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BOWLS
Brett Pieper will get his wish of a second crack at a state singles title after he won the Illawarra Zone 16 crown at Dapto Citizens Bowling Club.
He beat Towradgi Park's David Wakeling 31-11 in the final after earlier defeating former national representative Shane Garvey 31-26 in Sunday morning's semi-final.
Pieper won the Illawarra Singles last year but was left frustrated by a 31-30 quarter-final loss to Josh Andriske in the state finals at Maitland.
For almost 12 months the Figtree RSL champion was driven to earn a second chance at representing Illawarra at the state finals - he won seven matches against some of Australia's best bowlers to make it back-to-back singles titles.
Pieper had a comeback 31-28 win over former champion Aaron Teys in round two then he beat Bellambi giantkiller Simon McGovern 31-15 in Saturday's quarter-finals.
"I'm rapt with the win," Pieper said.
"It wasn't easy with four No 1 bowlers in my draw but I played well, especially when the pressure was on."
In addition to back-to-back Illawarra singles titles, Pieper won the Zone 7 singles in 2007.
Wakeling also had a great tournament and made his first Illawarra Singles final with five wins including a 31-24 defeat of Towradgi clubmate Paul Luke in their semi-final clash.
Meantime, Warilla claimed the other two Zone 16 singles championships. Geoff McGillivray took out his first Senior Singles crown and Jamie Nabbe won his second President Reserve Singles in three years.
McGillivray beat Thirroul's Barry Hazelgrove 31-27 in the final after he knocked out Zone 16's defending Over 60s singles champion - and Warilla Grade 1 pennant clubmate - Ted Clarke 31-26 in the semi-finals.
It was McGillivray's first entry into the Senior Singles after he missed out on last year's titles with a back injury.
The Warilla star is now preparing for the state pennant finals in August, with Warilla facing defending champions Taren Point in their sectional round.
Meanwhile, Nabbe showed that he was the best Grade 5-7 pennant player in Zone 16 with a 31-24 win over Wiseman Park's Scott Davidson in the final.
Nabbe beat Windang's Andrew Mackie 31-25 in the semi-finals while Davidson advanced to the final with a 31-27 win over Shellharbour's Geoff Christie.
All three singles tournaments were well represented by more than 20 Illawarra clubs.