Mpumalanga’s very best masters bowlers recently descended on Mbombela for the annual provincial championships.

The Mpumalanga Masters Championships were hosted by LVCC and Nelspruit bowling clubs from July 11 to 13. The tournament is a hotly contested competition between the masters champions of the Lowveld (LVCC, Nelspruit, Sabie, White River, Barberton, Hazyview) and the Mpumalanga West clubs based in Middelburg, Ermelo, Secunda, Vryheid and Witbank.

The top eight veteran ladies and men and the top eight open ladies and men from each area bowl it out over seven rounds to decide who wins gold, silver and bronze medals, and to be crowned the Masters Champion Bowler in both categories.

The pre-tournament anxiety and excitement was palpable on day one, when the 16 bowlers came face to face for the first time. While many have played against one another before, or as teammates in other formats, there were no bowls barred as they stepped onto the greens to deliver their first bowl.

The atmosphere was tense, the games intense and focused, and each bowl was delivered with precision towards the jack, scoring a point for each bowl closest to the white ball. Sometimes the jack could not be seen for all the bowls.

After seven rounds of hard-played, competitive and well-delivered bowls, the winners came through to secure their names on the trophies.

The winners were:

Veteran ladies:
• 1st: Marie Saayman
• 2nd: Toekie Botha
• 3rd: Joy Goodison.

Veteran men:
• 1st: Gavin Shoobert
• 2nd: Piet Smit
• 3rd: Hanno Kapp.

Open ladies:
• 1st: Angie Josten
• 2nd: Madelein Naudé
• 3rd Retha Grobbelaar.

Open men:
• 1st: Micus Grech
• 2nd: Lanie Nel
• 3rd: Johan Nel.