Dyenamic State Fours Championships kicking off this weekend.
As always, the sectional and preliminary knockout rounds are this weekend, the week before the start of Saturday pennants, and the finals will be Sunday the 28th at Manning Bowling Club.
Last year’s winning women’s team has one change to the line-up for the second year in a row.
Helen Morss and Therese Hastings are going for a third State Fours in a row while Laura Merz is after her second consecutive title. Perth & Tattersalls Lisa Smith is the new recruit to the team and will be playing for her first state title. They face a potentially tricky sectional game against Angela Sharp’s Gosnells team but they have to be considered one of the favourites again.
Last year’s runners up Shaan Saunders, Amanda Masters, Brooke Newstead and Kim Simms return to go one better and also face a tough section with Noelene Abe’s side to contend with.
The other big favourite in the draw is the side of Kristina Krstic, Hailey Packer, Toni Madigan and Jill Adam. All four ladies are currently in the WA squad and Krstic has been making state finals for fun recently, reaching three last season alone.
Last year’s Men’s winners, Daniel Brown, Daniel Trewhella, Kevin McKay and Shane Loftus get started in a tough section as they seek to go back to back. Games against Charlie Slavich and Linton Pike will show early whether they’re in the kind of form to have another big crack.
Last year’s runner ups showed that you don’t have to have the big names in your side if you play well enough. Peter Wachmer, Matthew Ngui, Keith Bowden and John Chessell flew the Freo flag high last year and will look to show that it wasn’t a fluke.
There are some tantalizing matchups on the first day of the men’s competition to look forward to.
The previously mentioned Brown vs Slavich shapes as a beauty while one match in section 10 could be match of the day. Tom Mitchell, Shane Knott, Steve Withers and Mark Simpson face off against Scott Walker, Glenn Pauling, Dale Marsland and Ash Sharp in a game that could be a good final in different circumstances. In fact five of these players were involved in last year’s State triples final.
Bowls WA will have live streaming available through the Bowls WA Facebook Page on October 28th.
Both the Men’s and Women’s finals will be shown LIVE from Manning Bowling Club.
