Marlins hook a big fish

by admin on October 24, 2016

TFNQ claims the state title for the 2016 Champion of Club Champion Women’s Pairs. (Pictured left: Marlin Coast’s Joan Carey and Shirley Sampson celebrating their big victory.)

By Tom Sharman, at Musgrave Hill Bowls Club for Bowls QLD

It was an upset result in the gold medal playoff for the TFNQ girls from Marlin Coast, Joan Carey and Shirley Sampson even able to relax a little in the final ends as the pair had already opened up a huge lead over a pair of seasoned campaigners, Mount Gravatt’s Chris Baxter and Debbie Logan.

The Marlin Coast girls completely dominated the final 22 – 5, despite contending with difficult weather conditions at Musgrave Hill Bowls Club.

“The wind made it a tricky game but we all had to deal with it,” skip Sampson said.

“The competition played very well but I don’t think they handled the conditions as well as we did.

“We’re so thrilled to have won though, it’s great for our little club in Far North Queensland.”

The Marlin Coast pair played exciting bowls, holding the lead for the first five ends, managing to chalk up nine shots before silver medalists Baxter and Logan could even post a point.

The Far North girls stayed strong and came back two ends later to claim another shot and bring the score to 10 – 2, continuing their hot-streak for a further four ends, before dropping two shots in the 13th.

Sampson and Carey continued to dominate the game through to the 18th end, only losing one end by a single shot.

Lead Carey says they were happy they played so well, and the win meant a lot to both them and their “little” club.

“We are thrilled to bits that we have got as far as we did,” Carey said.

The competition for the women’s bronze was between Coolum Beach’s Kay Darling and Annika McGill and Mudgeeraba’s Sue Melville and Kate Debnam, especially exciting since it is the first time the Mudgeeraba club has ever had representation at State Champion of Club Champions.

The unpredictable weather gave trouble again as the Mudgeeraba pair struggled to keep up with the Coolum ‘Cougars’, who led for the first nine ends.

Despite Mudgeeraba putting up a good fight and winning every other end, Melville and Debnam could not close the huge gap created by Coolum in the opening stages, the Sunshine Coast pair taking home the bronze for Group 5 with a 24 – 12 win.

To view the full results and draw of the entire day click here.