2018-19 Champions Week 2 – Day 1

by BowlsSA on April 25, 2019

Day One of Champions Week 2 began under sunny skies after midday on ANZAC day at the Murray Bridge Bowling Club. After paying respects, the event was officially opened by the Mayor of the Rural City of Murray Bridge Brenton Lewis, Murray Bridge Bowling Club President Ben Traeger and Bowls SA Acting CEO Erin Haines.

 

Today saw the Men’s & Women’s Champion of Champion of Singles and Women’s Champion of Champion Pairs semi finals and finals completed.

 

In the Men’s Champion of Champion Singles event the semi finals saw two time defending champion Wayne Ruediger from Grange taking on Mark Haines from West Lakes. In what was a fantastic match, the lead changed several times early before Wayne jumped out to a 20-14 lead. Being just one shot away from victory there was a big twist in the match with Mark then rallying to play some great ends claiming a count of 4 shots followed by 3 shots to claim an unlikely 21-20 victory. In the opposing semi final Simon Geater-Johnson from Club Holdfast took on Darren Niblett from Toorak Burnside. It was another titanic struggle early in the match with Darren holding the upper hand before Simon rallied to even up the scores at 11-11. From there, Simon proved the stronger player down the stretch claiming the majority of ends to win the match 21-13 and advance to the final.

 

The final between Simon Geater-Johnson and Mark Haines began, and with both players playing in their first ever Champion of Champion Singles final we were guaranteed a first time winner for this event. The match was live streamed and all action can be caught up on the Bowls SA Facebook page or by clicking here. It was a fantastic quality match throughout with some fantastic draw bowling being matched with great conversions and scintillating drives. Simon opened up a slender lead early but the quality of the match suggested that it was either players for the taking throughout. Simon lead 19-12 before Mark again mounted a comeback similar to his semi final to close within two shots at 19-17. There was opportunities for both players down the straight but the crumble of the cookie went in the favour of Simon Geater-Johnson to take the title and be crowned the 2019 Men’s Champion of Champion Singles Champion.

 

Semi Finals Results:

Mark Haines (WLK) 21 d Wayne Ruediger (GRA) 20

Simon Geater-Johnson (HOL) 21 d Darren Niblett (TOB) 13

 

Finals Results:

Simon Geater-Johnson (HOL) 21 d Mark Haines (WLK) 17

 

 

In the Women’s Champion of Champion Singles event the first semi final saw Renata Callisto of Grange taking on Chris Thulborn of Adelaide. Renata jumped out of the gates finding the pace and turn of the greens a bit more quickly than Chris and proved the stronger player throughout to claim a 21-7 victory to book passage through to the final. In the opposing semi final it was the battle of the Sue’s with Sue Coultas from Ascot Park taking on Sue Maddern from Hahndorf. Sue Coultas fired early to race out to a 10-1 lead and then maintained this advantage to lead 17-10. In another twist just like the Men’s event Sue Maddern then worked her way back into the match and a decisive count of four shots provided her with her first lead of the match which she didn’t relent and took a 21-18 victory.

 

The final between Renata Callisto and Sue Maddern then began in what promised to be an exciting affair. An even match early saw scores slightly in Renata’s favour at 8-7 before she stretched this lead to 14-7 and then 19-10. Sue, as she did in the semi final, then didn’t give up however and marched a comeback to trail 16-20 and was holding shot before Renata drew the shot and claimed the solitary that she needed to be crowned the 2019 Women’s Champion of Champion Singles Champion.

 

Semi Finals Results:

Renata Callisto (GRA) 21 d Chris Thulborn (ADL) 7

Sue Maddern (HAN) 21 d Sue Coultas (APK) 18

 

Finals Results:

Renata Callisto (GRA) 21 d Sue Maddern (HAN) 16

 

The final event of the day was the Women’s Champion of Champion Pairs. The first semi final saw Li Song and Jenny Davis of Happy Valley taking on Sonia Coultas and Joan Prosser of Payneham. The Happy Valley pair started strongly to lead 6-3 before the Payneham duo fired back with a decisive count of four shots on the 9th end followed by 3 shots on the 11th end to open up a lead that proved insurmountable to take a 14-11 victory. The opposing semi final saw Jenny Kubank and Kerry Treloar of Berri matched up against Mila Grimshaw and Riina Bradbrook from Club Holdfast. It was a close game early with the Holdfast duo leading 7-6 after 7 ends. The team from Berri then fired into action to rattle of the next five ends consecutively which propelled them to a 17-8 win.

 

The final between Jenny Kubank and Kerry Treloar from Berri against Sonia Coultas and Joan Prosser from Payneham began in the late afternoon and continued deep into the evening in a testament to the endurance of players with the last bowl being put down at around 7:15pm. It was a fantastic game with scores tied at 6-6 after 8 ends before the Payneham team won the next three ends which included a count of four shots to establish a 12-6 lead. Treloar’s team then won the next three ends themselves to close the gap to 10-12 with one end to play but steady bowling from the Payneham team saw them claim three shots and the Women’s Champion of Champions pairs crown for 2019.

 

Semi Finals Results:

Sonia Coultas & Joan Prosser (PAY) 14 d Li Song & Jenny Davis (HAP) 11

Jenny Kubank & Kerry Treloar (BER) 17 d Mila Grimshaw & Riina Bradbrook (HOL) 8

 

Finals Results:

Sonia Coultas & Joan Prosser (PAY) 15 d Jenny Kubank & Kerry Treloar (BER) 10

 

Full results and draws for Champions Week 2 can be found by clicking here.