All eyes were on Harbord BC for the Zone 9 Singles Championships' Finals and for St Ives that meant focus on the Senior Singles where Rod Silber and Tim Walton faced each other in the Semi-Final on Sunday morning. It was Rod that came through winning 31-19 and he then went forward into the afternoon final against Mona Vale's Brad Landi. One step too far it proved as Brad won the title 31 shots to 9. Great credit to the winner but also to Rod and Tim for a marvellous effort in this year's event.

For more details on the Final checkout the Zone 9 website here

The other two titles settled yesterday saw Scott Bonthrone from Lane Cove take out the President's Reserve Singles defeating Mark Walkden (Pittwater Memorial) in the Final. The State Singles was won by Harbord's Paul Leckey defeating his club-mate Steve Smith in the Final.

The delayed Round 3/4 matches in the Zone Singles championships were played at various venues on Saturday- no rain this time around but my goodness it was cold!

Our sole survivor in the State Singles, Chris Carey, was in action at Harbord BC against Belrose's Steve Kerr. A tough match which Chris ultimately lost 31-21.

In the President's Reserve Singles Graeme Manning was our man. Graeme was playing at St Ives in Round 3 against G. Elliss of Avalon Beach. Graeme gave it everything but lost the match 31-25.

In the Senior Singles there was some real drama at Belrose BC. In Round 3 Tim Walton faced Raul Lewis of North Sydney and came through a close one 31-26. At the same time Rod Silber had an equally tough match against Tony Taylor of Belrose. Rod matched Tim's success also winning 31-26. So both men now had Round 4 matches! Rod went into overdrive and sunk his opponent B. Lee (Belrose) 31-7! Tim's match was against K. Sivaloganathan  from Mosman and this turned into a titanic struggle. The match finished 31-29 with Tim just getting across the line.

Our third qualifier in the Senior Singles was Peter Tonoli who unfortunately had to forfeit his match against Brad Landi of Mona Vale.

So now we have the prospect on Sunday morning of Tim Walton & Rod Silber playing against each other in the Semi-Final of the Senior Singles at Harbord BC. Which of course means that one St Ives player is guaranteed a place in Sunday afternoon's final. Stay tuned!
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Today's rain put paid to nearly all the scheduled play in Round 3 of the Zone Singles. Zone 9 have confirmed that Rounds 3 & 4 of the Singles will now be played next Saturday at the original venues (including St Ives). The Semi-Finals & Final will now be played next Sunday (June 23) at Harbord BC.

This weekend sees the opening rounds of the Zone 9 Singles - State, Senior & President's Reserve competitions played at a number of venues across the North Shore.

Nine members from St Ives competed on Saturday with five of them getting through to Round 3 to be played Sunday morning.

Pride of place yesterday goes to Chris Carey who came through two rounds at Harbord BC. Chris came through first against Harbord player V. Meth 31-21 and then a tougher contest against M. Smart from Belrose. Chris won the second round match 31-29.

SIBC club champion, Wilson Cheng, was in action in the State Singles at Pittwater Memorial BC. Wilson had a close shave in his first round against M. Holmes from Dee Why 31-29. Unfortunately the draw then pitched Wilson against Harbord's Terry Warder. It was a close game but Terry won the battle 31-26. Our other competitor in the State Singles at Pittwater was Chris Bergman who lost to A. McMaster from Belrose 31-13.

In the Senior event three of our players managed to come through to Round 3. Tim Walton had an excellent 31-13 win over W. Green from Dee Why at Belrose BC. Also at Belrose, Rod Silber had an even more impressive 31-11 victory over J. Lancaster from Warrawee. Our third player at Belrose was John Cumming who played a terrific game against R. Lewis from North Sydney but came up just short losing 31-26. Over at Asquith BC, Peter Tonoli had a fine win 31-24 over W. Bridge from Turramurra.

In the President's Reserve event St Ives was one of the venues for Round 1/2 play. Playing on his home green suited Graham Manning who won his match 31-25 against B. Cunneen of Belrose. Greg Smith was our final competitor and he played at Mona Vale BC against M. Delahunty. On his opponent's home turf Chris couldn't quite get the win but the 31-26 scoreline shows how close it was.

Congratulations to all of our competitors and good luck to those in action today.

It's all over for 2019! The final flag winners were determined yesterday at Harbord BC.

In Grade 4 Asquith won their second flag beating Mosman 64-55. These two sides were clearly the cream of Grade 4 losing just three matches between them during sectional play.

In Grade 7 the Harbord side completed an undefeated season as they triumphed in the Final over Belrose 69-42.

In Grade 5 Mona Vale completed their expected victory with a win over West Pymble 73-51. This was the second flag win for Mona Vale building on their win in Grade 2 on Saturday.

In Grade 6 the showdown between the Belrose and Harbord sides turned out to be a surprisingly one-sided contest with the Bulls winning 76-48.

Harbord BC is the annual host for the Zone 9 Pennants Finals weekend. On Day 1 two flags were awarded and there was plenty of action across the grades.

In Grade 2 Mona Vale and Dee Why had been neck-and-neck all season, both clubs finishing with 8-2 records. In the Final it was Mona Vale who showed their best and won handsomely 63-45.

In Grade 3 Manly faced Asquith in the Final. Manly had topped the section with an 8-2 record while Asquith were runners-up at 7-3. Interesting to note though that both of Manly's losses were against Asquith! So the Final wasn't a huge shock as Asquith won rather comfortably 64-51.

Grades 5 and 6 have a new Finals format with a 4-team round-robin involving the three section winners and a best runner-up qualifier. With two games completed on Saturday the standings are as follows:-

• Grade 5- Mona Vale 18 pts (+32 shot differential), Belrose 11 (+22), Manly 11 (+1), West Pymble 0 (-55).
• Grade 6- Harbord 18 (+12), Belrose 11 (+17), Balgowlah 10 (+10), Lane Cove 1 (-39)

On Sunday the round-robins will complete. Mona Vale are favourites in Grade 5 with their final match against the winless West Pymble. Grade 6 is less predictable as the big two (Harbord & Belrose) face-off while Balgowlah might sneak in if they can sweep Lane Cove.

Sunday also sees the Finals in Grades 4 and 7. In Grade 4 Mosman play Asquith while in Grade 7 Harbord face Belrose.
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Yesterday saw the final round of Pennants play for 2019 as our sides made the chase for the finish line.

The only side with any chance of post-sectional play were the Grade 6 (1) side and they did their part with a strong win at Warrawee 75-48 (9 pts to 1). They needed help from other results and unfortunately there was none to be found as Balgowlah squeaked in at Asquith; winning by just one shot to claim the best runner-up spot.

The Grade 3 side finished the season with a strong win at Avalon 69-49 (9 pts to 1). However our other two teams both suffered heavy losses at home- Grade 4 lost to Chatswood 35-74 (0 pts to 10) and Grade 6 (2) lost to the unbeaten Harbord side 50-75 (1 pt to 9).

Congratulations to all the players who have participated in the Pennants competition representing our club this season.

A summary of the results from our sides is presented below:-

Our current Club Champion, Wilson Cheng, has played his part in a memorable win for Zone 9 in the Inter-Zone State Championship played over three days at Charlestown BC. Wilson played lead as part of a rink that went unbeaten through six matches alongside Ral Lewis (2nd), Tony Taylor (3rd), Crawford Linton (skip) and Michael Sparozvich (sub).

Overall the Zone 9 side racked up wins in their qualifying section over Far North Coast 80-46 and Manning 73-56. With a couple of subs given a run Zone 9 slipped narrowly in their final match 46-49 against Southern Sydney. They were back at full strength for the Quarter Final beating Sydney West 63-48. Then the Semi-Final against Illawarra- which proved to be an emphatic 74-49 victory. The Final against hosts Newcastle was a very tight affair but Zone 9 triumphed 53-51 with a winning shot with skip Steve Clark's last bowl.

Please advise the selectors asap if there any issues with availability.

Action in the penultimate week of the Zone 9 Pennants competition for this year brought mixed results for St Ives' teams.

The Grade 3 side were beaten at home by the flag-chasing Manly side 51-66 (1 pt to 9). St Ives are 5th on the ladder with 4 wins & 5 losses. There are three teams in finals contention- Manly (62.5), Asquith (56) and Dee Why (54.5). The outcome is far from certain with Manly facing Dee Why next week while Asquith have a tricky away fixture at Harbord.

The Grade 4 side also went down at Forestville RSL 52-76 (1 pt to 9). They are now 5th on the ladder with 4 wins & 5 losses.

Better news in Grade 6 where the #1 side defeated Asquith at home 65-51 (9 pts to 1). That moves the 1s to 3rd on the ladder with 5 wins & 4 losses. There is still a slight chance of a best runner-up spot if they can take maximum points from the final match away to Warrawee. The #2 side suffered a humbling loss at Dee Why 63-77 (1 pt to 9); they are still 3rd on the ladder but now have a record of 4 wins & 5 losses. The big picture in Grade 6 shows Belrose & Harbord through to the finals. Lane Cove and Balgowlah are favourites for the other two spots. Still in contention are Warringah & St Ives (1).
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