2023/24 State Junior Championships – Day 3 Report
The Bowls NSW State Championships continued to captivate audiences on Wednesday, April 17th, as the spotlight shifted to the exhilarating fours competition. After the previous day was filled with intense singles action, players eagerly joined forces to compete in the team-based event.
This year’s State Junior Championships saw a transition from qualification to entry-based participation, allowing individual players without teams to enter the fours competition. These individuals were then grouped into teams by the junior committee, resulting in at least seven teams composed of individual entries—an opportunity that provided juniors with more playing time and experience.
Sectional play unfolded throughout the day, with teams engaging in three rounds of competition in pursuit of securing a spot in the evening’s quarter-finals. Among the contenders were three members of the previous year’s State Junior Fours champions team, who returned to Warilla Bowls Club with Hunter Doring joining the lineup. Despite a close match in round 1, the team progressed to the quarter-finals but they faced tough competition from the local side that featured Blake Perry, Zoe Davies and the Moran brothers, Zach and Travis. The match went down to the wire to finish in favour of the locals by a two-shot margin.
The journey to crown the Junior State Fours Champions reaches its climax on Thursday, with the semi-finals and finals scheduled for 9:15 am and 11:30 am, respectively. The locals will face Joshua Potts, Will Price, Cooper Wrightson & Jacob Aitken while Jeremy Bourke, Cooper Appleby, James Allerton & Xander Webber will compete against Charlie McCudden, Joshua Allman, Reece Finn-Young & Charlie Grebert in the semi-finals.
In the afternoon, excitement continues to unfold as the junior girls final will take place at 2:15pm between Jasmine Smith & Chanel Chakouch of St. Johns Park and Zoe Davies (Windang) & Reese Finn-Young (Merimbula). At the same time, the junior boys pairs semi-finals will be played. Cooper Appleby & Xander Webber (Kurri Kurri) will compete against Cooper Wrightson & Jacob Aitken from Engadine, while Sam Rich and Thomas Rich from Merrylands will face Cooper Fliendner (Manildra) & Cooper Dart (West Dubbo). The day culminates with the Junior boys pairs final at 4:15 pm.
