2024 Nationals: Day 13 wrap

by Val Febbo on October 21, 2024

The opening day of the 2024 Australian Championships saw Queensland reign supreme in the triples discipline after some scintillating sessions at the Broadbeach Bowls Club.

Women’s

It was an unblemished day for Brenda Balchin, Brenda Thompson and Noelene Dutton as the Queensland trio took home gold with a 22-15 win over Western Australia’s Therese Hastings, Hailey Packer and Right at Home Jackaroo Kristina Krstic in the gold medal match.

The team commenced the day with a commanding 24-9 win over 2021 champions and eventual bronze medallists in Tasmania’s Jess McMullen, Debra Lee and Rebecca Van Asch before going on to take a gritty one-shot victory against the ACT.

A 25-15 salutation over the Northern Territory would see the Queenslanders set up a date with the Western Australians, who also went undefeated throughout their section.

The final saw Balchin, Thompson and Dutton collect some hefty scores, negating the amount of ends that their western counterparts would win.

In the end, their consistency and relentlessness around the jack proved to be too much as they clinched gold in their home state.

The bronze medal playoff saw McMullen, Lee and Van Asch defeat New South Wales’ Brianna Smith, Samantha Ferguson and Dawn Hayman 16-7.

Men’s

Queensland’s Andrew Evans, Jake Rynne and Emerging Jackaroo Kane Nelson were able to overcome the state’s traditional rivals in New South Wales for the gold medal with a 19-9 win over Thomas Rich, Heath Lewis and Jack McShane.

The trio endured two excruciatingly close encounters to open the morning with one and two-shot wins over South Australia and Western Australia respectively.

A place in the title decider was secured as they overcame the Northern Territory 25-5 in the final sectional round.

New South Wales had a little more difficulty booking their passage to the gold medal match, earning the spot on shot difference after suffering a defeat to Tasmania in the final pool match.

The decider saw Queensland run out to an early advantage and remain in front for the entirety of the contest, conquering the contest with an end to spare after a magnificent performance to take the gold.

Despite the loss, it was another national medal for McShane in 2024, having taken gold in the Australian Open men’s pairs, as well as a silver in the men’s fours, on top of his title at the Australian Indoor Championships.

Bronze was taken by the ACT’s Wesley Falconer, Sean Robertson and Mac McLean after narrowly defeating South Australia 17-16.

View the results HERE

The 2024 Nationals will run from October 8-25, 2024, with live streaming to take place on Bowls Australia’s YouTube channel.