Battles pitched at Indoor Qualifiers

by admin on April 17, 2016

Alan Law (above left), John Balzarolo, Clint Bailey and Luke Day celebrate Queensland Qualifiers success. There were four spots up for grabs at the weekend for the prestigious Australian Indoor Championships, to be held at Tweed Heads in August.
More than 60 bowlers nominated for the gruelling Queensland Qualifying rounds held at Paradise Point and Tweed Heads on Saturday and Sunday (April 16-17).
The four successful carpet kings were John Balzarolo winning through in front of an appreciative home crowd, Alan Law from Mudgeeraba, and two Broadbeach Bulls, Clint Bailey and Luke Day.
The final round was super exciting,  with Luke Day lasting the distance against big bowling Blackjack international Paul Girdler on his home turf, while John Balzarolo got the edge over heavy hitter Steve Halmai from South Tweed in a tough tiebreak, 7-9, 9-7, 3-1.
For Clint Bailey at Paradise Point, the final against Tugun’s Scott Chamberlain was reasonably comfortable, 7-3, 9-5, and Alan Law got the better of Max Jaffray from Tweed Heads, 11-11, 11-4 after accounting for international Brett Wilkie in the quarter final.
The Qualifiers boasted a quality field, including Wilkie, Des Cann, Troy Somerville, and the McWhinney-Shillington family dynasty, Graeme, Dean and Dale.
There were 16 section winners: S1 Cohen Litfin, S2 John Balzarolo, S3 Steve Halmai, S4 Jason Crockett, S5 Max Jaffray, S6 Graeme Shillington, S7 Brett Wilkie, S8 Alan Law, S9 Troy Somerville, S10 Clint Bailey, S11 Ben Walsh, S12 Scott Chamberlain, S13 Frank Vella, S14 Luke Day, S15 Paul Girdler, S16 Shane Leonard. (Full field on BQ website.)
The section winners played off to narrow the field down to eight “semi finalists”, with Balzarolo def Litfin 2-11, 13-5, TB 2-1; Halmai def Crockett 11-2, 8-5; Jaffray def Shillington 11-6, 7-7; Law def Wilkie 6-5, 7-9, TB 4-2; Bailey def Somerville 4-9, 9-4, 3-2; Chamberlain def Walsh 3-8, 8-3, TB 3-0; Day def Vella 12-9, 6-10, TB 4-2; Girdler def Leonard 5-10, 10-3, TB 5-0.

Those making the finals for FOUR places in the Indoor were: Balzarolo, Halmai, Jaffray, Law, Bailey, Chamberlain, Day and Girdler, with the prized entry spots hard won by Balzarolo, Law, Chamberlain and Day.

The women’s Indoor Queensland qualifying rounds will be held at Paradise Point and Tweed Heads in late May (May 28-29).
The 2016 Australian Indoor Championships will be held at Tweed Heads Bowls Club over four days from August 22 – 25.