Wee Waa Bowling Club young gun Dustyn Allen is Zone 3 Bowls’ 2022/23 season State Championships reserve singles winner after he was victorious in five games across the weekend at the South Tamworth Bowling Club, including the Sunday afternoon final against Glen Innes’ Matt Jarrett.
The 17-year-old Wee Waa boy, who has already been crowned the zone’s reserve singles champion once before back in 2020, cruised through his sectional matches in style on Saturday as he topped the ladder undefeated.
He took on Jarrett in round one and prevailed 25 shots to 18, and then won 25 shots to 14 against Lightning Ridge’s Michael Mitchell in round two and 25 shots to 20 against South Tamworth’s Andrew Nichols in round three.
The two top-ranked players from each section progressed to the semi-final on Sunday morning. Finishing on top of section two meant that Allen met the section one runner-up, which was Werris Creek’s Daniel Crockatt, who Allen defeated 25 shots to 21 to reach the decider.
Jarrett eventually placed second in section two after winning his round two and three matches and he went on to beat section one winner Joanne Briggs from Gunnedah 25 shots to 20 in the other semi-final.
The final got underway at noon and it was the Wee Waa boy who got the job done against an older opponent as he outscored Jarrett 25 shots to 18 to advance to Bowls NSW’s 2022/23 season State Championships in July.
Allen will compete in three events at those championships, including the mixed pairs and reserve pairs, both of which he qualified for alongside his grandmother and fellow Wee Waa bowler Kay Dewson.
Another Wee Waa Bowling Club bowler, Steve Berger, also lined up at the South Tamworth Bowling Club across the weekend as he reached the semi-finals of the Zone 3 Bowls State Champs senior singles division.
Berger topped section one after he was one of three bowlers that won twice and lost once. He boasted the greatest shots for and against difference of the trio to finish first.
He lost his round one match against Inverell Sporties’ Dennis Williams 25 shots to 20 but bounced back with a 25 shots to 11 win against Armidale City’s Steven Fuller before rounding out the sectional games with a huge 20 shots to nine win against Lightning Ridge’s Anthony Lamb.
Berger met the eventual champion, Oxley’s Leslie Jenner, in the semi-final after he was the runner-up in section two.
It was Jenner who got the job done as he beat the Wee Waa man 25 shots to 20.
The other semi-final was won by South Tamworth’s Leslie Goodchild, who defeated Fuller 25 shots to 17, but he was then beaten 25 shots to 22 by Jenner in the decider.
Berger will back up from that event during this week in Maitland when he represents Zone 3 Bowls at Bowls NSW’s 2022/23 Senior Inter-Zone Championships. That event got underway today and will run across three days through to Thursday.
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