Fast Lane
story first published in the Central Western Daily, Saturday 2 January, 1999.
The annual review of tenpin bowling from the Orange Tenpin Bowl continues this week.
May
An eight game post-Anzac day tournament was held at the start of May with Peter Bryson making yet another (short-lived, as it turned out) comeback to bowling to win a very closely fought event. Bryson edged out a hot field that included Steve Reil, June Bryant, Jason Belmonte and Jason Osborne in the top five.
Jim Dullaway and Chris Collins made the New South Wales Walter de Veer squad after the state finals at the Bankstown and Liverpool Bowls.
The Ophir Photographic/Lucknow Skin Shop Orange City Masters was won by June Bryant (open), Jan Peters and Steve Eslick (graded). The men's open final was unfortunately cancelled due to a lack of entries.
June Bryant won a high scoring women's open final, edging Karen Sharp who now has four Masters runner-up finishes to ger credit. Gwen Britt finished third while Bonnea Wiseman, the 1996-97 champion, was fourth.
Jan Peters easily won the women's graded event, averaging 169 to finish 135 pins clear of Debbie Seers and Marie Rosser while the men's graded was won by Steve Eslick who averaged 176 to upset Craig Perry and Phil Blakeley.
David Hayward was at his best in the New Zealand Deaf Championships, winning the New Zealand Masters as well as the All Events and Trios while he finished second in Singles with a hot 872/4. In the Trios Hayward rolled a New Zealand deaf record 278 game as part of a scintillating 711/3 series while he shot 2171/10 (217 average) in the All Events.
In the third round of the Country Challenge, June Bryant topped the averages for the Mid City Motor Lodge Orange women on 192 as the team stayed in second place. The men's team improved to fourth position with David Hayward contributing the high average of 190.
In the third round of the Central West Pennants Orange won six of the ten matches against Bathurst. Marilyn Schwenke's 172 was the best average of the round.
League news:
Franklin Fresh Bowler of the Month was Mario Mastronardi (pictured right) who rolled a 300 game in the Friday Triples and added a 247 for a 729/3 series. It was the centre's third 300 game in 14 years but amazingly two more would be added by the end of the year.
Mark Lijic was also in good touch, shooting a 279 game as part of a 723/3 and 1318/6 series as well as 691/3 and 1281/6 on another occasion. Other good efforts in May were bowled by Dianne Gee 855/4, Rhearne Trudgett 886/4, Steve Reil 699/3 and 665/3, Ian Hazzard 1271/6, June Bryant 899/4, Jason Belmonte 662/3 and Jason Osborne 677/3.
June
Orange's best performer in the New South Wales State Championships was June Bryant who finished second in the Open Mixed Doubles with Steve Reil, second in Open Doubles, 13th in Singles, fourth in Teams and a respectable seventh in the State Masters. Jim Dullaway was fifth in Classic Singles while he finished eight in the Doubles with Chris Collins,
In the fourth round of the Central West Pennants Orange scored a narrow win against Dubbo, edging them by 6-4. Best of the Orange bowlers were Sharon Trudgett at home with a 183 average and eight wins from as many games and Chris Collins in Dubbo with a 187 average
Both Orange teams turned in good performances at home in the fourth round of the Country Challenge competition with the women's team jumping into first place on the ladder going from 11 points behind Bathurst to 11 points in front of that team at the end of the round. Marilyn Schwenke and Gwen Britt both averaged 183 for Orange. Allan Collins averaged 197 for the men's team as they closed the gap on third place.
League news:
David Hayward went with a shot of rolling a perfect game with a 298 in the Alpine Pharmacy Sunday Doubles which was part of a 715/3 series. He also rolled 1299/6 and 659/3 in other leagues during June.
Mark Lijic maintained his great form in the first half of the year with a 269 game in a 702/3 series plus 1304/6, 956/4 and 1335/6. Noteworthy scores were also recorded by Ian Hazzard 714/3, Ken Wiseman 1341/6, Chris Collins 659/3, Jason Osborne 501/2 and 691/3, Jim Dullaway 267 and Carl Bishop 867/4.
July
The second Junior Super Tournaments was won by Robert Jackson who rolled 902/4 (including handicap) to beat Kiel Bugden and Josh Hayward.
Melanie Brown represented New South Wales in the Junior National Championships on the Gold Coast after finishing in the top spot during qualifying.
A support tournament, to raise funds for New South Wales Walter de Veer team members Jim Dullaway and Chris Collins was won by Jan Peters ahead of Leanne McKell and Leo McKay. Bracket wins went to Cindy Clements, Les Gunner and David Reeve.
The highlight of the annual Kidney Foundation tournament was a 300 game by Jason Osborne (pictured left), the first perfect game bowled in a local tournament. Osborne faced extra pressure as his feat was filmed by Prime television news.
Osborne rolled 1261/6 but only finished second behind Nigel Truslove who had a big handicap advantage. Rory Larsen finished third.
Jan Peters continued to rack up wins in handicapped tournaments, beating Debbie Seers by just seven pins with Dianne Gee third in the women's division.
League news:
The best efforts during July included Colin Edwards 853/4, Tim Irwin 269, Aldo Belmonte 657/3, Jason Osborne 668/3, Les Gunner 885/4, Sharon Trudgett 254 and Judy Streatfeild 256.
August
A number of local juniors ventured to Shellharbour Bowl where they captured six titles in the Illawarra Junior Championships. Rhearne Trudgett was in top form, winning three events - the girls' Open Singles, the Open Doubles with Melanie Brown and All Events.
Greg Perry and Tim Irwin won Classic Doubles with a hot 1209 series, smashing the previous record. Belinda Irwin and Melissa Johnston won A grade Doubles while Irwin also won All Events.
The Orange teams found the going tough in the fifth round of the Country Challenge in Wagga. The women's team saw their lead diminish to just one point while the men's team stayed in fourth place, dropping even further behind the leaders. Marilyn Schwenke's 171 average was best for the women while the men's only shining light was Henry Phillips with a 182 average.
The sixth and final Central West Pennants round saw Orange do battle with Bathurst and emerge as victors 6-4. Topping the averages for Orange were Allan Collins (190) and Marilyn Schwenke (174). Nine Orange teams qualified for the Pennants final.
League news:
Scoring was on the rise again during August and the best efforts were bowled by a number of juniors. Jason Belmonte rolled 727/3 and 706/3 in the space of four days as well as 894/4 and1314/6 while Jason Brown shot 279 twice plus a brilliant 761/3 series. Paul Blakeley rolled 253 and David Rosser 266.
Best of the adults were Aldo Belmonte 268 and 714/3, Tony Richards 278 and 695/3, Chris Collins 865/4, Ross Caltabiano 274 and 682/3, June Bryant 658/3, Naurelle Smith 252, Mark Lijic 277 and John Cooney 665/3.
Make sure you read next week's Fast Lane column for the third and concluding part of the year in review.
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