Sharks on Tour at the AO

Sharks at the 2025 AO

This year we had a number of members participating at the Australian Open Bowls on the Gold Coast.

On the whole our members performed very well with some outstanding efforts.    A summary of results are

Karen Harrington teamed up with Lorraine Myers (Qld) in the Open Women's Pairs and not only did they win their section but progressed to the last 32.    In winning their section Karen's team beat the highly fancied team of international reps in Cassandra Millerick and Kylie Lewis.   This pair of Millerick/Lewis progressed through as one of the best losers (winning their last sectional game 50/3) and ended up eventually making the semi finals of the whole event so great effort from Karen and Lorraine.

Jenny Aitken and Angela Uebergang teamed up in the open 4s with Anita  Burt and Marilyn  Fisk from Clifton Springs BC.   Despite some great bowls they finished 2nd in their sections with 1 win and 1 draw.

Jen and Ange also played together in the over 60s pairs and despite a good start with an 11 shot win in their first game and only a 1 shot defeat in the second game they had to accept a 3rd in their section. 

In the open singles Peter Anderson won 2 of his games but finished 2nd in his section despite the couple of nice wins.   Brian Calthorpe played in the open singles winning 1 of his games and finishing 3rd in his section.   Zane Lugg played as well notching up 1 win and a 3rd in his section.   One of our recent new members Peter Williams (transferring from Werribee BC) had two really good wins in his singles section but also finished in 2nd place.   It's a stiff competition so well done to all.

James Banks participated with Angus (Gus) Macisaac from Yarraville Footscray, Tony Schiavello from Bundoora and Ray Jansen from Whittlesea in the open 4s.     James' team won through their section and the first two knockouts finishing as one of the top 32 teams.

Brian Calthorpe filled in as a sub with a side from SA in the open 4s and by virtue of some nice wins their side went through as one of the best section losers.    The team then managed to win another 2 knockout games and made the top 32 teams in the comp.    Along the way the team knocked out a team skippered by former international Nathan Rice and including fellow international Brett Wilkie.     Outstanding effort.

Brian and Peter Anderson also teamed up for the over 60's pairs and despite winning 2 games in their section finished 2nd in the section losing their final game by 1 shot and the section by 2 shots overall.     Ron Sommerville and Rob Aitken also teamed up in the over 60's pairs and again with some good bowls won 2 of their 3 sectional games but falling just short of progressing eventually finishing 2nd in their section as well.     Peter Williams also lined up in the over 60's pairs and with his partner finished 3rd in his section.

One of the biggest upsets came in the open men's 4s where the team of Mike Jenner (Clifton Springs), Ron Sommerville, Rob Aitken and Peter Anderson firstly won their section and then proceeded to win the next 2 knockout games.  This included a 2 shot victory in the second knockout game over the highly rated team of State, National and International bowlers skipped by Nathan Black and including Nick Cahill, Cohen Litfin and Matt Lucas.  The Torquay team also ended up making the last 32 teams before being beaten by a SA side.