18 September 2022

Women’s State Pairs (formerly “Open Pairs”)

Another lovely spring day for the semi-final and final of the District Pairs, played at Belrose BC.

The semi-finals in the morning provided plenty of entertainment for the spectators, with Elizabeth Blackwell and Sue Hamilton (Turramurra) dominating the first half of the game to be leading 16-2 then 17-5 over Diane McBryde and Rhonwen Martin (St Ives), only to see the momentum shift in the second half. The St Ives pair scored on 8 successive ends to get their noses in front 19-17, then stamped their mark on the game with a 5 on the 19th end before closing out the game 25-19.

In the other semi-final, Kate Wingrove and Jenny Hepburn (Neutral Bay) were up against Dale Nuttall and Louise Hamshere (Belrose), in a match that was an arm wrestle up to the 14th end. Then the Bay put together three ends in a row to get in front 18-11; however, the Belrose pair struck back over the next three ends, levelling the scores at 18-18 going into the last end. With everything on the line, Neutral Bay skip Jenny drew inside the best of the Belrose bowls and there her bowl remained, sealing the win for Kate and Jenny 19-18.

With the wind picking up, the players returned to the green after lunch for the Final. St Ives scored a single shot on the opening end, but then Neutral Bay kept St Ives from scoring over the next six ends, running the score out to 13-1. After a 2 to St Ives, Kate and Jenny piled the pressure back on and after 16 ends the score was 25-4. Some very tidy bowling from Di and Rhonwen saw them pick up 8 shots in three ends, but the game was still firmly in Neutral Bay’s hands, with Kate and Jenny claiming victory 26-12. It was the first time either of them had won the Pairs in North Shore District — last year, Jenny won the District Singles, Triples and Fours (with Kate sharing the win in the Fours), so the Neutral Bay trophy cabinet now holds the District trophies in all disciplines!!

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Women’s Senior Pairs

20 September 2022

The 2022-23 State Women’s Senior Pairs at District level has been won by Jenny Wallis and Bridget Nelson (Turramurra), with the runners-up Belinda Henderson and Cynthia Palmer (Neutral Bay).

Both teams in the final had progressed through the semi-finals in fairly close contests: Belinda and Cynthia were 9-all after 13 ends against the Turramurra team of Jan Martin and Marilyn Brenner, until successive 3s have the Neutral Bay team an advantage which they were able to maintain, taking out the game 19-14.

In the other semi-final, Jenny and Bridget led all the way against the Lindfield Rollers team of Lap Chen and Sue Meares but the game could have turned on the 17th end when the Rollers were holding a handful of shots which could have put them in front, only to see Bridget’s last bowl skirt around the traffic in front of the head and up to the jack, trailing it just under a foot and staying for shot. Lindfield still clawed back the margin over the closing ends of the game, falling just short with Turramurra winning 16-14.

In the final, Turramurra made a strong start, getting their lead out to 11-1 after 7 ends and never being under pressure, emerging worthy winners 25-6.