Tasmanian BPL Cup finals wrap
Football Grand Final weekend doubled as the much anticipated Tasmanian BPL Cup State Finals and it came down to four teams from Sandy Bay, Beltana, Longford and Ulverstone playing for the expenses-paid trip to the National BPL Cup finals to be contested at Club Pine Rivers during BPL08.
The stage was set for an exciting finish; the host venue was the fabulous Kingborough Indoor Bowls Centre, a venue which we will hear more of when the National Champion of Champion Singles kicks off on the Apple Isle on Wednesday October 9.
It was also the day Eden Moore from Ulvertstone was set to land back in the country from his trip to India.
There may have been some sore heads amongst the competitors but none more severe than the headaches of the Ulverstone team who had to commence their first sectional match with Club President Rick Sutton as a substitute for Eden Moore who understandably was running a little late.
The Tasmanian BPL Cup finals would be decided after the conclusion of a round robin between the final four teams and the first round didn’t disappoint with the game between Sandy Bay and Longford forced into a tie-break; in the end the underdogs from Longford were unlucky not to snatch a late victory over the formidable Sandy Bay side.
The game between Ulverstone and Beltana was an extremely high-quality match, however, Eden Moore was on fire when he was subbed into the game which ensured the Ulverstone team were too strong in the opening sectional match winning in straight sets.
Round 2 commenced and with all to play for the two southern teams of Sandy Bay and Beltana had a close encounter; the first set was a cracker until the team from Sandy Bay picked up a 4 on the power play (last end) which made it an 8, they won the first set 10-3 and drew the second set to win and remain undefeated.
Ulverstone was facing off with their bogey team Longford who they met in the regional finals; they had the better of them in that round, but there was a lot more to play for during the state finals and it was Longford who struck the opening blow claiming the first set 8-4.
Ulverstone hit back in the second set 6-3 so this match was heading to a do-or-die one end tie-breaker.
Longford held shot from the leads and seconds bowls so it came down to former state representative Sam McLean’s last bowl; he held his nerve and drew the shot.
As a result of the first two rounds, we were left with an unusual position, as Ulverstone and Sandy Bay had won two games each and Longford and Beltana were yet to win a game; it was decided that the last game was not needed to find our two qualifiers.
Congratulations to Ulverstone and Sandy Bay who will represent Tasmania at the National BPL Cup finals in November at Club Pine Rivers.
These two teams take on 14 other state and territory qualifiers for their chance to contest the National BPL Cup finals (quarter-finals onward) where those final 7 matches will be broadcast on Fox Sports.
So if you are wondering what all this BPL Cup talk is all about here is a little more information about one of Bowls Australia’s newest editions.
Over the past five years, Bowls Australia has successfully staged seven Bowls Premier League (BPL) events.
In 2014, Bowls Australia also launched a new national participation initiative, Jack Attack, which is played at over 190 venues.
The BPL Cup marries the two products together to strengthen the correlation between the exciting fast-paced bowls that viewers see on television during BPL and the format of bowls offered in Clubs around Australia.
The BPL Cup provides an opportunity for Club based teams to progress through various rounds to National Finals, to be played in parallel with the BPL08 competition (at Club Pine Rivers, Queensland) on November 12-16 2018.
Click on this link to find more information about BPL Cup.
Caption – Two teams, one from Ulverstone and the other from Sandy Bay will represent Tasmania at the National BPL Cup Finals in November
