Congratulations to the Newport Beach team of Denise Powell (subbing in the Finals for Chris Hastie) and Vicki Sawtell, who have won the inaugural Major-Minor Pairs competition played across the North Shore and Manly-Warringah Districts. The comp attracted 26 teams, who all played 6 games over three Saturdays, with the top 8 teams from the preliminary rounds progressing to the Finals on 15 September. In the “seeded” finals draw, there were a few surprises when the top seeds were defeated in the first round. With prizes on offer to all finalists, winners played winners to determine the teams that would progress to the “gold medal match”, while losers played losers to settle the overall placings. The two teams that had won their “semi-final” games then competed against each other for the title, in an “all Northern Beaches” final: Linda Warder and Grace Costanzo (Harbord) versus Denise Powell (filling in for the absent Chris Hastie) and Vicki Sawtell (Newport Beach). Scores were close throughout, with the Harbord pair up by 1 with two ends to play, then up by 2 going into the last end. When Harbord lead Linda Warder put her second bowl around 8cm in front of the jack, it looked to be unbeatable. However, spectators knew Newport Beach skip Vicki Sawtell would do her utmost to dislodge the shot bowl. After missing with her first weighted shot, she connected with her second, pushing the Harbord bowl away and bringing two of her own lead’s bowls into play. Her opponent’s last bowl held out in the stiff wind, leaving Vicki with a chance to draw a third shot for the victory. Although short of the jack, it survived the measure, giving the game to the Newport Beach team 13-12.
