Once again, Bowls Victoria partnered with Latrobe City Council for the Victorian Open, which was held from March 20-29.
Thousands of bowlers of all abilities, together with club mates, friends and family, converged on the Gippsland region for what is widely recognised as the largest bowls event in the state, and second nationally only to the Australian Open.
The event injects millions of dollars into the local and broader Latrobe community every year.
Tournament matches are played at the Morwell and Traralgon Bowling Clubs, as well as a dozen other clubs across the Latrobe Valley, showcasing the amazing Gippsland region.
Many East Gippsland players participated in the competition, with several involved at the pointy end, with a couple of runner-up trophies and some valuable prize money returning to the region.
Lakes Entrance Bowling Club star, Joanne Martin, has finished runner-up in the ladies’ triples with Julie Simpson and Sharyn Renshaw in front of a huge crowd at the Traralgon Bowling Club last Sunday.
Simpson is a former Lakes Entrance Bowling Club member, who now plays for Kangaroo Flat, while Renshaw represents the powerful Ocean Grove Bowls Club.
They went down in a high class final to Olivia Cartwright (Bendigo), Tayla Bruce (New Zealand) and Lisa Phillips (Clayton) 16-6.
It was certainly no disgrace going down to that highly talented trio.
Cartwright dominated the tournament, winning the mixed pairs, women’s pairs, women’s triples and women’s singles, winning 32 games in 10 days.
Bruce is a former singles world champion and world number two, while the highly competitive Phillips, originally from Yallourn, has won a couple of Australian Open singles titles.
Martin, Simpson and Renshaw had a sensational tournament, winning two of their three preliminary rounds to progress to the final 16 knockout stage.
There were plenty of familiar faces in the round of 16 match, particularly for Renshaw, as the trio, with Martin as skip, were 18-10 winners over Jen Le Cerf (Ocean Grove), Kerry Gooley (City Of Geelong) and Patricia McGrath (Ocean Grove).
Their tournament nearly came to an end in the quarter-finals, but they won the final end to progress 15-14 over Lisa Trewarne (Melton), Addy Ryan (Deer Park) and Chelsea Pollock (Melton).
One of their best performances of the tournament was in the semi-final, where they accounted for Dianne Shipworth, Geraldine Nott and Christine McCarthy from Merimbula, 13-8.
Paynesville’s Michael Better combined with Metung’s Richard Dooley and Jack Sharman, finishing runner-up in the men’s triples to Moama’s Matt Robertson, and Tallygaroopna’s Mitch Sidebottom and David Daws last Saturday at the Traralgon Bowling Club, going down 14-7.
Unbeaten in three preliminary rounds, the East Gippsland trio had a bye in the round of 32, before knocking off Warragul’s Garry Ingley and Rosanna’s Alan Mason and Rodney Kerrison in the round of 16, 17-10.
They had to win three of the last four ends in their quarter-final, eventually winning 17-16 over George Lambos (Newborough), David Barry (Tarwin Lower) and Daniel Earl (Mirboo North).
In the semi-final they held their nerve to win 16-14 over Raymond Jansen (Whittlesea) and Gus Macisaac and Brett Moloney (both Yarraville/Footscray).
Former Bairnsdale junior, Ayla Romanin, who now plays at Deer Park, finished runner-up in the under 18 girls’ singles.
She was beaten by the defending champion, Addy Ryan, who also plays at Deer Park, in a replay of last year’s finale.
Ryan dominated this year, winning both of the five-end sets 6-2, 8-1 to claim the title.
The under 18 girls’ singles event this year was very well attended, with more sections in the girls’ event than the boys’ event.
Ryan defeated former Paynesville player, Ella Kiss, who now plays at Essendon in the semi-final stage, while Romanin defeated her sister, Lacey, in the quarter final stage.
