Gold: Mel Jones & Diane McMorran
Silver: Barry Hersh & Sheila McCall
Bronze: Mort Nelson & Gerry McIntyre
The 2020 Pairs tournament, the first of the 2020 season, was played over two days in hot sunny weather.
The maximum field of 32 players turned out, including two reigning national champions, two reigning provincial champions, two former national level players and four members of Canada’s short mat team at the last World Championships – none of whom won anything! We have “deep depth” in our club. . .
If this had been a regular season, we would have played a dozen club tournaments by now. Instead, we have all been practising our pairs games for the past two months since the club opened June 15, under the Phase 1 bowling rules of the COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed no more than four players per rink. After those months of practice, we are ready and keen to compete.
Now we are in Phase 2, club tournaments are allowed. Once we had satisfied the authorities that we were fully Phase 2 compliant, tournament organizers Brent Merchant and Karen Evans, wasted no time in arranging the “2020 Pairs” August 15-16, the first available weekend in Phase 2.
Brent Merchant
Memo Writer in training
Whether they truly “wasted no time” was called into question by several members’ helpful comments about why Brent took five tries to get a memo out to all players. However, perhaps we really ought to have some sympathy for a man who has spent many years in and out of provincial prisons — a period he euphemistically refers to as “working” for the Ministry of Solicitor General and Public Safety. Rather than criticize, let’s all appreciate that he is trying to give something back to society. You can see his motto is “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again” (and again and again, if necessary.)
By now, we are all used to swearing every day (yes, more than one meaning there in these restricted times) that we are COVID-symptom free, so that part of the enrolment was routine. Labelled money in sealed plastic bags was a novel way of paying your fees. However, we knew beforehand that at least 6 teams would be in the money – three that deserved to be, and three whom luck would favour—a 37% chance of at least getting your money back.
Mel Jones and Diane McMorran, swept all before them and were the only pair to win all three games and the lion’s share of the prize money. Also, by the looks of it, they were the most photogenic of the prize winners, confidently looking forward to their victory, no doubt.
Barry Hersh and Sheila McCall were in undisputed second place, going undefeated. Barry’s pre-tournament photo did not turn out too well. Not sure if his eyes were closed from pre-tournament nerves, or if he was praying for the miracle required to put him on the podium. If you want to know what he really looks like in calmer moments, see here.
Karen Evans
Honest Drawmaster (she left her own name out of the draw)
There was a a six-way battle for third among the two-game winners. “Number of ends won” was used to make the final selection of Mort Nelson and Gerry McIntyre for third place.
Finally, among the teams undeserving of properly-won prizes, three were chosen in the money-back draw. The rest of us were out the full $10, which is not a bad fee for six hours of competitive play among your friends.
We would all have personal stories to tell about our games no doubt; here’s mine:
Personally, I found the tournament to be far more ruthless than I had imagined it would be. As early as the second end, our opponents in game one sent a wasp in my direction to sting me on my bowling hand.
My playing partner, Beth Christopher, got me the club first aid kit, believing my idea of calling 911 and reporting Victoria’s first known victim of a murder hornet would be overdoing it, although I had seen the hospital helicopter land just before the tournament and I could have been whisked into surgery within minutes.
We had our revenge over the “stingers”, though, winning our first game by one point on the final end.
Looking for sympathy and mercy, I took my story of the crippling effect of the wasp sting on to my second game, but Louise Mason capped it by telling us she had been up all night with hip pain and was on pain killers (Is that allowed in a club tournament??? Maybe drug testing needs to be introduced, as well as COVID declarations). However, her story may have had some truth in it because I noticed she had to bowl left-handed throughout the game 🙂 . . . We entered the final end of that second game just one point down. I had a bowl right on the jack to even up the game, but Louise, drawing on her gold medal experience at the Provincials, attacked viciously and on her fourth and final delivery took the jack from me right to the edge of the ditch where it hid behind her toucher and picked up another shot to boot.
More opponents’ mind games in the third game. . . Before we even started, young Adam Ross was unimpressed by my wasp wound and already knows how to sow unease among opponents, telling me how difficult it would be to play rink #8 on the east green, if you didn’t know it well. (That would be me. . . ) Of course, he is out there all the time at personal practice, and demonstrated during the game that he knew every bump and slope on East 8.
Then Al Wood, casually let it slip that it was odd that Beth and I were falling so far behind in this game when he and Adam had lost both their previous games by wide margins; a subtle way of hinting that we weren’t really up to the high standards of this tournament. And indeed we duly lost 17-5.
But in spite of the two losses out of three games and the unbearable pain and psychological damage of the wasp attack, I had to agree they were two very enjoyable days. (To be honest, that little pen thing they put on stings actually works — and in short order, too. 🙂 )
We all missed the traditional get-together after the tournament; but, judging from the copious letters of praise from players to organizers, our members want more of the same.
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