South Coast bowls legend Karen Murphy added to her incredible resume with a record sixth State Women's Champion of Club Champion Singles at Port Macquarie.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Murphy will soon head to Birmingham England for the Commonwealth Games as the assistant Australian coach and again showed she remains one of the nation's leading bowlers after extending her record-breaking run in the rescheduled 2021 State Women's Champion Singles.
Having won the club singles title at the powerful Cabramatta BC in 2021 Murphy beat the two-time defending State Women's Champion of Champion Singles winner Dawn Hayman (St Johns Park) 25-19 in the final.
Hayman is part of the Jackaroos squad and though unlucky not to be selected in the five women squad for the Birmingham Games, the Fairy Meadow junior has been in outstanding form.
Seventy-four women's club singles champions travelled to Port City and Lake Cathie bowling clubs for the four-day NSW Champion of Champion Singles which featured a sectional phase plus five knockout games to reach the final.
Murphy's path to a sixth State Champion Singles title and first since 2012 was not an easy one; having to beat two Australian rep bowlers in Sarah Boddington (Tuncurry Beach) and Fairy Meadow junior Dawn Hayman in the semi-finals and final.
Murphy's semi-final triumph was the match of the championship with Murphy leading 7-0 early on before Boddington won a string of ends to only trail 7-6.
From there the momentum and lead shifted several times with Murphy appearing to have ended the rally from Boddington with a 24-16 advantage and requiring just one more shot to take her place in the final.
But the Tuncurry Beach star went on a brilliant 8-0 run to tie the match at 24-24 and leave a one-end shootout for a spot in the final.
Boddington appeared to have clinched a remarkable comeback win by holding two shots before Murphy's third bowl took out four bowls at the head to leave her holding one shot.
Boddington's valiant final bowl just fell short leaving Murphy - a four-time Commonwealth Games representative and multiple world champion - in another final.
Hayman had a less stressful semi-final against the consistent Claire Kelly (Forster) prevailing 25-16 after opening-up a 24-9 lead.
Murphy then put on a master-class early on in the final to thrill the Port City locals and general bowls supporters. The Cabramatta champion led 20-9 to be within five shots of the title before Hayman rallied with a 10-1 run to only trail 21-19.
Murphy turned the momentum to win the next end with a single and then delivered possibly her best end of the match delivering with three bowls within inches of the jack, which proved enough to claim three shots and the title 25-19.
Junior stars ready for test
UNITED: Travis Moran and Flynn Copper met in the Junior South Pacific U16s final and are teammates for Illawarra in the State Junior Inter-Zone event in Dubbo.
Illawarra will want a strong showing against the state's best under 18s talent in the NSW Junior Inter-Zone 7-A-Side Championships at Dubbo.
The annual event commences next Monday (July 11) and will feature the top teenagers from across the 16 zones.
The championships feature round-robin sectional play in Singles, Pairs and Fours with the sectional winners advancing to the semi-finals and final for the right to claim the mantle as the top junior zone in NSW.
Read more: McLeish grabs four in Albion Park domination
Windang's top Zone 16 prospect Daniel Davies has been named to play in the coveted Singles role for Illawarra, with new Warilla recruit Travis Moran to partner Corrimal's Jacob Aitken in Pairs.
Daniel Davies' sister Zoe, plus Ricci-Rose Hampton (Dapto Citizens), Flynn Cooper (Warilla), and skip Hamish Hampton (Dapto Citizens) will play in the Fours.
Isaac Carter (Dapto Citizens) is the reserve.
Travis Moran is one of NSW's most promising juniors and having recently transferred from Engadine will add plenty of quality to the Zone 16 team.
In January Moran took out the prestigious Junior South Pacific U16 Singles, plus the Open Pairs with Jacob Aitken, while last April Moran won the State Junior Pairs.
King a true bowls legend
Bomaderry champion Robert 'Bob' King is being remembered as a bowls legend in a career spanning half a century in which he starred at club, state and Australian representative level.
The entire bowls community is saddened by King's passing at age 87, with the popular Bomaderry clubman leaving an amazing legacy.
Read more: Golf NSW sets up new base in Wollongong
King took up bowls at age 21 and in 1974 won the silver medal in Fours at the Christchurch Commonwealth Games. King also won the Australian Pairs in 1985, Australian Singles in 1998, plus the NSW State Singles five times, the NSW State Pairs twice and State Champion Singles twice.
King won many high-profile events including 30 Prestige Invitational Singles titles, plus seven City Masters Singles. King's amazing record at Bomaderry BC includes 16 Major Singles titles, four Major Pairs crowns, nine Club Triples and six Club Fours titles. King was an inaugural inductee into the NSW Hall of Fame in 2007 and was inducted into the Bowls Australia Hall of Fame in 2015.
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say.
Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on the Illawarra Mercury website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. Sign up for a subscription here.
To read more stories, download the Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.
