Saturday, September 26, 2009
It was an 8.30am start for today’s Handicap Singles.
Originally, play was scheduled for the Women only with the men to play tomorrow, but with all the rain that we have had recently, it was presumed that the cotula green would not be available and as there were too many men to be accommodated on just the artificial green, it was decided to split the men’s entries into two sections, with the first group playing today as there was space for them with the women.
I think we all were surprised to find when we arrived, that we would be playing on the cotula, but even though there was not the finish, as would be expected at this time of the season, the green had been mown and rolled and played well. The main difficulty was judging the weight needed, especially for those who had spent a lot of time on the artificial green during the winter.
Brian Cooper prepares to play his bowl in one of his qualifying games.
Only one win , so he did not make the Post-Section
Winning two out of three games was necessary to progress into Post Section play and after the first game, I was in the situation (as some others) needing to win my next two games. I lost the first game to new bowler Selwyn Riwaka who played well and even though I had to give him 8 points start, he won the game by drawing consisitently, winning 21 – 14. He then went on and won his 2nd game against Joe Wnek and was qualified to play in Post Section. Selwyn delivers his bowl smoothly and is showing all the signs of being a very good bowler.
I managed a win against Noel McCutcheon but still needed to beat Omeka in my final game; we both needed the win because he also had lost his first round game against Joe Wnek. I managed to keep up with him during the early part of the game but when I was holding a shot, he always seemed able to draw inside to take the point. Very good bowling on his part.
So that was me gone but on a near-bye rink Joe Wnek was playing Steve Felgitscher who had already qualified. With the score at 14-1 to Steve, things looked pretty grim for Joe but then he must have got his rhythm and line back and the score was 16-8 before Steve scored again … then it was 18-19 to Joe and two more singles won him the game. A great comeback from Joe, putting him into the Post Section. It will be interesting to see what happens if they are drawn to play each other next Saturday!
At the end of play the following men had qualified with winners tomorrow to be added to the Post Section group: Steve Felgitscher, Omeka Feaunati, Selwyn Riwaka, Joe Wnek.
Selwyn takes an interest in the other games,
eyeing out the possible opposition he will meet next week.
In the women’s section, the player to catch the eye was Gwen McLauchlin, who only joined the field to make up the numbers but soon showed she was capable of upsetting the field. In her first game she played Coral Mills and with an 8 point handicap finally won her game against our club singles champion finishing the game with a four to win 24-14.
In Round 2, Gwen was drawn to play Lodzia Wnek and she was on 14 before Lodzia made a mark on the score board. Soon it was 17-6 but the Lodzia at last started coming onto the scene. And so it continued towards the 21 points goal. 20-16 for Gwen but then Lodzia scored two 2’s and a one to take the game 21-20. A very close shave for Lodzia.
A final chance to qualify meant that Gwen had to beat Dianne Short who had already reached that goal. Another battle took place and by the 18th end the score was tied at 16 all but a three and a single took Dianne to 20 -18. The journey finally stopped for Gwen with Dianne taking the match 21-19.
It was a tired but very satisfied Gwen who ended her day, knowing that she had done so well in al her games. Simple really, just get a bowl closer than your opponent and you can end up the winner.
At the end of the three rounds, the women qualifiers were Ann Malone, Lodzia Wnek, Dianne Short and Coral Mills and after a draw was made, they played the semi-final of the event with Dianne beating Coral 21-11 and Ann beating Lodzia 21-15.
It had been an interesting and challenging day for all players and tomorrow will see the other men’s round played to find further qualifiers. All going well with the weather, we should see the finals of the event played next Saturday.