Victorians Secure Amazing 6th Straight 2018 National Bowling Arm Championship Title
Victoria has claimed its sixth successive National Arm Bowling Championship title with an amazing come from behind victory on the final day of competition at East Maitland BC that has left all pundits amazed at the never say die attitude displayed by the Armed Vics in securing their most memorable win over recent years. Victoria has claimed its sixth successive National Arm Bowling Championship title with an amazing come from behind victory on the final day of competition at East Maitland BC that has left all pundits amazed at the never say die attitude displayed by the Armed Vics in securing their most memorable win over recent years.
The series format in the National Bowling Am Championships is pretty straight forward, win as many rinks as you can with 2 pts on offer for each individual match and the state who accumulates the most points is declared the National Champions. Victoria has shown everyone a clean pair of heels in previous stagings of this event, so to do it this year with an emphatic last gasp victory was certainly one to savour for the future.
After a first round loss to host state New South Wales 14pts – 10pts, the Victorians amassed a further 75 pts from their remaining matches to post a championship winning score of 85 points. New South Wales were left to rue many missed opportunities to win the title and finished a very close second on 81 points. Queensland in their third National Championship were in third place on 69 points followed by South Australia coming fourth with 55 points. Tasmania in their first outing in these championships secured fifth place with 40 points and Western Australia in their second attempt came a credible sixth on 30 points.
After the first round loss to New South Wales, the Armed Vics didn’t panic, just re-grouped and secured an unbroken run of wins over South Australia 16-8, Tasmania 20-4, Queensland 17-7 & Western Australia 22-2 to garner enough points to retain their 2017 National Champions title. The Victorians didn’t take the overall lead in the event until lunchtime on the last day of competition and from there they forged ahead to get over the line and take the spoils yet again.
Each State vs State series of matches contest a shield, and Victoria reclaimed three of the previous trophies they defended in 2017 as well as winning the new “Bass Strait Challenge” contested against newcomers Tasmania. New South Wales wrestled back the “Starrett-Ashley Shield” for the VIC v NSW series, but didn’t amass enough points to claim the National title from their other series wins. Winning five from five individual state contests was not enough, but it didn’t deter the NSW Woomeras from celebrating long and hard as runners-up, or the Tasmanians who scored a memorable shield win over SA 13-11 from letting everyone know that they were in the event for the long haul and excited about their future prospects. It was most pleasing that every state won a shield and that the camaraderie amongst the groups of representatives flourished both on and off the green.
Congratulations to East Maitland BC for hosting a first-class event on very good greens and to the organising team for their hard work and support during the event.
On the rotation roster for this event, the 2019 event is scheduled to be staged at Tranmere BC in Adelaide.
We look forward to seeing if the Victorians can do it again and make it seven-in-a-row. That would be a truly ‘Magnificent Seven’.
Related article:
Victoria downed by New South Wales in National Championships Opener
