MAIDEN TITLES FOR TRIPLES CHAMPIONS
By Kelsey Cottrell
It never gets old watching the calibre of players we saw in today’s triples finals; for the women we saw the familiar faces of Cassandra Millerick, Karen Goldsworthy and Bolivia Millerick taking on Cheryl Heaps, Ruth Smith and Serena Matthews and in the men’s event spectators were treated to a classic with six of the most in form players in Queensland.
Kane Nelson, Jake Rynne and Jacob Nelson are making a habit of winning and their opponents Nick Cahill, another up and coming star teamed up with Barrie Lester and Aron Sherriff who have won titles at the sports highest level.
It was a see-sawing battle in the opening third of the match and we saw Sherriff’s team starting to break away. Sherriff was stuck on 14 until a brilliant end got them back out to a five-shot lead.
It is not an easy task coming back in any match but against the class of Cahill, Lester and Sherriff it would seem like an uphill battle.
The two Australian Jackaroos and Emerging Jackaroo charged ahead and went on to lift the silverware for the first time in the Sunshine State.
It was a maiden QLD State title for Barrie Lester since relocating from Victoria, a first for Nick Cahill in the senior ranks and the first QLD open men’s State Title for Aron Sherriff who had previously teamed up with his mother-in-law Liz Walton to win the mixed pairs.
Tomorrow during sectional play of the men’s fours, our triples finalists will meet again at Capalaba!
Five out of the six finalists in the women’s event are members of Broadbeach and then there was Ruth Smith, a long-time member of the Beenleigh Muddies breaking up the sea of blue and yellow.
Matthews started the match well; however, it was not long before the Millerick girls started to find their groove and skipped out to an 18-11 lead.
With a later finish and the greens starting to slow, Matthew’s team adapted to the conditions quicker than their opponents and started their fight back; on the second last end they scored three shots to lead 22-20.
It was a super bowl from Serena Matthews to sit on the shot bowl and win the game; she is no stranger to pressure bowls having previously represented New Zealand before moving to Broadbeach.
Ruth Smith added another title to her collection having won the QLD State Pairs back in 2014 with Gail Waitai; it was the first QLD title for Cheryl and Serena.
We wish all our champions the best of luck when they represent Queensland at the National Championships in October.
Semi Final Scores
Men
Barrie LESTER, Nick CAHILL, Aron SHERRIFF def Dean MCWHINNEY, Jason CONSTABLE, Dale MCWHINNEY-SHILLINGTON 22-12
Jacob NELSON, Jake RYNNE, Kane NELSON def Kepler WESSELS, Lindsay PONTING, Bob DOBINSON 28-13
Women
Cheryl HEAPS, Ruth SMITH, Serena MATTHEWS def Fay WOODWARD, Glenys READ, Debbie LOGAN 31-17
Karen GOLDSWORTHY, Cassandra MILLERICK, Bolivia MILLERICK def Catherine WIMP, Heather HODGSON, Bronwyn TORRENS 24-22
Final Scores
Men
Barrie LESTER, Nick CAHILL, Aron SHERRIFF def KANE NELSON, Jake RYNNE, JACOB NELSON 26-16
Women
Cheryl HEAPS, Ruth SMITH, Serena MATTHEWS def Karen GOLDSWORTHY, Cassandra MILLERICK, Bolivia MILLERICK 23-20
Thank-you to all our sponsors who have contributed to making this a $50,000 championship, Nic Fischer from Image Property for sponsoring the Mixed Pairs and Triples & Capalaba Sports Club.
To watch any of the live streamed matches during these championships please visit the Bowls Queensland Facebook page; like the page to get notifications every time we go live!
Men’s and Women’s fours commence tomorrow at Cleveland and Capalaba Sports Clubs.