SILVER - District 11 VINCE DONOHOE (S) and JACKIE HOGAN
BRONZE - District 5 GEORGE WILSON (S) and DIANE MARCH
I was told that Saturday afternoon was very uncomfortable bowling weather as temperatures were cool, the wind was blowing and it was raining. The greens were becoming a bit 'divoty' and very wet as the day wore on.
The Gold medal match up was between Joe Green/Chrystal Shephard and John Whyte/Gloria Cheung. Both had breezed into the Gold medal match with 22-3 & 23-3 wins in the 3rd round Saturday.
Sunday - the drama started before play began.
- Joe had taken a bad fall on the wet green half way through the 3rd round game. It was thought he may have pulled a hamstring muscle. He continued play, but wasn't taking a step off the mat when throwing. After the match a discussion of possibly getting a replacement for Sunday took place. However on Sunday Joe was sore but fit to play, albeit he was noticeably limping and taking shorter than usual strides on his deliveries.
- Chrystal's home was rocked by the propane explosion in Toronto at 2:30 am Sunday morning with a couple of her windows being blown out (She lives within the evacuation area). Needless to say she got very little sleep overnight. She had to talk her way out of her neighbourhood where cars weren't being let through and obviously had more things on her mind than bowling when she arrived to play.
- It was known that John had to drive on the 401 past the explosion area to get to Uxbridge. By 8:45 he was not at the greens and hadn't been heard from. His partner Gloria was understandably worried about him. (I was told that the Uxbridge club has a phone that you can call out on, but doesn't receive calls). Fortunately, as the other games were finishing their trial ends, John pulled into the parking lot to the relief of all concerned. He had been stuck in the traffic for quite a while and detoured off the 401, but used his heavy foot to make up time.
- Gloria, other than worrying about Johns arrival, was ready to play . . .but was also distracted a little thinking about her son who was playing in a medal game in the under 25 championships out west.
On Sunday, players were given the choice of using the green protective mats on their rink or not. Only one game used them in 1st game and they were used off & on during the day.
The Gold medal game was a great battle with no big ends until the 14th. John Whyte led all the way, but was only up 11-10 coming home thanks to a great takeout made by Joe to get 4 in the 14th end. John drew shot on the last end and survived Joe's efforts to get him out. John now adds a Gold to his medal collection ( I believe he has obtained 2 or 3 bronze medals the last few ars). Gloria wins her 1st Ontario jacket and the pressure is now on husband Raymond to join her & Kevin as Ontario Champions.
Of note in other 4th round games:
- Wilson/March & Donohue/Hogan led their games all the way. The McFalls team had to bear down and overcome a 19-10 defecit to win it 20-19 scoring 2 in the exciting last end.
In Round 5:
Donohue led a low scoring game from start to finish, pulling away near the end with a couple of nice last bowl shots taking points away from his opponent when they were mounting a comeback.
Wilson gave up a 7 ender mid game to fall behind 12-5 but fought back to earn a place in the Silver game.
Didn't see the Silver game but looks like Vince dominated to put a fantastic cap on his comeback year.
A dandy report by Bob Bates.
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