New champion is crowned! Albion Park’s Corey Thompson takes ultimate comeback victory
The 63rd South Pacific Carnival came to an exciting end at Figtree Bowling Club, with Illawarra local Corey Thompson taking the ultimate prize. READ THE FULL FINALS RECAP.
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ALBION Park’s Corey Thompson has taken out the singles title and the Player of the Carnival award at the 63rd South Pacific Carnival.
After hundreds of games and thousands of bowls hitting the turf of Figtree Sports Bowling Club, the Carnival came to its conclusion, with the grand finals taking place on Friday the 6th of January.
The week had been played mostly in beaming sunshine, but Friday was to throw howling winds and constant rain on the remaining players, which impacted the green surface massively.
The show would go on however, and all four finals took place in front of over 100 spectators inside the shelter of Figtree RSL Bowling Club.
The pairs, mixed pairs and fours event all commenced at the same time in the morning, with the singles scheduled after, to allow for Albion Park’s Corey Thompson to finish his pairs final prior to his singles bout with Dubbo’s Jono Davis.
The first final to conclude would be the mixed pairs, where Windang’s Judith Mitrevski and Daniel Doyle were triumphant, defeating the composite pairing of Jason Jamieson and Ellen Faulkner 21-13.
The fours event would conclude next, and it would be a history repeat, as Wenty League’s Swan family took out the fours event just as they did in 1997.
The team of Andrew, Nicholas, Peter and Matt Swan had a resounding victory against the composite side of Mick Thorne, Anthony Jones, Gerard Beath and Shane Garvey, winning 29-15.
This make Andrew and Peter two-time winners of the fours event, with their victories separated by 25 years.
The pairs event went right down to the wire, with the game locked going into the final round.
It was the composite team of Mark Hobill and Peter Thelan that prevailed 20-19, disappointing the large Albion Park fanbase that had gathered to cheer for the losing team of Brett Duprez and Corey Thompson.
The rain settled for the final match of the afternoon and the tournament, the main event fixture between Dubbo’s Jono Davis and Albion Park’s Corey Thompson.
Thompson is the pride and joy of Albion Park bowls, having had a stellar tournament and having been a part of the fours team that gave Albion Park their first win in the event since 2004 in the 62nd South Pacific Carnival.
Davis has been described as a prodigious young talent, who has already claimed two NSW Open State Champion of Club Champions singles titles in his short career.
In the end it was the Illawarra local Corey Thompson who mounted the thrilling comeback victory against the young Dubbo superstar, with the final score edging the way of Thompson 24-25.
The game was closely contested, and it looked like Davis was on track to victory when he led 24-19 over Thompson.
Thompson then incredibly bowled a three point roundas Davis was closing in on the win, allowing him to reduce the gap before eventually coming back to seal the victory 24-25.
Thompson was met with cheers and applause on his return to the Figtree RSL Bowling Club by the travelling Albion Park supporters.
That’s a wrap on the 63rd South Pacific Carnival from Figtree Bowling Club, with chairperson of the Zone 16 bowls match committee, Brian Gibson, considering the tournament an absolute success.
“We’re still on the up from that Covid period,” Gibson said.
“But to see the crowds that turned up over the past week and a bit and see the great quality of bowls was fantastic.
“It’s positive signs for sure.”
Check out the rest of the action from the week below.
Who will be crowned champion? Final day of the South Pacific Carnival preview
AFTER nearly two weeks of bowling action, the 63rd South Pacific Carnival is down to the finals.
Over 700 individual entries have been cut down to just eight singles or teams competing across four finals today at Figtree Sports Bowling Club.
Today is also the day the illustrious Player of the Carnival is awarded, and the $20,400 prize pool is divided among winning players.
With wet and wild conditions hitting the Illawarra region, the finals are still expected to get underway, adding to the exciting and unpredictable nature of the tournament.
Catch up on the semi final action and learn who will be competing in today’s finals.
Dual-finals for Thompson
The player with the most to gain from today’s finals is Corey Thompson of Albion Park, who will be competing in both the singles finals and the pairs final.
Thompson dispatched of Warilla’s Trevor Gillis in the semi-finals on Thursday 25-17, to move into what will no doubt be an high-quality final against Jono Davis of Dubbo.
In the pairs, Thompson and his partner Brett Duprez, defeated Paul Rooke & Gregg Stevens of Windang 22-14 to progress to the final.
Brett Duprez is an ex-Commonwealth Games gold medallist, and combined with the form of Thompson, has the duo as the obvious favourite to take out first place at the Carnival.
In their way will be the composite team of Mark Hobbs and Peter Thelan.
Thompson’s dual-final representation would make him one of the big contenders to take out the Player of the Carnival Award.
Swan family looking to remake history
The headline of the fours event is the full family team of Andrew, Nicholas, Peter and Matt Swan all competing on the one team.
What makes this team all the more special is Andrew and Peter took out the fours championship in 1997 with father John Swan and their other brother Stephen.
25 years on, the next generation of Swan bowlers are looking to write their way into history, with young guns Nicholas and Matt holding their own against the tough competition at the South Pacific Carnival.
They’ll be pitted against the accomplished composite team of Mick Thorne, Anthony Jones, Gerard Beath and Shane Garvey.
Full finals fixtures
Singles – Jono Davis (Dubbo) vs Corey Thompson (Albion Park)
Pairs – Mark Hobill & Peter Thelan (composite) vs Brett Duprez & Corey Thompson (Albion Park)
Mixed pairs – Jason Jamieson & Ellen Faulkner (composite) vs Judith Mitrevski & Daniel Doyle (Windang)
Fours – Mick Thorne, Anthony Jones, Gerard Beath & Shane Garvey (composite) vs Andrew Swan, Nicholas Swan, Peter Swan & Matt Swan (Wenty Leagues)
Weather permitting, finals action will be getting underway this morning at Figtree Sports Bowling Club and is open to the public to come watch.
‘Cliffhangers and upsets’: Field cut as eliminations stages get underway in South Pacific Carnival
THE elimination stages are underway in the 63rd South Pacific Carnival, meaning the excitement has ramped up for bowls fans in the area.
The field has been cut in all four events underway at the Carnival, with a number of big results taking place over the past few days.
Catch up on the full wrap of the first round of eliminations.
Wollongong weather delays mixed pairs
After a week of perfect conditions, the rain finally came down on the Illawarra on Friday.
This caused delays to the start of proceedings at Figtree Sports Club and a number of other venues hosting the mixed pair events, notably Kiama which did not get underway until nearly midday.
While there were backup plans in place should the conditions become too poor to play, the matches did eventually commence around the grounds, but Brian Gibson, chairperson of the Zone 16 bowls match committee, said the after-effects of the rain certainly contributed to the outcomes of the day.
“We had a couple of great games that went down to the last bowls,” Gibson said.
“Some real cliffhangers in there.”
Last year’s mixed pairs champions, Matt Sargeant and Vikki Wilson, cruised through their group with three wins from three, and did Figtree favourites Steve Sprod & Kay Moran.
Figtree also proved to be successful on home soil once again, with four Figtree pairings progressing to the next round, the most of any clubs.
76 mixed pairs have been cut down to 19, with the elimination finals commencing on the 4th of January.
Clubs progressing from mixed pairs
Four teams advancing – Figtree
Three teams – Windang
Two teams – St Johns Park, Kiama
One team – Bomaderry, Woonona, WPWC, Thirroul
Four composite club teams also progressed.
Fours and pairs enter knockouts
The fours event completed its quarters and semi finals on Saturday the 31st of December.
52 teams started in this event and it is now down to just two.
The first team in the final is the family team from Wenty Leagues team of Andrew Swan, Nicholas Swan, Peter Swan and Matt Swan.
They’ll be facing off against the dangerous composite team of Mick Thorne, Anthony Jones, Gerard Beath and former Player of the Carnival winner Shane Garvey.
Garvey will be hoping for success in this event having crashed out of the singles event in a first-round surprise upset.
This final is to take place on Friday the 6th of January.
The pairs event is into the semi finals, with 24 knockout matches already taking place on January 2nd to cut down the field.
Once again there were a lot of high quality games and cliffhanger endings, which saw a couple of upset results.
An upset elimination came for former Australian representative at the Asia Pacific Merdeka Indoor Championships Gerard Beath, alongside Carnival veteran Peter Hughes, who made an upset early departure in the second round of finals, losing 14-10 to the team of Mick Payne & Steve Breasley.
Former Australian representative and 1998 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Brett Duprez, was successful alongside Corey Thompson, who progressed from the quarterfinals in a dramatic one point victory, and are heavy contenders to take out the whole event.
The four pairs competing in the semi finals on the 5th of January are Brett Duprez and Corey Thompson (Albion Park), Brian Suckley and Dave Wakeling (Towradgi), Mark Hobbs and Peter Thelan (composite), and Paul Rooke and Gregg Stevens (Windang).
Upsets in the singles
There was a full car park of spectators on Tuesday ready to watch the singles elimination rounds, pitting the best of the best against each other for a spot in the quarterfinals later this week.
Gibson reported that while the field was very even, there were a lot of high profile matches at the top of the order that could have easily passed as a final.
Matt Sargeant finally found his match in his third game of the afternoon, falling to Figtree home favourite Matty Miles 25-23.
Miles will have a tough job in the quarterfinals though, as he has been put up against Jono Davis of Dubbo.
The prodigious young talent Davis is fast establishing himself as the favourite to take out the rest of the solos event, with three dominant victories on Tuesday to send himself through to a quarterfinal bout against Miles.
Another surprise elimination came for Towradgi’s Brian Suckley, with the former senior single’s champion no match for Wayne Toomey of Warilla, losing 25-13.
Of the remaining eight players, half the field is playing out of Warilla.
Final 8 singles competitors
Matty Miles (Figtree)
Jono Davis (Dubbo)
Shane Pascoe (Warilla)
Wayne Toomey (Warilla)
Corey Thompson (Albion Park)
Geoff Mcintyre (Kiama)
Trevor Gillis (Warilla)
Wayne Crouch (Warilla)
Former Player of the Carnival eliminated in first round of singles action at day three of South Pacific Carnival
SINGLES action got underway in the South Pacific Carnival yesterday, which is the main event for competitors striving for the Player of the Carnival award.
Over the space of the third day of competition, 148 hopeful bowlers have been cut to 37 for the next round.
Despite overcast conditions turning into rain late in the afternoon, the competition was able to run smoothly and get all games out of the way prior to the rain.
Below are some of the main talking points.
Big upset eliminates tournament heavyweight
The main headline to come out of the singles event was the elimination of Shane Garvey of Towradgi.
Garvey is a former Player of the Carnival recipient and was tipped to be right up there in the mix again this year.
Unfortunately for Garvey however, he was only able to bring up one win and one draw out of the three group stage matches yesterday, with Woonona’s Russell Hammond taking three wins from three to progress from that group at Oak Flats Bowling Club.
Luckily for the former champion, Garvey progressed out of his group on day two of the tournament in the pairs event alongside Mick Thorne of Mudgee, so his Carnival is not completely over yet.
Barring this upset, all other tournament favourites progressed out of their sectors to reach the next round.
The most successful club representation came from Warilla, with eight players progressing from their sectors out of that club.
Figtree also had a strong showing in their home event, with four players from the club topping their groups to progress.
Clubs progressing in singles
Eight club players progressing – Warilla
Four club players progressing – Figtree, Corrimal
Three club players progressing – Towradgi
Two club players progressing – Woonona, Oak Flats, Kiama
One club player progressing – Wenty Leagues, Belconnen, Central Coast, Bowral, Dubbo, Merimbula, Camden, Harbord, Albion Park, Mudgee, Canberra, Thirroul
Looking forward to mixed pairs event
Weather is looking to be an issue for the fourth day of competition at the Carnival, with rain on the morning of the 30th of December in the Wollongong area.
Brian Gibson, chairperson of the Zone 16 bowls match committee, said should the event get underway the conditions might play a pivotal factor in the outcomes of the day.
“It’s already a very open style of event due to the shorter games,” Gibson said.
“Combine that with these weather conditions and it becomes very unpredictable.
“Hoping we can go ahead and get some games in.”
Gibson again picked Matt Sargeant as the one to watch today, as he teams with Vikki Wilson to reunite the championship winning pairing from the 2021-22 Carnival.
Gibson also said to keep an eye on former Commonwealth Games silver medallist Kay Moran, who teams with Steve Sprod to make a dangerous Figtree duo.
Illness forces tournament legend to bow out, 32 pairs remain on day two of South Pacific Carnival
DAY two of Illawarra’s 63rd South Pacific Carnival is in the books, with the pairs event cutting 128 entered teams down to 32 progressions.
A hot day under the sun did nothing to stop some high quality bowls action at Figtree Sports Bowling Club and across the Illawarra region.
Catch up on some of the action from day two of the Carnival below.
Three-time Player of the Carnival pulls out
On day one of the Carnival, tournament veteran John Green pulled out the fours events with what was suspected to be Covid.
On day two, Green announced he is completely pulling out of the tournament, not even waiting to see if he would recover in time for the singles or mixed pairs event.
The good news for Green is he is in fact free of Covid, however he is suffering from a nasty stomach bug.
Brian Gibson, chairperson of the Zone 16 bowls match committee, said it’s unfortunate to see one of the competition’s great players miss out this year.
“It’s a shame for Johnny,” Gibson said.
“It’d be one of the events he looks forward to having done so well in it in the past, he’s won Player of the Carnival a handful of times.”
Gibson reported that roughly a half-dozen players have pulled out of the tournament already due to Covid.
Despite this, the quality of the pairs event was high, with most of the favourite teams advancing out of their sectors with no major upsets.
Gibson said the Zone 16 committee is already short-listing their Player of the Carnival candidates, with the field down to roughly 15 names already.
Clubs progressing from pairs event
Three club pairings progressing – Figtree, Corrimal
Two club pairings progressing – Woonona, Windang
One club pairing progressing – Cabramatta, St Johns, Austral, Towradgi, Windsor, Kiama, Albion Park, Canberra, Warilla, Bowral
12 composite club pairings progressing.
Singles competition to commence
Today this singles event commences, which is the ultimate test for bowlers of the Carnival.
With 148 individual entries, today’s events take place across a great spread of bowling clubs in the Illawarra region, with bowlers competing in Figtree, Woonona, Corrimal, Windang, Warilla, Albion Park, Kiama, Oak Flats and Bomaderry.
Gibson said there’s a lot of high quality sectors ready to battle it out in day three of the tournament, anticipating it will be the most exciting day yet.
Gibson also gave a couple of names to look out for, highlighting young Dubbo star Jono Davis as the one to beat.
Davis won the 2022 NSW Open State Champion of Club Champions Singles title, which was the second time he won this title after his maiden in 2016.
Matt Sargeant will again be one to watch in the singles after progressing through his sector in both the fours and pairs over the past two days, as he eyes off another Player of the Carnival award.
Dawn Hayman is also in the mix today in Warilla, a former Female Bowler of the Year recipient with a number of singles titles to her name.
Figtree shines and Covid upsets tournament favourite on Day 1 of South Pacific Carnival
THE 63rd South Pacific Carnival of bowls got underway yesterday at Figtree Sports Bowling Club.
The Carnival is the biggest event on the lawn bowls calendar in the Illawarra region, with hundreds of competitors from all over the state travelling to Wollongong to compete for cash prizes.
The Carnival runs until the 6th of January and is open to the public to come down and watch.
Day one of the Carnival saw proceedings get underway with the fours event, where 52 teams of four competed in three group games each.
Below are a couple of the headlines from the first day of competition.
Covid upsets tournament heavyweight
Tournament veteran John Green was unfortunately ruled out of the fours event after coming down with Covid.
Green, playing out of Mount Lewis in the ACT, is a former three-time Player of the Carnival winner, and was eyeing off the major award again having entered all four events at the Carnival.
Green is now against the clock to be fit in time to compete in the remaining events taking place over the next week.
Despite this big loss, Green’s team for the fours event was able to pick up three wins from three, led by Australian bowls great Karen Murphy.
The team of Murphy, alongside Kay Moran, Matty Miles and new recruit Ellen Faulkner were flawless on day one of the Carnival, as well as being the team with by far the most successful female representation in the fours.
Figtree home success
Eight out of the 13 groups competing in the fours were stationed at Figtree Sports Bowling Club, the home of this year’s tournament, with the others spread across Woonona and Windang.
There were two teams of competitors all competing out of Figtree that topped their groups, with no other club managing more than one victorious team of players that all represent that one club.
The first was the Figtree team of Kosta Mitskof, Tony Trad, Phil O‘Leary and Steve Simeon, who picked up three wins from three from section four.
As well as this was the team of Don Barnes, Chris Cotton, Anthony Golinski & Steve Breasley, who despite all hailing from Figtree, were playing out of Woonona, but were still able to pick up three wins from three from section nine.
Looking ahead to the pairs event
The pairs event gets under way today with a massive 128 sets of pairs competing across 32 sections.
Brian Gibson, chairperson of the Zone 16 bowls match committee, said there should be some excitement due to the shortened format of the tournament today.
“Because it’s not full games, we get a lot of upsets and unpredictable results,” Gibson said.
Gibson said to keep eyes on Matt Sargeant, former Player of the Carnival, who lines up with young gun Travis Moran today.
Sargeant was victorious in the mixed pairs event at the Carnival last year, and has started his tournament strong with three wins out of three in Section 6 of the fours events yesterday.
Full winners from Day 1
Section 1 – Andrew Swan, Nicholas Swan, Peter Swan, & Matt Swan (Wenty Leagues)
Section 2 – Paul Rooke, Steve Sprod, Fred Ayoub & Nathan Wise (Composite)
Section 3 – Pat O‘Neil, Peter Freestone, Terry Warder & Paul Leckey (Composite)
Section 4 – Kosta Mitskof, Tony Trad, Phil O‘Leary & Steve Simeon (Figtree)
Section 5 – Cayne Ford, Wayne Ford, Troy Ford & Ben Ford (Dapto Citizens)
Section 6 – Roger Duggan, Dean Aitken, Scott Bateup, Matt Sargeant (Composite)
Section 7 – Phil Lubke, Ashley Beadel, Michael Pinkerton, & John Bugden (Camden)
Section 8 – Matty Miles, Kay Moran, Ellen Faulkner & Karen Murphy (Composite)
Section 9 – Don Barnes, Chris Cotton, Anthony Golinski & Steve Breasley (Figtree)
Section 10 – John Coombes, Steve Dolbel, Jeff Godfrey & Chris Schofield (Composite)
Section 11 – Gavin Aitken, Chris Jansen, Glenn Aitken & Jacob Aitken (Composite)
Section 12 – Dave Tyrrell, Geoff Walker, Tyson Arneman & Daniel Doyle (Windang)
Section 13 – Mick Thorne, Anthony Jones, Gerard Beath & Shane Garvey (Composite)
State’s best bowlers descend on Illawarra for prestigious carnival
ILLAWARRA’S South Pacific Carnival of lawn bowls will commence on December 27 and run through until January 6.
The event, to be held at Figtree Sports Bowling Club, is the biggest bowls event on the Illawarra calendar.
The Carnival has been a continuous yearly event and is now in its 63rd edition, losing only one year to Covid in 2020-21.
Brian Gibson, member of the Zone 16 Match Committee, is pleased to see the number of entrants in the carnival steadily returning to pre-Covid figures.
“The public can expect some very good bowls,” Gibson said.
“Lots of ex-Australian representatives, people coming from all around the Illawarra, Sydney and out in the country.
“The beauty of the short game format is anyone can win, which keeps it exciting.”
The Carnival has 768 individual entries, representing 40 different bowls clubs from around NSW, including a few representatives from the ACT.
One of the favourites to take home some silverware will be tournament veteran Matt Sargeant, who has been competing in the tournament for close to a decade now.
Sargeant, who will be competing out of Belconnen in the ACT, will be riding the high of his mixed pairs victory at the event last year alongside Vikki Wilson, who he’ll be teaming up with again this year.
“The tournament always holds a soft spot in my heart,” Sargeant said.
“It’s always nice to win anything in a Carnival … I’ve won a couple of singles through the years and a couple of pairs as well.”
Alongside his singles and pair victories, Sargeant is a former Player of the Carnival recipient as well.
Sargeant said he is particularly looking forward to teaming with Travis Moran in the pairs event.
Moran, one of the youngest participants in the event, is no stranger to the big stage in the lawn bowls scene, having won his first State Title at the age of 13 in 2021.
“He’s a good young kid,” Sargeant said about Travis, who is the son of fellow bowler and friend of Sargeant, Anthony Moran.
“It’s always good to see him do well at such a young age.
“I’m excited to play with him.”
Another competition favourite and tournament veteran is John Green.
Playing out of Mount Lewis in NSW, Green has played the most South Pacific Carnivals alongside another tournament veteran in Shane Garvey, and had a very successful history in the event.
“It’s one of the events I look forward to for sure,” Green said.
“I had a practice this morning and I’m going again this afternoon, so yeah I’m feeling good.”
In his 20+ years of competing in this tournament, Green has had two singles victories, five pairs victories and three fours victories.
On top of this, he has been Player of the Carnival three times.
A slight setback to Green’s pre-tournament momentum was when a couple of his teammates pulled out of the fours event due to sickness.
Lucky for Green however, his new team features one of Australia’s most decorated lawn bowls players and Wollongong sporting legend, Karen Murphy, as well as some equally handy players in Matty Miles and Kay Moran to complete the dangerous team.
The Player of the Carnival award is presented to a player who plays across at least three events, meaning Sargeant and Green will be in contention again this year.
The total prize money on the line for the tournament is $20,400, and the public are encouraged to get down to Figtree Sports Bowling Club to get involved in the action.
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