QLD State Gateball Teams and Doubles Championships
This year the State Gateball Teams and Doubles Championships were held at Southport Croquet Club from 12th-15th August. Since it was a four day event, there was time for the teams to relax between games. When playing the Doubles Competition, it is good to have the time to recuperate because if a team is not playing, it will be doing Referee duties. Fitness is important factor in these competitions. Attracting teams from Qld as well as players from Adelaide, Canberra and Newcastle, there were nine teams competing. Compared to last year, there was an increase in participants with 18 pairs in the doubles competition.
A small burst of wet weather on the Saturday afternoon did not prevent players from giving their best in a close competition. The winning team was Macs from the Toronto Croquet Club in NSW which had two players from other clubs to form the team. Congratulations must go to them- being their first venture into the QLD Championship and finishing as the clear leader in the competition. The presentation was made by Mrs Fiona McAlister. Her mother, Lola Whyte, after whom the trophy was created and named in her honour.
In contention for second place were three teams all with the same number of wins, but was given to the Grey Shirts, Moreton Bay, because of a better net points score.
There were two Blocks of 9 Doubles required to accommodate the number of entries. Then there was a semi final required to decide the winner. The winner of Block S was the Ganbatte Team (Jenny Willsher & Geoff Crook) which played against the second placed team in Block T, the 2 Macs ( Ruth Mulvaney & John Park). The winner of Block T was Kele Crew (Robyn Brown and Steve Kele) which played against the second placed team in Block S which was L & J ( Lee Wentworth and Julia Tai). These were very exciting semifinals as would be expected.
The final was played between the L& J team from Southport (Lee and Julia) and the Ganbatte team (Jenny Willsher from Toronto and Geoff Crook from Adelaide.) The game was won by Jenny and Geoff in an absorbing, tactical battle.
The Bruce McAlister Trophy is proudly displayed by Jenny and Geoff in the photo below.
Well done to all
The competition was great fun and seemed to run effortlessly which is testament to the skill and experience of all those involved in planning and running the tournament. A big thank you to all involved.
Whilst on the subject of thank yous, it was remiss of me not to thank my doubles partner, Jenny. Sorry about that – thank you Jenny – you were awesome.
Thank you Geoff for your kind words, congratulations once again to you and Jenny on your win and great sportsmanship shown throughout the Tournament. The friendship you both showed is a credit to you both and you are both welcome back anytime.
Robert Roose
Qld Gateball Coordinator
Congratulations everyone.
Sorry I couldn’t make it this year, seems like a wonderful time was had by all.