Bowls Victoria Integrated Pairs wrap-up
There were new faces, and familiar ones; there were young bowlers and experienced ones.
The 2016 Bowls Victoria Integrated Pairs Tournament delivered another great day of bowls, with Queenscliff BC’s Richie McGovern and Luke Wayth champions on the day.
The Integrated Pairs Tournament sees a bowler with a disability pair with another bowler to take part in a day of pairs action. This year’s tournament saw a full draw of 32 entries with bowlers coming from across the state to participate.
Play kicked off at Berwick Bowling Club, who have supported the event since 2013, just after 9.30am on Sunday, January 24 with sectional play.
Although the tournament is regarded as a fun, social event to play in, with increased prizemoney this year through the generous sponsorship of Travelling Jack Bowling Supplies, it was clear there was an added incentive to perform on the day.
Diamond Creek’s Trevor Ibbot and Steven Moore raced out of the blocks with two convincing wins, before faulting in the third round of sectionals losing narrowly to father and son combination Mark and Campbell Walker.
Section 3 was the tightest contested section with Owen Hourigan and James Hosken narrowly progressing over Chris and Jo-anne Boland and Jacquie Scandolera and DJ Weaver who made the trip down from Moulamein BC, a Bowls Victoria affiliated club in NSW.
The finals produced a number of tight matches with a few games requiring an extra end to determine a winner.
Wayth and McGovern first confronted experienced Chris O’Meagher and Lucas Wilde in the quarter-finals, winning through.
Then they defeated Jeffrey Newman and Trevor Sloan in the semis, before a final against Lynda Edwards and Wayne Farmer (Blackburn) – a last minute partnership after the late withdrawal of Farmer’s usual pairs teammate Ken Marshall.
Farmer’s been involved with the Bowlers with an Intellectual Disability squad for many years, and his passionate, pumped up demeanour during matches makes him a crowd favourite.
But it wasn’t to be. McGovern and Wayth got off to a flyer, and Farmer and Edwards simply couldn’t peg them back.
McGovern has been previously involved with the State squad, and especially thanked all the volunteers involved with the tournament for their efforts, and particularly their care during the tournament.
Results for 2016 Integrated Pairs Tournament
