Cameron Yates and Steve Berger win zone state singles sectional finals at Wee Waa Bowling Club

Narrabri Bowling Club’s Cameron Yates and Wee Waa Bowling Club’s Steve Berger will compete at Zone 3 Bowls’ 2022-23 season state singles playoffs in South Tamworth later this month after both men were victorious in the sectional finals of their respective divisions at the Wee Waa Bowling Club on Saturday.

Wee Waa was one of eight venues that hosted sectional matches across the zone in open and senior divisions, with the winners at each venue going through to the playoffs on Saturday and Sunday, May 20 and 21.

Berger challenged Narrabri Bowling Club bowler Tony Redman in the lone senior singles match after they were the only two men to nominate in that division.

Berger won the contest 25 shots to 10 after 24 ends of play.

The Wee Waa bowler established an early lead after scoring two shots on the first end, but he trailed by two shots after five ends as Redman scored a single shot on each of the following four.

Berger scored back-to-back twos on ends six and seven to go ahead six shots to four, which became seven shots to six in favour of the Wee Waa bowler at the completion of the 10th end.

The nail-biting start to the contest continued as Berger scored four shots across the next three ends to go ahead 11 shots to eight before the Narrabri man scored one shot on both the 14th and 15th ends to reduce his deficit to three.

However, it was at that stage of the contest that Berger began to pull away as he went on a four-end run that saw him add seven shots to his total and establish an 18 shots to eight lead.

Redman scored another single shot on the 20th end, but Berger extended his lead to 13 when he scored a four on the 21st end to go ahead 22 shots to nine.

With the Wee Waa Bowling Club bowler requiring three more shots for the victory, Redman attempted to rally and scored his 10th on the 22nd end.

However, that would be his last as Berger scored a one on the 23rd end and then finished off the match with a two on the 24th to claim a dominant 25-10 triumph.

There were three bowlers in action in the open singles competition, which included Narrabri duo Dave Dewar and Cameron Yates and Gunnedah’s Scott Thorning.

Thorning took on Dewar in the first knockout match as the duo played for a chance to challenge Yates in the sectional final after he drew the first-round bye.

Thorning won that match 27 shots to 16 against Dewar to set up a clash against Yates, and it was the Narrabri bowler who prevailed as he downed Thorning 25 shots to 20 in 26 ends.

The Gunnedah man established an early three shots to nothing lead after the first end of play in that final before Yates equalised after scoring a single shot on each of the following three ends.

Thorning hit the lead again with a two on the fifth, but Yates rallied again as he scored seven shots across the next four ends to lead 10 shots to five after nine.

Thorning had reduced that deficit to one shot after 11 ends after scoring a three and a one, but Yates’ lead stretched back out to five after he responded with a three and a one on ends 12 and 13, respectively. Thorning then won the next three ends as he added six shots to his total to go ahead by the narrowest of margins, but Yates scored a shot on the 17th end to make the score 15 shots each.

The Gunnedah man then led 17-16 after 20 ends, but Yates came from behind again and this time went on a four-end run to lead 23 shots to 17 after 24 ends.

Thorning scored a three on the 25th to reduce the deficit to three shots, but Yates scored the winning shots on the 26th end to take the game 25 shots to 20.

The playoffs in South Tamworth will be contested under a different format this year than the one that was used in previous seasons.

The eight bowlers in each division at the Zone 3 playoffs formerly played knockout-style bowls that included quarter-finals, semi-finals and then a grand final, meaning each bowler was only guaranteed one match, and the finalists would have played three by the end of the day.

However, the 2022-23 season will see bowlers play at least three games as the eight entrants in each division have been placed in two four-player sections.

Each bowler will play against their sectional opponents once each, and then the two highest-ranked bowlers from each section will progress to the semi-finals.

The sectional matches will be played on Saturday, May 20, followed by the semi-finals and grand final the next day.

In the open singles, Yates has been placed into section two alongside Lightning Ridge’s Allen Tighe and North Tamworth duo Grahame Hall and Benjamin Ballantine.

In the senior singles, Berger has been placed into section one alongside Armidale City’s Steven Fuller, Lightning Ridge’s Anthony Lamb and Inverell Sporties’ Dennis Williams.

Berger will be playing to become the first Zone 3 champion from Wee Waa in the senior singles division since Ray Dixon in 2014.

Another Wee Waa bowler will also be in action that weekend, with Dustyn Allen to line up in the open reserve singles playoffs after he was the only player to nominate for that division at the Wee Waa Bowling Club on Saturday.

Allen, who was Zone 3 Bowls’ open reserve champion in 2020, has been placed into section two alongside Glen Innes’ Matt Jarrett, Lightning Ridge’s Michael Mitchell and South Tamworth’s Andrew Nichols.