Henley and West Lakes to Light Up National Stage
2020 saw a record number of South Australian entries in the BPL Cup. After 10 qualifying events across 3 months, the final 16 teams converged on Torrensville Bowling Club last Sunday, the 11th of October for the BPL Cup State Final.
The event presented bowlers from a wide range of clubs, including Adelaide, Bute, Hawthorn, Henley, McLaren Vale, Modbury, Moonta, Port Noarlunga, Rosewater, Salisbury, Torrensville, West Lakes and Wallaroo.
After being split into four sections of four, each side played 3 matches. Several matches went down to the wire with many going into tie-breaks. One particular match, featuring Wallaroo and Hawthorn finished with a drawn first set and the second set being won by only one shot by Hawthorn.
The winners of each section progressed to a sudden death semi final with the 2 winners of these matches named BPL Cup SA Winners.
Section 1 was a tight section all day with the top 3 teams all winning 2 games and losing 1, meaning the winning team had to be determined by set wins. Even the side that finished without a win in this section actually lost all three matches in a tie-break – which just shows how close the section was. At the end of the day, the team of Green, Green & Scott from Bute won through to the semi finals.
Section 2 had some close games, but in the end the side of Mills, Black & Saunders from West Lakes proved too strong winning all 3 matches on their way to the semi final.
Section 3 also had some close games, but the team of Marsh, Miller, Miller and Buttfield from Henley proved too strong winning all 3 matches without dropping a single set all day.
Section 4 provided some great contests, with the team of Hughes, Hemlin, Hull from Salisbury winning all 3 matches on their way to the semi final.
This set up a mouthwatering finish to the SA leg of the BPL Cup with Green, Green & Scott (Bute) tackling Mills, Black & Saunders (West Lakes) and Hughes, Hemlin & Hull (Salisbury) taking on Marsh, Miller, Miller, Buttfield (Henley).
In the first semi final, West Lakes proved too strong for Bute – flexing their muscles for a convincing straight-set win. In the second semi final, it was a real arm wrestle all match with both sides winning a set each to set up a one-end tie break to settle the score. The tie break went down to the last shot of the day from Salisbury, which narrowly missed the target to see Henley win the tie break by one shot to win the match.
The prize for the winners? An all expenses paid trip (flights, accommodation and hire car) to the BPL in Moama from February 21-25, pending COVID-19 restrictions. Further to that – entry as one of the 16 teams into the BPL Cup national final played at the same venue as the BPL, with the semi final being live streamed on Facebook & final broadcast on Foxtel. This presents what is often a once in a lifetime opportunity for these bowlers to play against the best club qualifiers across the country.
Congratulations to Marsh, Miller, Miller and Buttfield (Henley) & Mills, Saunders, Black (West Lakes) on progressing through to the National BPL Cup Final in February.
