10th National Bowling Arm Sides Championships Wrap
The Tenth National Bowling Arm Sides Championships were held from September 9th – 13th at East Maitland Bowling Club in NSW. What a great facility! It was equipped with two grass outdoor greens, one undercover synthetic green and four main restaurants with lots of areas to sit, relax and enjoy the bowls.
It was my pleasure to be a part of the WA Sandgroper side as their Manager. We arrived in Maitland on the Saturday prior to the event with a practice day on the Sunday. This year there were 10 new participants in the side who were eager to get onto the greens (Sandgroper team picture and final results can be found at the end of this article).
First up Monday morning all six States gathered for State photos, the raising of all State flags and the Official Opening. What a spectacular sight to see the 120 participants from all around Australia gathered on the undercover green.
WA were against Tasmania first up with Singles & Fours in the morning session then Triples & Pairs in the afternoon. Gary Giblett (Bunbury), Warwick Glenister (Geraldton) & Bill Taylor (Warnbro) were our Singles representatives with two of the three getting over the line to gain us 6 points. In the fours Nick Hosking (Moodiarrup) missed out on a win by four shots, Ashley Armstrong’s (Capel) team got over the line by five shots & Barry Mitcheson’s (Eaton) team had a draw to give us another four points.
In the afternoon round Warwick Glenister and Nick Hosking recorded a win along with Gary Giblett and John Mawson (Dunsborough). Ashley Armstrong’s team of triples gave WA another six points to take out the Shield against Tasmania.
On Tuesday we played Queensland. There were wins by two of our singles players in the morning and in the afternoon a pairs team came out with a draw – otherwise Queensland competitors proved too good for the Sandgropers.
Everyone was hoping for something better to come on Wednesday against South Australia but unfortunately the result was the same with one fours win by Barry Mitcheson’s team and a three point victory from the pairs team of Bill and Bianca Taylor (Kardinya) over their opponents in the pairs.
On Thursday WA got off to a great start in the morning against home teams from NSW with wins in all the Singles games and one of the Four’s teams. In the afternoon however we recorded only one victory for Warwick Glenister and Nick Hosking in a pairs game.
We all knew on Friday that the Victorian side were going to be very strong and hard to overcome. Warwick Glenister shone through with a win in the Singles as did Ashley Armstrong’s team of fours with a magnificent last bowl to record a victory by one shot. The Victorian side proved far too good in the afternoon rounds of Pairs & Triples.
Some of you may have witnessed the great exhibitions of Arm Bowling skills during the Live Streaming sessions every day of the Championships. Full results on Bowlslink can be found at https://results.bowlslink.com.au/competition/854e378d-5b06-42c1-8351-90bf9a0152b5#matches.
On Friday evening there was the usual Dinner & Presentation of Shields. Victoria was declared the overall competition winners for 2024 (again!).
The venue for 2025 was announced and will be played at the City Memorial Bowling Club in Warrnambool Victoria from September 1st to the 5th.
Back row: Ashley Armstrong, Len Mason, Gary Giblett, Nick Hosking, John Mawson, Neil McIlwaine, Bill Barrett, Warwick Glenister, Bill Taylor
Front row: Kerry McIlwaine, Shelley Mason, Jock Campbell, Brett Holland, Wayne Jones, Bianca Taylor, Barry Mitcheson
FINAL RESULTS:
Article written by Jenny Hosking, Team Manager for WA Sandgroper Armed Bowlers
