Another State Championship Thriller – Triples
TWEED GOLDEN GIRLS
Jessica Srisamruaybai, Claire Turley and Chloe Stewart are back-to-back State Triples Champions after blistering through a powerhouse Club Helensvale outfit in today’s final.
The Tweed Heads golden trio were near flawless in their efforts to defeat Jessie Cottell, Natasha Jones and Lynsey Clarke on their home soil at the magnificent Club Helensvale.
The Defending Champions got out to a big lead, 17-7 at the half way mark; however despite the Hawks trying numerous tactical changes to get themselves back into the contest, they were always struggling to claw back enough shots, with a five shot deficit with two ends left to play as close as they got.
The penultimate end saw Chloe Stewart’s team score the two shots they required to finish the match an end early, signing off on a 25 to 18 victory and getting their hands back on their trophy.
Whilst the feat of going back-to-back in the Women’s State Triples Championship has been accomplished on 3 occasions since 2007, this victory gives the trio a second chance at an Australian title when they look to improve upon their bronze medal from last year’s Nationals at Merimbula.
A delighted Chloe Stewart said she was quietly confident that her team were capable of going back-to-back but knew they would need to play at their best with such a quality field assembled.
“The first game of sectional was a tough match against Joan Tennant and we were also really challenged when we played Bolivia (Millerick) in the quarter-final this morning,” she said.
“It feels really cool to be back-to-back champions, a little surreal with it all happening over two days; I knew my girls would be tough to beat and now I’m really looking forward to the rest of the Championships.”
Stewart and Srisamruaybai will start their pairs title defence on Tuesday May 21 after the conclusion of three days of fours action.
JOHANNAS CONTINUES IMPRESSIVE RUN OF FORM
It was hard to look past the Club Helensvale combination of Jayden Christie, Nathan Rice and Aron Sherriff in the men’s triples final with all three players in fantastic form leading into these championships; however there was a lot of support for the slight underdogs John Bain (Tweed Heads), Scott De-Jongh (Tweed Heads) and Eric Johannas (Paradise Point) and after 20 ends an upset was on the cards.
Two amazing shots from their skipper, a drive and then a draw shot within inches of the ditch helped the composite Gold Coast side take a three shot lead with five ends to play.
In a re-match of the State Mixed Pairs final just a few days ago, Sherriff and Johannas were back at it again going shot for shot across the final ends; Sherriff and Rice killed three ends consecutively chasing six shots for a draw before a stunning finish to the match occurred on their fourth attempt to complete the 25th end.
In the three killed ends prior, Johannas, De Jongh and Bain were holding up their end of the bargain, putting bowls in the head and forcing Sherriff to drive the bare jack; however the crowd was in disbelief at what unfolded next.
Johannas was forced into driving himself with his final bowl, although not at a bare jack, he had 6 yellow bowls to aim at, looking down the barrel of an extra end.
He cleared out 2 opposition bowls and could finally raise his arms in relief; revenge from the Mixed Pairs final and another State Title to go with the State Champion of Champion Singles Johannas claimed earlier this year.
It was a maiden State Title for Scott De-Jongh and John Bain and whilst the victory was impressive in itself, as was John Bain’s singing performance during their victory speech!
The men’s fours sectional play kicks off tomorrow at Musgrave Hill.
There will be a more comprehensive wrap-up in the next Bowler magazine, but in the meantime, you can view full matches from each day’s play on the Bowls QLD Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/BowlsQld/videos/
For detailed scores of each round and to view the final results once verified, see the results page by clicking here: https://bowlsqld.org/Events/State-Events/State-Championships#Draw-Results-333
Pictured: Scott DeJongh-Fitzpatrick, John Bain & Eric Johannas; Chloe Stewart, Jessica Srisamruaybai & Claire Turley
Thanks to Kelsey Cottrell for the article and photos.
