A member of the team representing Australia at the inaugural World Junior Tenpin Bowling Championships in Paris last week, Cameron Stein has returned home this week and will be competing at the 2019 TBAQ State Championships at Sunset Superbowl in Toowoomba this weekend.
With three out of four athletes qualifying for the Masters at the event, head coach Shane Bernhardt said whilst the team didn’t bring home medals there was a number of positives and learnings to come out of the world’s pinnacle event for junior bowlers.
“We were in the top half of the field in most of the events with some countries with strong bowling programs finishing below us. All in all, I was pleased with our results.â€
“There are a number of learnings that we will take from this experience. From a bowling perspective, the importance of ‘repeatability’ is the biggest takeaway,†the junior national training squad head coach said.
“Watching Korea and to a lesser extent the USA, the athletes have the ability and skill to continuously repeat their shot. This is something that our Junior NTS needs to work towards and I will be calling on the experiences of the four athletes that competed in the WJC to assist in leading this mindset.â€
After finishing 20th in the All Events Cameron Stein qualified for the Masters alongside Sophie Martin who finished in 19th and Amy Shoesmith finishing in 24th.
In step one of the Masters, Stein went down to Lithuanian bowler Laurynas Narusis 240-219 and 256-176 to see his tournament finish. For the Australian girls it was a similar story with Shoesmith unable to progress and Martin also bowing out of the tournament after Grace Gella from the Philippines won both matches.
With the Australians out of the competition the finals moved to the centre of the capital city of France to stage five consecutive gold medal matches on a special two-lane installation inside the Judo Institute on Saturday.
Having won already gold medals in Boys’ Singles and Boys’ and Girls’ All-Events, Korea won four out of five medals in the arena finals to dominate the medal tally winning 7 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze medal.
Korea’s Ji Geun, a 17-year-old lefthander, won all five gold medals in the boys’ division to set a record in the first edition of the World Junior Bowling Championships that can’t be broken.
With record-breaking entries, trophies and a prize fund of almost $20,000 Queensland bowlers in this year’s TBAQ Adult & Youth State Championships are heading to Toowoomba in droves.
Organising Committee chief, Morty Douglass said “The Centre will be buzzing with 164 bowlers competing in 656 events … it proves that our sport is doing exceptionally well in the State and to be honest it is all driven by great volunteers.â€
“The Gala Awards night being held in conjunction with the Queensland State Championships and the Toowoomba Regional Council 7pm, Saturday 30 March 2019 at The Annex, Toowoomba City Hall is aimed squarely at recognising not just our high achievers but volunteers like these and their contribution,†he added.
Competition resumes this weekend, with more squads commencing on Friday evening, 29th March and play continuing through until Sunday 31 March. Spectators are invited to Sunset Superbowl during the weekend to witness some of the country’s best ten pin bowling talent on the lanes.
Submitted by:
Lynne Clay| Marketing | Media | Communications
Tenpin Bowling Association of Queensland Inc.
Sports House | 150 Caxton Street l Milton QLD 4064
e: lynne.clay@outlook.com | www.tbaq.org.au
