Third time lucky for Champions Bianca and Laura
Final played Wednesday18th December 2014 Bianca-Rose Riseborough (Osborne Park) and Laura Merz (Manning) teamed up for the third year in a row in the AERO Bowls World Women’s State Pairs and it turned out to be third time lucky as they came away with the coveted title of 2013-14 Western Australian Women’s State Pairs Champions.
With the Morley Bowling Club hosting one of the most hotly contested AERO Bowls World Women’s State Pairs titles for a number of years, all four teams in the Semi Finals were shooting for their first Women’s State Pairs title, making the competition fierce all day.
The final day started with Riseborough and Merz beginning slowly in their semi final against Shelley Radcliffe and Paula Reid (Composite). However once they started to find the range they finished over the top of their gallant opponents to win 16-11.
The other semi final provided an epic with the game going for over 3 hours 30 minutes before Robyn Jolly and Helen Heal (Manning) outlasted Lisa Featherby and Linda Warburton (Mosman Park) 17-13 to move onto the final.
As the final began, the wind strength increased giving the players something to think about on the terrific Morley greens. First it was the Risebourough and Merz combination gaining a mini break and leading 10-7 after 10 ends before Jolly and Heal grabbed a hard earned five and jump to the lead 14-12 after 14 ends. With only four ends to go it looked like the momentum had swung the Jolly/Heal way and they had set their sights on the finish line.
A one and then a two for Riseborough over the next two ends steadied the ship and with only two ends to go they retook the lead 15-14. When Merz played a superb one foot trail of the jack on the second last end to hold one shot and go into the last end up 16-14, the girls had one hand on the trophy. The last end saw Jolly draw a side toucher to give them hope of forcing an extra end but with two close bowls of their own, Bianca-Rose Riseborough and Laura Merz held on to the lead and became the 2013-14 Women’s State Pairs Champions.
Full Knockout Results
Full Sectional Results
