State Championships: Mixed Pairs Glory
By Kelsey Cottrell
The first of our QLD State Championships have been won by prolific Queensland State Champions, Tweed Heads’ Lynsey Clarke and skip Brett Wilkie of Kawana who went one step further than their runner-up performance in 2020.
There was plenty of experience on the rink for the mixed pairs final; World Champions Clarke and Wilkie against the young gun pairing, Jessica Srisamruaybai (Tweed Heads) and Jacob Nelson (Belmont) who are rapidly rising through the national bowls ranks; the talent on show made for a world-class final.
Srisamruaybai and Nelson went through sectional play unscathed and had a good tussle with Kawana’s Noelene Dutton and Kurt Brown in the semi-final; Srisamruaybai was deemed best on ground by several spectators impressed by her performance.
The talk around Capalaba Sports was that the youngsters were in great touch in the semi’s but you can’t write off experience in a major final.
It was looking like smooth sailing for Clarke and Wilkie until they got stuck on 16 and their opponents scored 8 unanswered shots to make it 16-15 with two ends to play.
In all sorts of trouble, Wilkie’s final bowl of the penultimate end was right on target, sinking the jack in the ditch to secure the shot and applause from Nelson who had hoped for a 3 shot lead had Wilkie missed.
Two shots the difference and Clarke delivers a back resting toucher to commence the final end; it didn’t last long and the game was still anyone’s for the taking.
The jack continued to move around but as the dust settled, it was one shot to Clarke and Wilkie.
Capalaba Sports Club will host all the finals of these championships as one of our tremendous sponsors helping the event boast a $50,000 prize pool.
We would also like to thank Nic Fisher from Image Property for his sponsorship of the mixed pairs and triples.
Tomorrow is sectional play for the men and women’s triples competitions, with finals to follow on Saturday.
Semi Final Scores-
Jessica Srisamruaybai and Jacob Nelson def Noelene Dutton and Kurt Brown 20-13
Lynsey Clarke and Brett Wilkie def Eileen Swanson and Tim Swanson 27-10
Final Score-
Lynsey Clarke and Brett Wilkie def Jessica Srisamruaybai and Jacob Nelson 18-15
See the livestreams of the Mixed Pairs finals on the BQ Facebook page or here: https://www.bowlsqld.org/2021-state-championships/
Mixed Pairs Champions Brett Wilkie & Lynsey Clarke 
Runners-up Jacob Nelson & Jessica Srisamruaybai
