South juniors bounce back to grab favouritism

THE Bowls Tasmania South Juniors made a great start in the first round of the Bowls Tasmania Junior State Wide Challenge at the Kings Meadows Indoor Bowls Centre on Sunday, winning seven out of eight games played against teams from Launceston and the North West Coast.

After struggling to field a full team last season, the Bowls Tasmania South Juniors have bounced back and are now favourites to win this season’s Junior State Wide Challenge. INVERMAY’S Rebecca Van Asch has been rewarded for her stellar form of the past 12 months by being announced as one of the 17 bowlers named in the Australian lawn bowls team for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, which will be held from April 5 to 13.

For Van Asch, now a triple world bowls champion, it will be her maiden Commonwealth Games campaign

The 17-person squad is made up of five men and five women in the open ablebodied category, and another seven in the para-sport team; including two vision-impaired bowlers and three bowlers with a disability.

Testament to the genera- tional change of bowls in recent times, the average age of the open contingent is only 32, comprising of a women’s side with a mean of 30, and a men’s team with a median of 35. THE FIRST round of APIA’s Statewide Seniors (over 60s) Challenge involving representative men’s and women’s teams from Launceston, the North West Coast and Hobart will be played at Kings Meadows on Tuesday.

The Bowls Tasmania South teams are — Men: Grant Allford (S), Barry Bone, Graham Rowbottom and Nick Suttie, Tony Vince (S), Michael Eiszele, Bill Butler and Greg Fehlberg, Tony Clark (S), Rod Turner, Steve Graf and Tony Hack.

Women: Lyn Triffitt (S), Laura Best, Pam Pope and Jeanette Lane, Trudy Davis (S), Di Jones, Di Peck and Jacqui Phillips, Gaylene Ridgeway (S), Sheryle Phillips, Pat Zapatocky and Gail Price. THE BOWLS Tasmania South men’s and women’s open and B-grade pairs championships will start on Sunday and finish the following Sunday. The men’s open pairs will be played at Sandy Bay and the B-grade pairs will be split between Howrah and Taroona. All men’s finals will be at Sandy Bay. The women’s open pairs will be split between Kingborough and Taroona with all finals played at Kingborough.