The idea to organise a commemorative-based tournament was crystalised after the very sudden and sad passing of club stalwart and acting club president Ken “Sammy” Sampert earlier this year. Additional, long standing members who no doubt ply their skills on the bowls green in the sky such as “Little” Mike Cousens, the legendary “Pineapple chucker” John King and many others are also fondly remembered and honoured via the new tournament.
The inaugural “Memorial Pairs” tournament took place on Friday, Nov 8, serving as a launch event for the new season ahead.
Pairs were drawn at random on the day to contest a “champions league” style format with the winners and runners up of each of two leagues progressing to the semi-final stage.
One new member, Richard Knight, who recently arrived from the UK was in for a daunting task, having never experienced play in Phuket conditions before and only having plied his trade in the northern hemisphere; a “totally differet animal,” as the man himself attested! The only saving grace was he was drawn to play with his big brother Rob, whose knowledge and experience of local greens and conditions would be no doubt invaluable.
Another pair drawn randomly together from the hat maintaing the family vibe was husband and wife Glenn Collins and Vorada “Nidnoi” Collins - would it be marital bliss, a recipe for divorce or sibling triumph or fallout?
After the first round of matches things didn’t look too rosey for either of these two teams, with both losing their first encounters – the Knight brothers avoided a whitewash embarrasment by managing to scrape a point in the 18-1 thrashing by Carl “The Mesh” Mesham and veteran George Sasanow.
As the leagues progressed, a series of topsy-turvy results meant that every team in League 1 could still make it to the semi-finals by the time the final group games came along.
Glenn and Nidnoi managed to progress by seeing off the previously unbeaten pairing of Par “Pat” Alm and Dean “Deano” Lambert to top the table, while Doug “The Coach” Reid and Frank “Borny” secured second spot by just a solitary point to also advance.
Meanwhile, “The Mesh” and George sailed through League 2 in imperious, undefeated fashion, while the Knight brothers caused Duncan “Dunking” Kennedy and Ray “The Rocket” Austin a scare, recovering from an 8-0 deficit to draw level before losing out 10-8.
The semi-final line up therefore pitted Nidnoi and Glenn against Ray and Duncan, while “The Mesh” and George would take on Doug and Frank.
Nidnoi and Glenn found form at the right time to beat Ray and Duncan 10-2, despite a flattering scoreline that did not truly reflect the closeness of the match.
The other semi-final was an absolute thriller which went all the way to the final end to determine a winner. Facing the possibility of a sudden death, one-end shootout, “The Mesh” delivered a “worldy” to lead him and George to an 8-6 win and passage to what promised to be an epic final. For veteran George it presented a chance to win his first major title since he (and many others) could remember, while “The Mesh” was hoping to continue his fine form from the 23/24 season.
Nidnoi was aiming to continue the run of female success at recent tournaments while Glenn was looking to return to the winners circle after a sustained period of near misses.
Anticipation amongst the watching crowd was high, as the standard of bowling in the competition up until to the final had been nothing short of world class! Indeed, visitors to the Kamala green for the first time from Australia, Pat and Min, were genuinely astounded at the quality of bowling on offer.
And the final did not disappoint, with the match ‘nip and tuck’ all the way.
At the half way stage of the 8 end final, Nidnoi and Glenn held a slender 3-2 lead, which they managed to extend by a further 2 points shortly afterwards before “The Mesh” and George managed to peg it back to 5-3 with just 2 ends to go.
Nidnoi and Glenn then fought back to secure another point in end 7 to give them a 3 point advantage going into the final end. Glenn, in particular, was using his experience and strategy to position his bowls in the protective area, Nidnoi was able to demonstrate her quality and experience at such a critical stage.
Despite their opponents being somewhat quiet, there was still the possibility of “The Mesh” securing the required 3 points to force a sudden death play off as he stepped up to deliver the last bowl of the tournament.
Another of his “worldy” bowls would be needed due to the fact that way that Nidnoi and Glenn had strategically placed their own bowls to make it look like an almost impossible task and so it proved to be as “The Mesh” was ultimately agonisingly short by inches. Despite scoring an admirable 2 points, Nidnoi and Glenn came out triumphant by the final score of 6-5.
It was a truly thrilling climax to a wonderful tournament of world class bowling, with Nidnoi and Glenn proving that marital bliss and teamwork also applies to many aspects outside of marriage.
They were deservedly awarded the inaugural “Memorial Pairs Trophy” with the added bonus of a pair of bowls measures kindly donated by regular spectator Brad Fairley, a non-bowler himself who comes to spectate and enjoy the matches on a regular basis.
The next ‘major’ tournament is the Club Championship singles competition on Dec 13, for which a bumper turnout is expected.
Kamala Lawn Bowls Club is open six days a week. All equipment is provided and large parties can be gladly catered for. Group bookings for private tournaments, celebrations and company or social events including buffet food is available at reasonable rates. For further information please contact the club on 094 898 7476.