On Sunday 20th June the Brisbane North Region (BNR) Gateball Doubles was held. The event was organized by Fran Buckle and hosted by the Moreton Bay Gateball Club. Although this club uses former bowling club greens, recent rain meant that they were not as fast as they could have been. Six teams were entered with players coming from all Clubs in the BNR region that play gateball.

It was a round robin format and all games were refereed. The weather was kind, with the tournament running smoothly and ably monitored by Bruce McAlister as Tournament Referee. The host club provided a gourmet morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea which was enjoyed by all.

The event winners were Alan Beeson and Chris Kele from McIlwraith with the runners-up being Emma Mauceri  (Moreton Bay) and Sep Hines (Pine Rivers).

What a great location for a tournament. Lake Macquarie is a magnificent backdrop to the Toronto Croquet Club who were the 2021 hosts for the NSW State Championships.

The 4 GB courts were all but swallowed up in the vast cricket oval. Perhaps a venue to be considered for an Australian Championships or at their new 2023 Glendale location?

GB players are prepared for all weathers and our gear was well tested on Friday for Day 1 of the Doubles. The cold wet day did not detract from the standard of play with a high level of skills and strategy resulting in some extremely close scores.

It was wonderful to see 4 pairs of Doubles representing South Australia, the ACT, and Queensland competing for the trophy. In an incredibly tight fought game the ACT pairing of Glen and Kristina Whitehead beat Geoff Crook (Woodville) and Barry Jennings (Hyde Park) 8 cb – 8 and the 2 Queensland teams finished 10 – 9.

In a nail biting finish Glen and Kristina pulled out a 12 – 11 score to beat Bruce McAlister and Peter Sweet.

On a warm and sunny Saturday Pam Durie, founder of the Toronto CC, opened the Tournament and awarded the trophy and badges to the Doubles winners.

Eight teams entered the Teams Championship. Many high scoring matches resulted in a finals contest between Canberra Mavericks on 6 wins/34 net hoops and Canberra Sparkers on 5 wins/25 net hoops. The Mavericks showed considerable skill and determination in their 17 – 6 win. In third place was the Queensland team from Southport, Rockhampton and Ipswich with 4 wins/17 net hoops.

Winners in the teams Championship, the Canberra Mavericks

A very relaxed ‘line-up’ of Canberra Sparkers players after receiving their badges as Runners Up for the teams event.

The Sydney EPSTARS, made up of players from 4 Sydney clubs, improved their performance throughout the tournament and Strathfield benefitted from the strategy of Geoff Crook from the SA Woodville CC.

It was such a pleasure to hold this event at such a happy and welcoming CC where so many volunteers contributed to a smooth and efficient tournament.

All scores for this tournament can be seen in Gateball Scores at this link:

Judy Tier
Coordinator – NSW Gateball

The Victorian state gateball championships were a great tournament this year despite not being able to hold the tournament the year prior due to the pandemic. Teams contesting for the title of Vic state champions were Essendon, Kew, Hazelbrook/Strathfield and Albury/Yarrawonga.

The weather was on our side after a little drizzle during the first game of the round robin. In true Melbourne fashion though we went from wet weather clothing to shorts and polo shirts within 20 min as the sun came out. The games were all played to an extremely high standard and were wonderful to spectate.  A huge thanks to all those who assisted as referees during the event.

The teams event came down to an all-Victorian final of Kew vs Essendon. Kew managed to come out on top after a hard fought final and retain their state title for another year, making this the third year in a row that they have won the championship.

The pairs event was similarly an exciting affair to spectate with all pairs competing to an extremely high standard. The final came down to Philip and Clare from Vic and Penny and John from NSW who had a very exciting match indeed. The match was action packed until the end and is available to watch at your leisure here

The event was a huge success with the championship being held in a local Melbourne club for the first time in some years. Many thanks to the Elsternwick Croquet Club for hosting the event and for arranging lunch for the competitors on both days.

Anthony Dask
Assistant Director of Gateball Victoria
President Elsternwick Croquet Club Victoria