2023 Nationals: Day eleven recap
New South Wales and Queensland have kicked off the concluding event of The Nationals in style, claiming the women’s and men’s triples events respectively at the 2023 Australian Championships.
Joondalup Bowling Club took centre stage in Perth for a scintillating day of bowls that saw some epic contests.
Women’s triples
2020 conquerors Kate Matthews, Genevieve Delves and Natasha Van Eldik enjoyed a mighty day, going undefeated in their run to the title.
The trio were in rampant form as they came to the decider, overcoming South Australia’s Sue Phillips, Lee Robinson and Jacky Jacobs 28-6 with two ends to spare.
It was a dominant sectional performance as the New South Wales team clinched all three matches with a combined shot difference of 36 and a whopping percentage of 200.
The South Australians also went unblemished through the group stage, taking a gritty 19-16 victory over the Wendy Wilson skipped Queensland lineup in the opening round before yet another three-shot win against the Northern Territory in round two.
Jacobs and her squad were pushed again in the concluding group match, needing a win against Western Australia to progress.
They would eventually salute by two to book passage through to the final against New South Wales.
Matthews, Delves and Van Eldik were rampant from the get go, as the former winners raced out to a 20-2 buffer after 11 ends, keeping the foot on the accelerator to make a loss impossible after 16 of the allotted 18 exchanges.
Lauren Schultz, Gail Crompton and Wilson would take home the bronze for Queensland with a 20-9 win over Tasmania.
Gold: Kate Matthews, Genevieve Delves & Natasha Van Eldik (New South Wales)
Silver: Sue Phillips, Lee Robinson & Jacky Jacobs (South Australia)
Bronze: Lauren Schultz, Gail Crompton & Wendy Wilson (Queensland)
Men’s triples:
The men’s event saw Queenslanders Roger Stevens, Dean Drummond and Peter Brown taking home the after an undefeated day out west.
They would face off in a pulsating final against Victoria’s Joshua Cartwright, Brent Reiner and David Cartwright that would see the northern squad hold on for an epic 14-13 win.
Stevens, Drummond and Brown enjoyed a brilliant sectional phase, winning all three contests with a healthy shot difference of 26 with their closest victory being a five-shot salutation over the ACT.
Victoria rebounded from an opening round defeat at the hands of New South Wales to record a four-shot win over Tasmania and an eight-shot win over South Australia to progress on shot difference.
The final would see Queensland take the ascendancy after conceding the opening two ends, racing out to an 11-4 buffer after eight.
From there, the Victorians began to claw their way back into the contest to narrwo the gap to just two with four ends to play.
A pair of singles to Brown and his team set the margin at four with two exchanges left, but the Victorian unit could only manage three to leave the Queenslanders with gold.
New South Wales’ Michael Phillips, Heath Lewis and Darren Morrison would take the bronze thanks to a 16-13 win over the Northern Territory.
Gold: Roger Stevens, Dean Drummond & Peter Brown (Queensland)
Silver: Joshua Cartwright, Brent Reiner & David Cartwright (Victoria)
Bronze: Michael Phillips, Heath Lewis & Darren Morrison (Queensland)
The 2023 Nationals will run from October 6-20, 2023, with live streaming to take place on Bowls Australia’s Facebook and YouTube channels.
The 2023 Nationals in Perth, Western Australia is proudly supported by Tourism Western Australia, City of Joondalup, and the State government through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries and Lotterywest in Western Australia. Sport and recreation creates vibrant, inclusive and connected WA communities.
