2023-24 BN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

What a sensational two days of Bowls North Juniors and what talent we have in our younger members. There were 14 juniors playing in pairs and 13 in singles, showing some great sportsmanship, and friendship on and off the green. The conditions were tough with Wednesday hitting 32 and the green running about 17 seconds by the end of the day, but they all handled it well.

Wednesday started with pairs and there was some tough competition on the green with 7 pairs teams all competing for the chance to play in the final.

Section one saw Lachlan Strochnetter and Fletcher Felmingham vs James and Blake Jones and in an up and down game it all finished with a tie. The second game in that section was between Nakia and Trey Daines against Ollie Morrison and Henry Hollingsworth, and again a very close game which saw Ollie and Henry get up by 4.

In the afternoon Lachlan and Fletcher faced off against Ollie and Henry, and with Lachlan and Fletcher holding game on the last end, Ollie trailed the jack to the ditch to pick up 3 and win the game.

Nakia and Trey Daines had a great game against Blake and James Jones but just couldn’t hold on in what also a touch and go game, James and Blake won by just 2 shots.

It all game down to the final game against Blake and James Jones vs Ollie Morrison and Henry Hollingsworth to see who would take out the section, and Ollie and Henry started firing from the very first end with a score of 15 – 0 after just 3 ends it was always going to be tough.

Section two saw Imogen Watson and Chloe Collins get a great win to start with against Haydn Strochnetter and Bill Raphiana by 14 shots to see them go into a bye for the next round.

Round two was Hayden and Bill against Riley Peck and Ollie Wetzel and Riley and Ollie were on fire early and just kept it up through out the whole game, finishing with a 33 shot lead it set them up for the final game of the day.

The last game was Riley Peck and Ollie Wetzel against Imogen Watson and Chloe Collins and after coming off after such a big win they weren’t going to let anything hold them back. With some fortune going their way they were able to secure the win by 10 shots and this also gave them the section win.

Section one winners: Oliver Morrison and Henry Hollingsworth
Section two winners: Riley Peck and Ollie Wetzel

Thursday saw the kids come out to play their singles matches and with 13 juniors playing we were always in for a great day. The games were once again super close with some sensational bowls being played and games coming down to the wire.

Section one saw Lachlan Strochnetter and Chloe Collins both getting a couple of great wins over Riley Peck and Nakia Daines which then saw the final game between the two of them being very important to determine the section winner. Lachlan started off well with a 7 – 2 lead but Chloe who loves a good fight back clawed her way up to see Chloe get the overall and the section win.

Section two had Haydn Strochnetter and James Jones both beating Imogen Watson in what both started off with close games but for a first year player Imogen fought hard and played some really good bowls but not quite enough to get the win. The section then game down to the final game between Haydn and James and it started off with a really big lead for Haydn, but James was just putting one in there each end to eventually get the win by just a couple of shots.

Section three saw Fletcher Felmingham start on the backfoot in both his games but was able to fight back and trail the jack to get a 1 shot win against Blake Jones and then repeated this when he played Ollie Wetzel and trailed the jack for 3 to get an overall win by just 2. Ollie beat Blake by two shots in another very close game where it was up and down (not bad at all for a first year player, well done Ollie) but as Fletcher had won the two games it saw him take out the section.

Section four had Henry Hollingsworth get two convincing wins, the first against Ollie Morrison by just 5 shots in what was another close game, the second against Trey Daines by 3 shots. The other game between Ollie and Trey was up and down, many close heads and the lead changing multiple times but Ollie took out the win by just 4.

Section one winner: Chloe Collins
Section two winner: James Jones
Section three winner: Fletcher Felmingham
Section four winner: Henry Hollingsworth

The semi finals played were spectacular with the first being between Fletcher and James. There were many great bowls played by both the boys but after a big day Fletcher was able to hold on and get a great win 18 – 7. The second semi final saw Henry get a great lead of 17 – 12 but don’t let that fool you as Chloe then stepped up to pick up a very valuable 4 shots to bring her up to 16 – 17. On the next end it could’ve gone either way but Chloe held her head and drew two shots to take out the game in what was a finish for the books.

Semi final winners: Chloe Collins and Fletcher Felmingham. The finals for both junior pairs and singles will be played in the Bowls North Gala days.

Thank you must go to Kings Meadows Bowls Club for hosting the juniors, thank you also to Bowls North (Vicki and Dennis), the markers, and the parents, family and friends who supported the juniors.