Singles Down – Pairs to Go and we have newly crowned Women’s Pairs State Champions!
Day three of the Arm Bowls State Championships has once again provided its fair share of surprises and impressive results.
In the Women’s Pairs the finalists from the Singles, Joan Moss and Kerry Ralph(s) formed what looked like a very formidable combination but failed to live up to expectations as they went down in the first round to the composite team of Lorna Howell & Margaret Watson(s) 12/7. Pam Wakeford and Carole Klopp(s) (Glen Waverley) took the honours over State Rep. team duo Adele Ryan and Ann Power(s) and won 12/10 in a very closely fought match.
Round two of the Women’s Pairs was a complete switch around from the earlier round with Moss and Ralph surviving a very tense encounter with Wakeford and Klopp to claim an 8/6 win and Ryan & Power winning by a dozen shots over Howell & Watson 19/7. In effect the round two results opened up the entire competition for the final round as all teams had one win and a loss and the match-ups for the last round would be the ones to decide the overall winners and titleholders.
The final round of the Women’s Pairs was going to decide the overall winners of the State Title and it was Pam Wakeford and Carole Klopp(s) of (Glen Waverley) who claimed the tile after they saw off Lorna Howell 18/11 in their final match and Joan Moss & Kerry Ralph(s) having to settle for Runners-Up after they defeated Adele Ryan & Ann Power(s) 11/9 to finish off the Women’s title race.
In the Men’s Pairs there were eight sections to contest the event with section winners advancing to the knockout finals scheduled for Friday with Quarters, Semis & Final needing to be contested.
Winner of the Arm State Singles Championship the previous day Michael Rose(s) partnered with John Snell but they went down in their first round encounter at the hands of Terry Gilmore and Arthur Parker(s) 18/10 and the very accomplished duo of Phil Godkin & Barry Anset(s) survived a very close encounter against Gary Pincott & Peter Gribbin(s) 11/9 and this completed round one in what many pundits were referring to as the section from hell.
Other combinations to fare well were Steve Mitchell and Neil Crisp(s) who had a huge win over Cec Moss & Steven Morgan(s) (City of Echuca) 19/3 and Harry Dahllof & Tony Long(s) getting the nod over David Turnbull & Colin Dale(s) (Karingal) 11/7 to get their campaigns off to a winning start.
Round two in the Men’s event provided a couple of large scores and Ron Reid & Stephen Coles(s) North Balwyn had a big win over Turnbull & Dale (Karingal) 20/5 to give themselves a great platform for the final round ahead. Dennis Johnson & Ron Hayes(s) Donvale stitched up their section with a 12/9 win over Jeff Smart & Clive Morris (MCC) and Phil Gude & Doug Corrigan(s) survived a number of nervous moments towards the end of their match against Gordon Halsell & Peter Wilding(s) to win 12/9 after going in to the last end only one in front.
Round three saw Harry Dahloff & Tony Long(s) survive a real nail-biter to win their section over Ron Reid & Stephen Coles(s) 12/11 and Brian Woodland & John Lewis(s) held off Barry Fossey & Graeme Avery(s) (Karingal) 16/12 to claim section four. Phil Gude & Doug Corrigan(s) secured section six with a comprehensive 16/4 win over Robert Anset & Ross Higgins(s) and Phil Godkin and Barry Anset(s) made it three wins from three starts to secure section eight 16/5 over John Snell & Michael Rose(s) (Lilydale). Graeme Watson & Allan Walter(s) advanced through to the knockout round with a five shot win over Eric Floyd & Jim Gregory(s) (Rosanna) 16/11 and John McKenzie & Ian McLeod(s) (Ringwood BC) claimed their place in the finals after defeating Laurence Jones & Jeff Saunders(s) with a 14/12 win.
Section Winners:
Section 1 – Steve Mitchell & Neil Crisp(s) Koroit BC
Section 2 – Harry Dahllof & Tony Long(s) Composite Team
Section 3 – Dennis Johnson & Ron Hayes(s) Donvale BC
Section 4 – Brian Woodland & John Lewis(s) Composite Team
Section 5 – Graeme Watson & Allan Walter(s) Composite Team
Section 6 – Phil Gude & Doug Corrigan(s) Composite Team
Section 7 – John McKenzie & Ian McLeod(s) Ringwood BC
Section 8 – Phil Godkin & Barry Anset(s) Composite Team
Friday’s Qtr.Finals – Men’s Pairs
Section 1 vs Section 2
Section 3 vs Section 4
Section 5 vs Section 6
Section 7 vs Section 8
Photo of Women’s Pairs Champions L to R Winners Pam Wakeford & Carole Klopp(s), Phil Gude and Runners-Up Joan Moss & Kerry Ralph(s)
Click here for the Men’s Pairs Final report.
