A pair of bowlers from the Western District have taken honours at the return of the Deniliquin RSL Club’s 2 Bowls Pairs tournament.
Scott Boschen and Darren Gordon teamed up to claim the $6000 top prize from 25 other teams.
They won their way through to the final after claiming the section one honours over Friday, September 9 and Saturday, September 10.
Section two winners and also among the top eight to play finals were Clayton Holcolm and Chris Fleming.
Gordon is a three-time Dunkeld Bowling Club club champion.
He is also a past Fair Western District singles champion of champions, a triples champion and has multiple pairs and triples tournament wins under his belt.
He is a division one player.
Boschen has club championship honours to his name at both the Koroit and Horsham Bowling Clubs.
He is a former Bowls Victoria state player, and a previous winner of the Victorian open mixed pairs.
He also has two West Coast Region pairs championships, two West Coast Region singles champion of champions wins and a West Coast Region triples champion titles to his name.
Deniliquin RSL Bowling Club tournament coordinator Kate Weymouth said there was some quality bowling from all teams.
She said numbers were down however, with metropolitan district player requirements impacting on registrations.
“We had 14 pairs pull the plug in the weeks leading up to the competition because of their commitments with metro competitions,” she said.
“The National Five A Side tournament also took a few teams out of the equation.
“But we did have teams come from as far as South Australia to compete, as well as some from metropolitan Melbourne, regional Victoria and from various New South Wales areas.
“There were five local teams competing, as well as Deniliquin-based bowler Daryl Weymouth - who plays with Kangaroo Flat in the premier league - and his bowling partner Ian Berry.”
The tournament format saw all 26 teams compete in two sections over the Friday and Saturday, with the top eight going into finals and the chance to claim the $6000 grand prize.
Cash prizes were also given for second to fifth.
The other 18 teams not in finals were invited to form teams for a mini tournament held Monday, September 12.
The total prize pool for both events was $15,000, and Kate said the top eight in both the main tournament and mini tournament earned national ranking points.
Results were as follows:
2 Bowls Pairs tournament - Scott Boschen & Darren Gordon, 1; Jason McCloy & Peter Nesbitt, 2; Daryl Weymouth & Ian Berry, 3; Gavin Niclasen & Andrew Vanderhorst, 4; Clayton Holcolm & Chris Fleming, 5.
Mini tournament - Gary Smith & Kevin Robinson, 1; Mark Dickens & Rhonda Gurnett, 2; Barry Anset & Dennis McHarry, 3; Mike Hocking & Henk Pilgrim, 4; Conway Bovell & Brian Kemnitz, 5.
Plans are already underway for the 2023 2 Bowls Pairs tournament - one of two annual tournaments hosted by the Deni RSL Bowling Club. It is expected to be held September 8-11.
The club’s other tournament is at Easter.