State Triples – Men's and Women's Country influence in State Triples wins

Ace-Watson, Leahy and Adam too strong in classy final

The Composite team of Chris Ace-Watson, Irene Leahy, and Jill Adam triumphed at the Rossmoyne Bowling Club to win the 2023 Women’s State Triples Championship.

The winning team had a strong country flavour with former Goldfields, now Mosman Park player, Ace-Watson skipping, Leahy (Kalgoorlie) and Adam (Geraldton). In the final they were up against the very experienced trio of Helen Morss (South Perth), Lisa Brannan (Mt Pleasant), and Helen Heal (Manning).

For Ace-Watson it turned into a dream draw venue wise with her team at the Rossmoyne Bowling Club on both days. In the sectional play, her trio cruised through undefeated and with healthy shots up.

Back to back wins for Opie and Such in Triples final

South Perth’s Justin Opie and Lee Such and Kalgoorlie’s Beau Manton, are the 2023 Men’s State Triples Champions.

For Opie and Such it is back-to-back titles after winning the 2022 title with John Slavich. For Manton, it was his first state title of any kind.

Their opponents in the final were the unheralded Swan team of Brian Davis, Lindsay Sanders, and Peter Hillz. Opie's crew was one of sixty-five teams to start the competition on a damp weekend, coming through comfortably in his sectional games at the Mosman Park Bowling Club.

Under the roof at the Rossmoyne Bowling Club on the Sunday, Opie had a hard fought 12-10 quarter final win over 2021 winners Daniel Trewhella, Warren Holt, Thomas Mitchell and then an even closer 17-16 win over country favourites Shane Giudice-Nairn, Michael Ford, and Michael Walton in the Semi Final.

The Davis triple Davis started the tournament at the Cockburn Bowling Club and had three tight wins in the sectional rounds, finishing the day with three wins plus just six. Another close tussle in the quarter finals saw Davis have a 10-9 win over Kardinya’s Steve Novak, Matt Allen, and Chris Booth.

A solid 22-15 win over the composite team of Russell Bates, Craig Greenhalgh, and Ben Garrett had them primed for the final.

In a high-quality final at 7.00pm at night, in front of a dedicated bunch of supporters from both teams, the experience of Opie, Such, and Manton proved the difference with a 21-14 win over Davis, Sanders, and Hillz.

A great win 15-7 over one of the tournament favourites in Lisa Featherby, Linda Warburton and Denise Kelly (Mosman Park) in the alignment round was followed with a 22-5 win over the composite team of Kayelene Pearson, Robyn Coxon, and Susan Moore (Composite) in the quarter final.

Ace-Watson’s semi-final win 17-14 over the very experienced team of Noelene Abe, Irene Arndt, and Jenny Parker was a great way to warm up for the final. Morss also had strong form in her sectional games at the Safety Bay Bowling Club, coming through with three good wins. The following day at Rossmoyne saw Morss first up against Hall of Famer Therese Hastings and her team of state squad members Kaitlin Tyrrell, and Lisa Smith.

Morss came through after a tense last few ends, 12-9. A 21-7 win in the semi-final over living legend Roma Dunn and her partners Irene Grout, and Lexie Webster, showed Morss, Brannan and Heal were going to be difficult to beat in the final.

There was a large and vocal crowd at Rossmoyne cheering both teams on and neither team let their supporters down.

In the end Ace-Watson, Leahy and Adam had the edge most of the way and produced the big bowls that mattered to be the well deserved champions in the 2023 Women’s State Triples.