Gita, Judy secure stealthy doubles tenpin win

ON Sunday, Amanzimtoti Tenpin Bowling Club hosted the first of its annual tournaments at Dolphin Bowl.

This doubles event attracted a quality field of 36 bowlers keen to do battle over two squads commencing fairly early in the morning.

As is always the case, bowlers had a choice over which squad they preferred to participate in and unfortunately some bowlers made a bad choice in this regard.

Only one team hit the ground running as most of the first squad battled to motivate themselves. Pierre du Plooy and Dylan von Berkel opened up with a combined 422 game and then proceeded to get lost in the second game, only scoring 330 before finding their way again with a fine 438 in the third, to finish with 351 and 392 in the fourth and fifth games. This put them on a 2,188 handicap total at the midway stage. It also put them in first place in this group from Theo Govender and Ricky O’Hare on 2,111 and the team who nearly did not make it on account of one player oversleeping, Bernard Kemp and Chris Boshoff in third on 2,078.

The women’s division was much closer, after the first squad Roscilla Young and Suki Studzinski on 2,069 pins led from Cheryl Hambrook and Lorraine Brazier on 2,018.

Then it was over to the bowlers who prefer to sleep later, who started the second squad around noon, looking well rested and ready to do battle. Straight away Stacey-Lee Hooper and Bronwen Elbourne laid down the gauntlet with a fine 422 game but then battled to keep up the momentum. Stephan Sleigh and Logan Naidoo started off with 415. Andrew Cyster and Monty Cordingley showed they would not be intimidated with a fine 481 in the second game and from there on, continued to pull away from the rest of the field with some fine bowling. Very quietly, the team of Gita Soorjlal and Judy Bhagwandin accumulated pinfall while staying under the radar, to finish up on 2,142 pins and win the tournament from Caitlin Botha and Madeleine Serfontein on 2,109 and Bronwen and Stacey-Lee on 2,096.

The men’s division was one-way-traffic for Monty and Andrew who finished on 2,369 pins from Dylan and Pierre on 2,188 and Logan and Stephan on 2,142.

It was encouraging to see the number of first-time bowlers participating in this tournament and the committee thanked all for their participation.

Special mention must be made of the Hooper family, Craig whose wife Stacey-Lee’s name appears often in these columns, has joined the club together with sons Riley and Mitchell taking to the game like ducks to water. The club welcomes Janis Holmes back into the fold, taking over the puppy position from husband Lighty.

Taxi Trios league results are showing consistency with last year’s champions, High 5s, topping the leader board from 2 Hookers and Pulse in third. High scores have been recorded by Stephan Sleigh 238 and Andrew Cyster 235. No women achieved a plus 200 game.

Soho league after three weeks saw Katie Alberts (+8) ahead of Chalkie White (+2).

Wednesday, Millenium league, is led by Widget from Teachers and Pros and Cons. Only veteran, Frik van Niekerk met the qualifying mark of 225 and therefore a mention in the column.

Thursday doubles is becoming the league of champions with high scores recorded by Ricky O’Hare 243, Collin Farrow 233, Bronwen Elbourne 248 and Tamika Matthew, back from her grade 12 break, with 214. Currently P-Cats lead from Hooligans and Double Trouble.

Juniors sees newcomers in the top three places with Guy Saige (+82) leading from Ryan Hattingh (+6) and Michael Moolman (+3). Phantom League Craig Hooper 851 leads from puppy, Janis, 845 and Lindy Sturgeon 844. Staff League sees John Short on 770 in first place from Sammy Nel 768 and Charlene Pearce in third 715.

This weekend sees the second of the KZN qualifying tournaments, the KZN Singles, being played at Dolphin Bowl on Sunday, 8 March.