Despite some heavy rain, the 2018 Canadian Mixed Pairs Lawn Bowling Championships rolled smoothly last week.
Hosted by the Qualicum Beach Lawn Bowling Club, the competition featured close games from teams from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.
They played three 18-end games a day for three days and the point standings at the end of the playoff games on Friday determined Saturday’s medal games.
The B.C. B team of Brent Jansen and Karen Evans finished ahead of the pack at the end of the round-robin, suffering only one loss. They earned their spot in the gold-medal round where they took on the strong Alberta team of Keith Wylie and Shannon Roden, a team they handily defeated 18-4 in the round-robin.
The duo from Oak Bay would do no wrong in the finals once again as they would hold their composure despite the Alberta pair battling back from 11-2 to close the gap.
The B.C. team held on to take home the gold medal 16-13 in a great match that saw bowl for bowl shots.
Pat Beggs and Eleanor Murray from Fredericton, N.B. went up against Manitoba’s Ed Mulholland and Brenda Frank for third and fourth place.
This was an evenly matched game with very little point differential throughout but the west won all three medals as Manitoba held on to win the bronze 22-16.
QBLBC spokesman Keith Yates said despite the weather the event was successful and attracted many spectators, some coming from Victoria.
The closing ceremonies were held inside the QBLBC clubhouse with Lorraine Martin of Bowls Canada officially closing the games. She thanked the club for all it’s hard work to make it a fun championship and the players for some great bowling. She noted several spectators had mentioned they enjoyed the bowling so much they were coming to the QBLBC indoor bowling open house on Sept 22-23 to give bowling out of the rain a try.
Wylie spoke on behalf of the players to thank QBLBC for the royal treatment they had received, great welcome, good accommodation, fabulous food and a chauffeur whenever needed. He also noted a great camaraderie among the players, who all enjoyed the week’s bowling.
National’s Committee chairwoman Lynn Chwartacki and QBLBC president Willie Odendaal thanked the volunteers not only from Qualicum but also all the other clubs in the district for their hard work throughout the tournament and the players for being such great bowling ambassadors.
— NEWS Staff/QBLBC
