Mother and Daughter win State Pair Final
It was a battle of the families on the Dyenamic Women’s WA State Pairs final at the Sorrento Bowling club with Mt Pleasant’s mother/daughter combinations Kaye and Donna Blackwell taking on York’s sister combination of Jenny Jones and Susan Collins.
First up on Finals Day saw both Semi-finals come down to the wire and in one case beyond. The Blackwell’s had to fight hard all game in their dual with North Beach’s Rhonda Prosser and Lee Bunney. While Jones and Collins had to survive an extra end against Manning’s Laura Butler and Hailey Packer.
Blackwell started slowly in the Semi-final against Prosser, finding herself down 0-5 after two ends to Prosser. A single on the third end got Blackwell on the board and was the start of a strong run, winning seven of the next nine ends with a combination of singles and a big four to lead 11-7 after eleven ends. Prosser hit back with a couple of twos and a single to again hit the lead 11-12 with only four ends remaining. Three singles in a row to the Blackwell combination saw them take a two shot lead into the final end and when Prosser could only mange a single, Donna and Kaye Blackwell secured their spot in the final 14-13.
The second Semi-final came down to a thrilling conclusion with an extra end required. Jones and Collins showed plenty of determination after the more experienced pairing of Butler and Packer jumped out to a 9-3 lead after seven ends. The end won count was close with Jones winning three ends and Butler winning four ends. The difference in the score line was Butler’s ends included a couple of twos and a four while Jones could only manage singles.
Another single on the eighth end to Jones made it 4-9, then a four to be only one behind and singles on the tenth and eleventh end suddenly saw the York girls hit the front 10-9. A trading of scores over the final ends saw first Jones in front, then Butler, then Jones and finally a two to Butler saw her head into the last end up 15-14. Again, Jones and Collins dug deep in their first WA State Pairs semi-final by first getting a single to send the game into an extra end at 15-15 and then securing the win to send them into their first state championship final 16-15.
Donna and Kaye Blackwell were shooting for their second Dyenamic Women’s State Pairs title after previously winning the championship in the 2018-19 season as a composite team playing for different clubs. But it was the first final combination of Jenny Jones and Susan Collins that got the start in the final with two singles on the first two ends.
Unfortunately, that was going to be Jones few joys of the game and only lead. As the Sorrento sea breeze got stronger, the Blackwell’s took more control. A three on the third end put Blackwell in front and then a five on the fourth end put them in control at 8-2. Another five on the sixth end and it was a long way back for the York girls at 2-14. A glimmer of hope on the seventh end with a single was squashed quickly as the ruthless Blackwell combination won the next six ends in a row to cruise to a 24-3 lead.
While the result was now inevitable, it was a credit to York’s Jenny Jones and Susan Collins on how they conducted themselves, still playing, talking, and acting positively at every opportunity and winning two ends in a row to keep the Mt Pleasant ladies out on the green as long as possible.
A single to Blackwell on the sixteenth end to make the score 25-5, finally made it impossible to lose the game with two ends left and Donna Blackwell and Kaye Blackwell became the 2022 Dyenamic Women’s WA State Pairs Champions.
