First medal winners of the 2022 QLD Multi-Disability Championships announced!

by bqmedia

Congratulations to the new Multi-Disability State Champions!

  • Hearing Impaired Women’s Singles: Suellen Tappenden (Mt Larcom)
  • Hearing Impaired Men’s Singles: Russell Jackson (Airlie Beach)
  • QBBA Vision Impaired Singles: Jake Fehlberg & Director: Grant Fehlberg (Bargara)
  • Physical Impaired Open Pairs: Damien Delgado (Tweed Heads) & Cooper Whitestyles (Souths Suburban)
  • Life Stream (Intellectually Impaired): Bruce Smallbon (Noorla)

Since 2011, Bowls Queensland in partnership with Sports Connect has run the Multi-Disability State Championships with the following categories:

  • Hearing Impaired
  • Vision Impaired (QBBA)
  • Life Stream
  • Physically Impaired

Day 1 (Monday, 15 August) started with the official opening, followed by sectional play. Day 2 (Tuesday, 16 August) Multi-Disability State Championships were on fire with some medals up for grabs. Under beautiful sunny skies at Club Chermside, ideal for bowls, spectators were treated to quality bowls all day. The bowling was superb, as befits the athletes who were competing, as they all have put many hours into training for this event. The takeaway from the day was the friendly competitiveness which existed within this wonderful group of participants. They gave it their all and genuinely care for each other. Friendships were renewed and new friendships formed.

Hard of Hearing Women’s Singles Finals

Suellen Tappenden (Mt Larcom) and Pamela Branton (Tweed Heads) fought a hard battle for gold, each matching the other end-for-end. Suellen started off with a 3 on the scoreboard, quickly matched by Pamela but it was Suellen who started to pull ahead after several consistent shots to secure the gold medal. Suellen said she thoroughly enjoyed the game and was not expecting the win; she really concentrated and got there in the end.

Results

Gold Medal Match: Suellen Tappenden (Mt Larcom) 21 def Pamela Branton (Tweed Heads) 13; Bronze Medal Match: Linda Corey (Northern Beaches) BYE

  • Gold Medal: Suellen Tappenden (Mt Larcom)
  • Silver Medal: Pamela Branton (Tweed Heads)
  • Bronze Medal: Linda Corey (Headland Pacific)
2022 State Multi-Disability Hearing Impaired Women’s Singles Champions L-R: Silver Pamela Branton, Gold Suellen Tappenden, Bronze Linda Corey

Hearing Impaired Men’s Singles Finals

Russell Jackson defended his title from last year at Souths Suburban in Mackay. Today was a close tussle for him with John Price (2018 winner) putting up a good fight, with neck-and-neck shots right until the seventeenth end with a 13-all score. John put up a solid fight but Russell came through and claimed the gold with a 5 point win. In the bronze medal match between Barry Lynne and Eric Smith, Barry was on the leader board right from the beginning and claimed the bronze medal.

Results

Gold Medal Match: Russell Jackson (Airlie Beach) 21 def John Price (Victoria Point) 16; Bronze Medal Match: Barry Lynne 21 (Mareeba) def Eric Smith (Beenleigh) 3

  • Gold Medal: Russell Jackson (Airlie Beach)
  • Silver Medal: John Price (Victoria Point)
  • Bronze Medal: Barry Lynne (Mareeba)
2022 State Multi-Disability Hearing Impaired Men’s Singles Champions L-R VP John Krebbs (Club Chermside), Barry Lynne (bronze), Russell Jackson (gold), John Price (silver) & BQ’s Greg Flynn.

Life Stream Open Singles Finals

A steady start was the order of the gold medal match, until the sixth end by when Bruce Smallbon had notched a solid 9 to Glen Holmes’ 1 on the scoreboard. A few seesaw shots with neither player wanting to give in, the remainder of the game was edge-of-the-seat action with a close score in the end, with a 21-19 win to Bruce. Glen found that the green changed pace after a rain shower and felt he was unable to adapt to the change in conditions as quickly as Bruce managed. In the bronze medal match, Danial Walker started off strong against Carla Pizza with Carla only notching up her first shot on end 7 to Danial’s 16, leading to a bronze medal win for Danial.

Results

Gold Medal Match: Bruce Smallbon (Noorla) 21 def Glen Holmes (McKenzie Park) 19; Bronze Medal Match: Danial Walker (Tweed Heads) 21 def Carla Pizzi (Noorla) 3

  • Gold Medal: Bruce Smallbon (Noorla)
  • Silver Medal: Glen Holmes (McKenzie Park)
  • Bronze Medal: Danial Walker (Tweed Heads)
2022 State Multi-Disability Life Stream Open Singles Champions L-R VP John Krebbs (Club Chermside), Danial Walker (bronze), Bruce Smallbon (gold), Glen Holmes (silver) & BQ’s Greg Flynn.

QBBA Vision Impaired

Jake Fehlberg, recently returned from the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, said it was a tough final even though he was happy with his performances leading up to it. Jake pushed out in front from the beginning with 9 on the scoreboard before Scott Kinnear claimed his first 2 shots. From there, it was a steady climb for both until the game was 19-all to make a tight finish in Jake’s favour.

Gold Medal Match: Jake Fehlberg (Bargara) 21 def Scott Kinnear (Proserpine) 19; Bronze Medal Match: Fred Tarry (Solander Lake) 21 def Saul Calikes (Ipswich United Services) 17

  • Gold Medal: Jake Fehlberg (Bargara)
  • Silver Medal: Scott Kinnear (Proserpine)
  • Bronze Medal: Fred Tarry (Solander Lake)
2022 State Multi-Disability QBBA Open Singles Champions L-R VP John Krebbs (Club Chermside), Director Grant Fehlberg, Jake Fehlberg (gold), Scott Kinnear, Director Shane Kinnear (silver), Fred Tarry, Director Dennis Johns (bronze) & BQ’s Greg Flynn.

Physical Impaired Pairs Finals

Damien Delgado was delighted to be playing with Cooper Whitestyles against John McLeod & Shane Kerrand and was very proud that Cooper now has four wins in a row! Damien himself is just back from his silver medal winning performance at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. Damien and Cooper started with a bang with a solid 5 on the first end, with John and Shane only managing to reply with 1 shot in the second end. Damien and Cooper remained ahead throughout the game, even reaching a solid 15 to John and Shane’s 5 by the seventh end. In the bronze match, it could’ve gone either way with Paul Jackson and Troy Casey against Cheryl Lindfield and Brett Sellars. By the thirteenth end, the score was an even 14, with just two ends to go in this 15 end match. Paul and Troy pulled a 3 shot in end 14, then 1 shot in the final end to claim the bronze.

Results

Gold Medal Match: Damien Delgado (Tweed Heads) & Cooper Whitestyles (Souths Suburban) 20 def John McLeod & Shane Kerr 11; Bronze Medal Match: Paul Jackson (Darra Cementco) & Troy Casey (Algester) 18 def Cheryl Lindfield (Mt Gravatt) & Brett Sellars (Bongaree) 14

  • Gold Medal: Damien Delgado (Tweed Heads) & Cooper Whitestyles (Souths Suburban)
  • Silver Medal: John McLeod (North Ipswich) & Shane Kerr (Club Helensvale)
  • Bronze Medal: Paul Jackson (Darra Cementco) & Troy Casey (Algester)
2022 State Multi-Disability Physical Disabled Open Pairs Champions L-R: Paul Jackson & Troy Casey (bronze), John McCleod (silver), Damian Delgado & Cooper Whitestyles (gold) and Shane Kerr (silver)

Play continues tomorrow with Physical Impaired Men’s Singles and QBBA Vision Impaired Singles Finals, Sporting Wheelies Men’s and Women’s Singles and Hard of Hearing Pairs.

Thank you to the Brisbane City Council and Kedron-Wavell Sports Club for their support along with host clubs Club Chermside and Northern Suburbs Bowls Club.