SECTI ONS
Bowls
Convenor: Christian Huang | Article by: Christian Huang
NATIONAL PAIRS 2021 The curtains for the National Pairs have finally closed. The men’s tussle for top honours was always going to be a tight one with an all-SCC semi-finals. Each pair would have fancied themselves and it was down to who brought their “A” game on that day. The draw pitted long-time partners Edmund and Ganesh against Zoher and Srini. The latter got off to a start they dreamed off, with both players peppering the jack and running off to a good lead. A mid-game slump allowed their opponents into the game and some inspired bowling by Edmund and Ganesh in the last four ends saw them overturn the game and snag a spot in the finals with a 17-15 win. The other match saw Christian and Melvin against Bob and Atiff, who pipped current title holders Anthony and Thomas in the quarter-finals. Christian and Melvin raced to a 11-1 lead before Bob and Atiff staged an inspiring come back to close the deficit to 7-11. Holding three good shots in the head on the tenth end, they gazed at the potential to take the score to 10-11. But with no other shot to play but drive, Christian made a good connection with his last bowl to spring the jack into the ditch and come away with four shots to lead 15-7. From then on, they consolidated their lead and ran away with a 23-9 win. Inclement weather delayed the finals by three hours. That however did not affect the quality of the game as both teams put on a classy encounter with mastery shot-making to the delight of spectators who stayed on. Both leads peppered the jack and the skips were on hand when called upon. The score remained close throughout, with Edmund and Ganesh holding a slender one-shot lead going into the penultimate end. However, a loose end saw them drop four shots and eventually the match went 16-21 to Christian and Melvin, who took home their fourth National Pairs title under the floodlights. The hope for an all-SCC ladies final remained alive as both teams were drawn in separate semi-finals. Section stalwarts Mary and Rosemary had to contend with Josephine and Margaret from ELBC for a spot in the finals. They needed an extra end to beat their opponents after letting their huge lead dissipate in the second half of the game, and were visibly relieved to see Josephine’s last bowl fall short of the jack. Current SEA Games gold medalists Shermeen and Amira got off to a slow start against ELBC’s Li Li and Siok Chin but managed to find their groove to avenge their defeat in the group stages by 26-9. A fairytale all-SCC final ensued. Nothing separated the teams in the first half of the match. Amira was in red hot form leading
Top: (from left) Competing at the National Pairs 2021. Bottom: (from left) Amira Goh, Rosemary Tessensohn (marker), and Shermeen Lim.
up front, but Rosemary and Mary had the answers to keep the score tight. Alas, the former Asia Bowls pairs champions dropped a costly four on the 12th end and were unable to recover, handing the title to Shermeen and Amira 10-19. Despite the interruptions, the tournament was a fruitful, record breaking outing for SCC. We hosted the tournament, sent out the most entries ever and medalled in six out of eight available spots. Bravo SCC!
An all-SCC affair at the Bowls National Pairs 2021 finals.
NOV / DEC 2021 THE PADANG
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