Dapto Citizens’ Richard Dowse and his Towradgi Park teammate Mark Lowry emerged victorious in one of the most competitive tournaments of the year to claim the Zone 16 Rookies Pairs at Bomaderry Bowling Club.
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Thirteen teams of bowlers with less than 30 months at a registered club fought to win their first zone title and the opportunity to represent Illawarra Zone 16 at next month’s State Rookies Pairs Finals at Raymond Terrace BC.
Dowse and Lowry won their fourth match of the one-day event by beating Windang’s Paul Nesbitt and Collies-Orb’s Greg Wray 15-8 in the final.
Earlier, Dowse and Lowry had a 14-4 win over Thirroul’s Wayne Malone and John Brown, and then beat Windang duo Terry McKay and Philip Miller 14-9 to win section four and advance to the semi-finals.
Dowse-Lowry then won a thriller 12-11 against Windang clubmates Matthew Grogan and Ross Vincent to reach the final.
For Greg Wray it was his second Zone 16 Rookies final in 2018 after a great run in the Singles was ended by Figgy Bowlo’s Gary Webster in the decider at Windang BC the previous week.
Wray and Nesbitt were placed in a section of four teams and had to rally from a 13-9 defeat to Oak Flats clubmates Steve Purcell and Teo Robinson in round two.
The composite pairing booked their spot in the semi-finals with wins over Oak Flats’ Tony Guarnaccia and Wolfgang Coen 17-6 in round one and a 12-7 win over Bomaderry duo Mark Abott and Bruce MacDonald in round three.
Purcell and Robinson won their first two sectional games but a 17-3 defeat to Guamaccia-Coen cost them a spot in the semi-finals in a section in which three of the four teams finished with two wins and one loss.
Nesbitt-Wray had the best differential in section two of +13 to edge out Guarnaccia-Coen (+11) by just two shots and claim a semi-final berth.
Coincidence or not, the teams to reach the Rookies Pairs final were also the only two composite teams in the field of thirteen.
The tournament proved a real positive for Oak Flats BC who had four teams nominate, while nine Zone 16 clubs fielded a representative.
Earlier this month the Rookies Singles featured 26 inexperienced bowlers with Webster winning five games over two days to take the title.
Webster and the Pairs champions Dowse and Lowry now take their places with the other 15 zone winners at the State Finals next month.
No Zone 16 player has made the final at the State Rookies Singles, but Corrimal’s Aydan Murphy and Tim Cavanough made the decider of the State Rookies Pairs in 2017.
It was the first time that the Zone 16 Rookies Pairs champion had made the state final since the Berkeley-Warilla duo of Neal Teasdale and Andrew Ransom won the state title in 2014.
The State Rookies champions are not eligible to defend their title, but a player can compete in the event for up to two years if they remain within the 30 months of becoming a registered bowler.
The NSW Rookies events have grown in popularity since being launched in 2009 and allow a bowler, irrespective of their experience, a chance to win a zone and state title in the same year.
With the completion of the Zone 16 Rookies, the focus turns to the last Zone 16 championship event of the year, the Champion of Club Champion Fours to be held on October 27-28.
