The event attracted a field of 57 bowlers aged 18 years and younger from around Australia with competitors from New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania joining a strong Victorian contingent.
With a prize pool of $8500 and the individual boys and girls champions taking home $1000 plus the title, there was a lot at stake for the youngsters.
Saturday saw eight sections of girls and 11 sections of boys compete in a round-robin format to decide the quarter-finalists. Each match was played over two sets of nine ends with a two-end tiebreak in place if required to determine each winner.
Club Sunbury teammates Ashleigh Moffat and Emilee Davies met in the first quarter-final. Davies settled quickest, eventually taking the win and setting up another all Club Sunbury clash as Akasha Fortune replicated Emilee’s victory with a win over Reaghan Bunn, Fortune progressing.
Hayley O’Reilly and Chanel Chakouch played out an absolute cracker of a match with each set decided by two shots or fewer, O’Reilly coming out on top and setting up a semi-final match against Maddison Jacobs, who triumphed over Dusty Taylor-Irwin.
In the semi-finals, Davies got the bragging rights against her clubmate Fortune with a straight-sets win 7-5, 8-5.
In the final, O’Reilly never conceded more than a single shot in any end and won in two sets, 10-4, 13-1. She was crowned the very first Diamond Jack Singles Champion.
In the boys’ draw, there were a number of tight games with three of the four matches going to a tie-break.
Bailee Randell had the most comfortable win, beating Josh Cartwright in straight sets, while Koby Cromie triumphed over Jonty Hayes.
The remaining quarter-finals featured an all-Victorian clash won by Charlie Boswood over Nick Rowley, while Tom Rich of NSW kept his cool against Kobe Jarman from Adelaide to take the clash.
Bailee Randell and Tom Rich produced some of their best bowls of the tournament to win their respective semi-finals, setting up a final between two junior bowlers not afraid to attack.
Rich stormed out to a 7-0 lead with a 3, 1, 2, 1 run over four ends before Randell composed himself, finding his range to win the remaining five ends and share set one.
The opening two ends of the second set saw Rich score two shots in the first before Randell hit straight back with two shots of his own in the second.
Unfortunately, they were the last shots that Randell would score as Rich asserted his dominance on the game with a mix of composed draw shots and blistering drives to win the second set 11-3 and become the first boys’ Diamond Jack Singles champion.
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