ALL Services were to the fore when a dozen members of the Australian Services’ Bowls Association’s national team made a successful sortie to the 2007 Gold Coast Winter Carnival in Queensland.
After the recent outstanding performances at the Arafura Games (singles gold, fours bronze and team silver), ASBA bowlers made the finals of the pairs and fours, with the fours narrowly losing a semi-final to world champion Australian Kelvin Kerkow.
The competition included players from all Australian states and territories, NZ, and Australian state and national representatives.
“Defence players were easily recognisable in their distinctive uniforms and received great support wherever they played,” association president Sqn-Ldr Damien Kroek said.
“Undoubted stars of the two week carnival were WO1 Steve Sobolewski’s fours team of LS Craig Latta, Maj Peter O’Gorman and Cpl Troy Miller (RAAF).
“They had fought their way through against strong opposition to reach the semi-final and led 23-20 with an end to play, only to drop a four on the last end to lose by the solitary shot.
“Best performed in the pairs were Sqn-Ldr Gary Ayre and Mr Tony Harkins who made it to the last 16. Both were ‘fill-ins’ to avoid byes in the competitions, yet were the only pair to win their section.
“Best result in the singles knockout was two wins, shared by WO1 Sobolewski, AB Andrew Batterham and PO Jimmy Fitzgerald.
“The team’s performance was a significant improvement on last year’s results when a fours sectional win was the best that could be managed.
“Competition at this level should see the ADF standard continue to rise while exposure at similar carnivals certainly promotes the ADF in general.”
