On Saturday and Sunday June 25th and 26th we hosted the Ontario Under 18 championship. Cobourg’s Baylee van Steijn won silver last year and her brother Ben won gold so there were high expectations of them particularly as they were playing at their home club and had the support of the majority of the spectators. However sport is always unpredictable and it was Cori Millard of Lindsay who took the girl’s gold medal and Owen Kirby of Heritage Greens, Kitchener won the boy’s gold. Baylee again took silver but Ben had a disappointing weekend and failed to progress from the round robin stage,
The championship got off to a spectacular sight as competitors were led on to the greens by piper Mark Gordon and the Town of Cobourg Concert Band played O Canada to start proceedings. After introductory speeches from MPP Lou Rinaldi and Mayor Gil Brocanier they got the games under way by each rolling a ceremonial bowl.
Baylee had a smooth ride through her four game round robin and was undefeated to finish top of the group. In her final game she played Cori Millard of Lindsay who was her closest challenger and whatever the result those two would play one another again for the gold medal. Baylee won that game 21-15 but could not repeat that success in the gold medal game losing 10-21. Cori and Baylee both qualified to represent Ontario at the Canadian championships in Vancouver in August.
In her first appearance in a Provincial championship Emmalee Smith of Cobourg performed very well but lost 12-21 to Aurianna D’Sa of Oshawa in the bronze medal game.
The draw in the boy’s championship was not kind to Ben van Steijn in that he and the two other favourites, Owen Kirby of Heritage Greens and Michael Fraser of Lindsay were all drawn in Group A. In a four game round robin it was Michael Fraser who came out on top with Owen Kirby second. Michael then played and beat Erik Galipeau who was second in Group B and Owen beat the Group B winner Cameron Veltman of Oshawa. That set up a final which was a repeat of their round robin game and, as in the girls final, the roles were reversed with Owen taking the gold medal with a 21-13 win. Erik Galipeau won bronze with a win of 21-11. Owen and Michael both qualified to represent Ontario at the Canadian championships in Vancouver in August. Cobourg's Braedon Saunders was playing in his first Championship and after a tough first day finished off his round robin with a win in his final game.
The standard of bowling throughout the championship was of the highest order particularly in the medal games and the spectators were treated to some spectacular shot making. The other outstanding aspect of the championship was the high level of sportsmanship displayed by all the competitors – they were a credit to themselves and to the sport of lawn bowling. The Cobourg club was also delighted to receive so many compliments from competitors, spectators and the Ontario Lawn Bowls Association on the organisation and smooth running of the championships.
There are photos of the opening ceremony and of play on the photos page
The championship got off to a spectacular sight as competitors were led on to the greens by piper Mark Gordon and the Town of Cobourg Concert Band played O Canada to start proceedings. After introductory speeches from MPP Lou Rinaldi and Mayor Gil Brocanier they got the games under way by each rolling a ceremonial bowl.
Baylee had a smooth ride through her four game round robin and was undefeated to finish top of the group. In her final game she played Cori Millard of Lindsay who was her closest challenger and whatever the result those two would play one another again for the gold medal. Baylee won that game 21-15 but could not repeat that success in the gold medal game losing 10-21. Cori and Baylee both qualified to represent Ontario at the Canadian championships in Vancouver in August.
In her first appearance in a Provincial championship Emmalee Smith of Cobourg performed very well but lost 12-21 to Aurianna D’Sa of Oshawa in the bronze medal game.
The draw in the boy’s championship was not kind to Ben van Steijn in that he and the two other favourites, Owen Kirby of Heritage Greens and Michael Fraser of Lindsay were all drawn in Group A. In a four game round robin it was Michael Fraser who came out on top with Owen Kirby second. Michael then played and beat Erik Galipeau who was second in Group B and Owen beat the Group B winner Cameron Veltman of Oshawa. That set up a final which was a repeat of their round robin game and, as in the girls final, the roles were reversed with Owen taking the gold medal with a 21-13 win. Erik Galipeau won bronze with a win of 21-11. Owen and Michael both qualified to represent Ontario at the Canadian championships in Vancouver in August. Cobourg's Braedon Saunders was playing in his first Championship and after a tough first day finished off his round robin with a win in his final game.
The standard of bowling throughout the championship was of the highest order particularly in the medal games and the spectators were treated to some spectacular shot making. The other outstanding aspect of the championship was the high level of sportsmanship displayed by all the competitors – they were a credit to themselves and to the sport of lawn bowling. The Cobourg club was also delighted to receive so many compliments from competitors, spectators and the Ontario Lawn Bowls Association on the organisation and smooth running of the championships.
There are photos of the opening ceremony and of play on the photos page