Big games at the right time
Christman wins Alberta title
Keep calm and finish strong was the perfect mantra for Medicine Hat’s Mike Christman this past week.
The 44-year-old five-pin bowler won the Alberta men’s singles title, topping a field of 15 in Grande Prairie by throwing his best game last in qualifying, then upending the defending provincial champ in playoffs.
“I'm still kind of in a little bit of shock, trying to process what has all transpired,” said Christman, who hadn’t competed at the provincial level since 2008 but went in as zone champion this time. “But I'm enjoying the moment, the time up there and the event, letting it sink in.”
He felt little pressure and hung around the top of the leaderboard in the 10-game qualifying part of provincials, but there was a pretty big carrot to finish first entering playoffs. In the tournament’s stepladder format, fifth plays fourth, then the winner plays the third-place finisher, and so on. Plus whoever advances to face the first-place qualifier needs to beat them twice in the final to take the title.
Christman calmly threw a 320 in his 10th game to steal first from Calgary’s Derek Home by 30 pins.
“I was hanging around second most of the day, then that 320 game at the end put me in first spot,” said Christman. “Having that flexibility or whatever it was, definitely helped.”
The worst part may have been the waiting afterwards. Christman never left the premises, throwing the odd ball to stay loose and chatting with his coach as a trio of stepladder matches took place.
Defending champ Adam Weber of Edmonton beat Home to advance to the final, but conceded after his 220 pinfall through nine frames left him unable to catch Christman’s 270.
“I had zero expectations, just wanted to compete and throw a good ball after another good ball and throw another good ball is all,” said Christman. “Stay calm and have some fun, that's what it's all about.”
Now he gets to go to nationals in Sudbury, Ont. May 31June 3. He says he’s the first Alberta men’s singles champ from this part of the province since 1989.
The south zone’s women’s team was third at provincials, while both the men’s and mixed teams were last. Fellow Hat bowler Alexander Young, in his first provincials, was sixth in men’s singles, a mere 18 pins away from the playoffs.