Fours, Peter MacLean, Steve Bell, Daryl Steinwedel, Robert Barrett.
Last weekend Kangaroo Island hosted the Bowls Championships for our region. It has been something the Island has been keen to do for many years but in the past our bowlers have always needed to travel to the mainland to compete.
This year the opportunity came for our island champions to play the regional finals on our turf and we made the best of it. The largest crowds seen at Championship events was present to barrack for the Island players. Championship events for ladies and men were held in singles, pairs, triples and fours. There was also a mixed pairs event.
Kangaroo Island was very successful. The Island teams excelled winning 5 of the 8 events. The men’s teams had a clean sweep winning all events. It was easily the best result the Island has obtained.
There were many outstanding performances. Daryl Steinwedel established himself as the top men’s bowler in the region with a convincing win in the men’s singles. The women’s’ pairs team of Leonie Bell and Jill Lovering had a good win and the men’s pairs team of Darryl Hammat and Brenton Speed had a runaway win against highly fancied opponents. Gayle Steinwedel in her first appearance at a Regional Championship bowled magnificently to enable her and Daryl to have a comfortable win in the mixed pairs. After a slow start the KI men’s fours team played some excellent bowls to have a good win
The most exciting match of the championships was the women’s triples. After completing the final end the scores were level and the two teams had to play an additional end to decide the winner. The final bowl by KI skipper Leonie Bell found the Jack but moved it near to an opposition bowl to give the Fleurieu team a win.
As an added spectacle four young junior bowlers put on a demonstration game. These two girls and two boys are members of the Fleurieu Falcon’s junior development squad. The two boys were locals while the two girls were mainlanders. The local boys had just returned from competing in the state under 18 events where Jack Hateley excelled reaching the finals of the singles.
The regional event was held on Kangaroo Island with sponsorship from Sealink to celebrate the 175th celebration of the first official settlement on Kangaroo Island. The success of the event has encouraged administration for the Region to consider hosting the event here bi-annually. It also has confirmed that KI for the size of our population does exceptionally well and punches well above our weight in lawn bowling.
Congratulations go to the organizers and the Kingscote Bowling Club for the way their venue was presented. It was yet another example of Kangaroo Island doing a magnificent job of hosting a major sporting event. Congratulations also go to the participants who all performed admirably.
Results (K.I teams first)
Women’s singles: A Arnold 11 lost to J Sharpe 25. Women’s Pairs: L Bell and J Lovering 11 d B Gericke and I Barthel 9. Women’s Triples: L Bell, J. Lovering and H. Kietel 14 lost to D. Colquoun, H Lush and J. Liebelt 15. Women’s fours: T. Bennett, B. Collins, M. Barker and L. Whyte 11 lost to J Sharpe, B. Metcalf, P. Jolly and N. Bradley 18. Mixed pairs: D and G Steinwedel 16 d J Marsden and B Thorne 6. Men’s singles: D Steinwedel 25 d R Coch 16. Men’s Pairs: D Hammat and B Speed 22 d B Whiley and Q Raymond 4. Men’s fours: D Steinwedel, P. MacLean, S. Bell and R. Barrett 18 d M Goodwin, H Parker, D Deer, G Reed 10. Fleurieu Falcons: J Hateley and K Westlake 8 lost to T Griffith and S. Clarke 10. J. Hateley and S Clarke 19 d T Griffith and K Westlake 5.