Old mates out of the money
The favourites fell at this year’s 4th annual Queensland State Multi Disability Championships, held at Aspley Memorial Bowls Club for the second consecutive year (Sunday Aug 31 – Thursday Sept 4) It’s not often you see bowlers of the calibre of Tony Bonnell and Bernie Wolland on the sidelines on finals day, but that’s what happened today at Aspley.
The Comm Games Glasgow rep from Club Pine Rivers and the bowls heavyweight from Mossman in the Far North (pictured with Sporting Wheelies rep David Bartholomaeus) had to be content with greenside, rather than their usual spot out on the green burning up the opposition.
This year it was two newcomers to the state championships who out-played all the usual suspects to win the right to contest the final of the Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Assn section, Don Currie from North Ipswich and Dave Lenden from Musgrave Hill.
The score was 20-20 and it was standing room only around the green, as those already turfed out kept track of every bowl as the score see-sawed, second-guessing who would ultimately prevail.
It was Currie, he set himself up the best, a drive from Lenden failing to turn the kitty, Currie winning his first state gold medal, 21-20.
The final of the women’s Lifestream competition came down to the final end also, Samantha O’Dea winning 21-20 over Kaye Freeman, Samantha going one-better than her runner-up spot at last year’s state champs.
Samantha bowls at Gracemere Bowls Club, 10 minutes west of Rockhampton.
She practises bowls a couple of times a week, around her full time job at Endeavour Foundation (Rockhampton).
Bowls Queensland state development officer Charlie Harkness, herself a state bowler, said the 2014 state championships had run smoothly, and it was a very interesting year because of the upset results.
“Tony (Bonnell) didn’t make a final, that was surprising, Kaytlyn Smith from Edge Hill is the national champion and she didn’t make it through the sectionals, our Comm Games medalist Joy (Forster) didn’t go through, and some first-timers at state champs got up, Don Currie, David Lenden, and Brett Sellers from Bongaree (Bribie) did well too,” Harkness said.
Sellers was “blooded” in the ways of state championships bowls by South Suburban Mackay character John Green, and now he can’t wait to take his bowls up a notch.
“I’m really glad I came, it was excellent, I met some great people, and I’m motivated to do even better with my bowls now,” Sellers said.
“He’s a member of the family now,” said Green, a long time supporter (and winner) of disability bowls.
In Deaf bowls, the impressive and gracious Diana Reddick followed up her national women’s singles win in Mareeba in July with a state gold medal, beating Janet Hogan in the open singles final, 21-16.
In Blind bowls, it was 20 year old Jake Fehlberg, directed by his dad Grant, who stole the show, two gold medals and one silver, and winning the Les Bushell Shield for best player of the state championships.
(Bushell was at Aspley today for the presentations, a former world title holder in blind bowls, who no longer plays due to other commitments, but he said he still closely follows the sport. He said he offered the trophy as an encouragement to those following after him.)
Fehlberg won the inaugural “Bushy” in 2011, followed by Des Mackay in 2012 and Lynne Seymour in 2013, and now Jake will have his name on the Bushy for the second time in four years.
“It’s been my best year, I won gold at nationals in Perth in the mixed pairs with Marian Morrison and was national runner up in the singles and pairs, and now I’ve got gold in state B2/B3 singles and pairs, and silver in the open triples,” Fehlberg said.
“My goal is to make the Australian bowls team for the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.”
Fehlberg is studying a Bachelor of Business degree at university, majoring in clubs and sports management.
He plays bowls two-three days a week, around his other commitments.
FULL RESULTS from 2014 Queensland State Multi Disability Championships have been uploaded by the Bowls Queensland state development team to the Bowls Queensland website www.bowlsqld.org
https://www.bowlsqld.org/Disability-Bowls/Queensland-Multi-Disability-Championships#Results-398
Click Here (and follow the prompts for the FINAL RESULTS)
Queensland Multi-Disability Championships
Comm Games Glasgow bronze medalist Brett Wilkie represented Bowls Australia and Aero Bowls at the Queensland championships, showing genuine interest in the up and coming bowlers in the disability side of the sport and encouraging them to think about rep spots, and how far they might go.
New Bowls Queensland CEO Doug Evans said it was a great start to his tenure at BQ, and he was impressed at the skill and sportsmanship demonstrated at the 2014 championships.