2007 BCiB STATE PENNANTS FINALS 05/08/07
JUNIOR BOWLS IN NSW
AUSTRALIAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS
BCiB PROMO TEAM PERFORMANCES
FINE FEATS

BACK TO STEVE'S CORNER

BCiB were again very pleased to be the Major Sponsors of the 2007 NSW State Pennants. Congratulations go to all competitors who qualified for the State Finals and in particular to those gifted and fortunate enough to have secured their respective State Flag! To all the venues that were chosen to host the finals, well done on a fantastic job and hopefully you also enjoyed the excitement!

Please see below for the final results in each of the 7 grades.

Click Here for full summary of match results for each Grade

Grade 1 AT Matraville RSL

Grade 2 AT CARINGBAH

Grade 3 AT THE ENTRANCE BC

Grade 4 AT KAHIBAH BC
Extra End Played to determine winner

Grade 5 AT COFFS EX-SERVICES WOOLGOOLGA BC

GRADE 6 AT ARMIDALE CITY BC

GRADE 7 AT PITTWATER MEMORIAL BC

[back to top]

[back to top]

[back to top]

It's been a successful time for "Team BCiB" with many successes on the greens in recent times. Fantastic form has seen Karen Murphy take out her 1st Australian Indoor Singles Championship after two previous finals appearances. "Kaz" defeated young gun and rising champion Kelsey Cotterill in a thrilling climax to the event. More recently, Karen has won yet more NSW State Titles by claiming the prestigious NSW Ladies Champion of Club Champion Singles, The Open State Singles and last but by no means least, The State Fours.

In mens bowls, my old mate Kelvin (Kerkow) continues to demonstrate why he is one of the World's best by taking out the Salisbury Superbowl and then, not to be outdone by Karen, also won the Australian Indoor Singles in the men's division making it two in a row for him. Probably Kelvin's greatest joy however, came when narrowly defeated in the Gold Coast Winter Carnival Fours by a powerhouse side from WA skipped by one of their best, Pieter Harris. Kelvin's rink featured 3 very novice junior bowlers.

And who would have guessed but even yours truly has had some luck by taking out Tweed Heads's most Prestigious Singles Event.... The Golden Nugget, defeating rising superstar teenager, Matthew Pietersen also from my club, St John's Park. In addition to this a win in the PBA Qualifying event sees me joining Kelvin in January in England where we will compete in the highly lucrative World Indoor Singles. A win with friend Terty Antram in the recently finalised NSW State Pairs, has topped off a nice little period.

[back to top]

Whilst manning our BCiB stand at the recent Australian Gaming Expo at the Convention Centre in Sydney, I had the pleasure to meet a bowler by the name of Lyn Thorne from Hazelbrook Bowling Club.

Now Lyn is not simply your normal, run of the mill bowler.

For those of us mature (old) enough to remember, when we used to buy petrol, we used to get driveway service. (For those not understanding what this means, it's where the staff of the station would actually fill your tank, wash your windscreen, etc, etc, while you remained seated in your vehicle.

In 1983, whilst working at a service station in this capacity, Lyn was struck down in a tragic accident. While attending to a customer, another vehicle came hurtling in and crashed into Lyn and the car she was attending to.

The injuries Lyn suffered were nothing short of horrendous. The most serious of them resulted in severe spinal injuries. After a 10.5 hour delicate operation, Lyn began what would be a lifetime of suffering, rehabilitation, and on-going side affects.

The doctors sadly informed Lyn that it was extremely unlikely that she would ever walk again.

Of course, this news was shattering. However, never say never and Lyn began her long, long road of semi recovery.

It was in 1988, some 5 years after the accident when Lyn eventually stood un assisted for the very 1st time. In 1995, Lyn took up bowls. Coming from a sporting background and in particular, a very accomplished bike rider, Lyn took to bowls like a duck to water.

In 2002, Lyn secured the prized blue ribbon event at her club, the Major Open Ladies Singles Championship.

These days Lyn still continues to play regularly and loves it and is no doubt a tough nut to beat.

The battles with pain and the resulted injuries will unfortunately always be a daily occurrence for Lyn, but as she has already proven, it will not stop her.

I was touched and inspired to her her story and of course honored to meet her.

[back to top]

BACK TO STEVE'S CORNER