2023 Nationals: Day three recap
Warwick Bowling Club took centre stage at the 2023 Nationals in Perth as the Para Nationals continued to head towards its climax with one gold awarded and the sectional rounds concluding.
It leaves the final day of the competition as an exciting prospect, with a plethora of medals to be handed out on an action packed afternoon in Western Australia.
Meanwhile out at Joondalup, the Senior Sides Championships kicked off with its opening rounds.
Para Nationals
Women’s open pairs
The inaugural final of the event was run and won on Sunday as Queensland’s Louise Hoskins and Serena Bonnell enjoyed a 20-5 victory over South Australia’s Vanessa Wildy and Catherine Vluggen.
It was a rampant start from Hoskins and Bonnell, who streamed out to a 14-0 buffer after five ends before their opponents stemmed the run to make the Queensland work for their score.
Ultimately the start was enough, with the maroons wrapping the contest up with three ends to spare.
Men’s 14-point pairs
The deciding sectional rounds were completed on Sunday to see four talented pairs progress to the semifinals.
The first of which was Victoria’s Lucas Protopapas and Josh Barry up against Queensland’s Cooper Whitestyles and Wesley Brown.
Protopapas and Barry were on song from the get-go, running out to a 10-1 lead before holding off a fast finish to record a 14-9 win.
They will face South Australia’s Michael Emberton and Andrew Reed after the next best qualifiers returned the favour to Queensland’s Tony Bonnell and Brett Sellars with a 16-8 victory.
Emberton and Reed fell victim to the Right at Home Para Jackaroo pair in the pool stage but were able to turn things around with their crucial lifeline.
Women’s open singles
The concluding sectional women’s singles matches saw some big names progress to the elimination rounds to pose some tantalising semis.
It will be an Australian Open final rematch as 2022 Commonwealth Games and 2023 World Bowls Championships teammates Cheryl Lindfield and Serena Bonnell face off for a place in the decider.
Lindfield won an epic on the Gold Coast in June but Bonnell has already clinched a gold at the event and is in some strong form.
Semifinal two will see Louise Hoskins against Victoria’s Alison East with Hoskins also looking for a second title at the tournament.
Senior Sides Championships
The men’s event commenced with four teams sharing the same ledger on top of the table with each going undefeated from the first two contests.
Queensland sit atop the table thanks to a healthy points tally, with Tasmania a further half a point behind.
Defending champions Victoria sit third with a better percentage than South Australia in fourth.
New South Wales, Western Australia, Northern Territory and the ACT round out the table.
In the women’s event it is the home state who have opened proceedings on the highest rung of the ladder thanks to an unblemished day.
Joining Western Australia with two wins are New South Wales, who’s points tally is two off top spot.
Four states split their ledger on day one with the 2022 winners in Victoria in third ahead of South Australia, Queensland and Tasmania.
The ACT went winless on day one and sit a point above the Northern Territory on the bottom.
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.
