Men’s Veteran Singles Championship

Eighteen players signed up for Sectional play in the Men’s Veteran Singles Championship, the last Club Championship of the 2021/22 season. Play took place on Friday April 29th in glorious autumn weather, although B green proved to be on the slow side following rain earlier in the week. Many of the games were closely contested, with at least one featuring an incredible turn-around by Stan van Mosseveld from 15-0 down to win 18-17.

Ultimately, the following won their sections: Dan Greig, Stan van Mosseveld, John Sturk, Keith Minnett, Alan Gallagher and Barry Stewart. The last four named players played alignment games on the afternoon of Thursday May 5th to decide the make-up of one semi-final, while the first two proceeded directly to the second semi-final to be played on the morning of Friday May 6th, to be followed by the final that afternoon. The semi finalists were Stan Van Mosseveld, Dan Greig, John Sturk and Barry Stewart.

The semi finals were played under bright, breezy conditions. In contrast to the Sectional Round, B Green was running very quickly, but the players adapted well and the games were played to a high standard.

Following a tight start to the first semi-final match, with the scores tied at 9 apiece after 10 ends, Stan Van Mosseveld applied the pressure and came through comfortably 21-9 against Dan Greig. The second semi saw John Sturk well ahead early on, leading 18-9 before Barry Stewart staged a comeback to get the score back to 18-16, at which point John moved the jack back for three shots and the game.

The final between Stan and John was a high quality and tight affair through 17 ends at which time John was leading 13-12. However, from that point, Stan really found his line and length, while John started to find the gaps or move the jack only to find another of Stan’s bowls in the scoring position, resulting in the final score of 21-13 to Stan Van Mosseveld, the 2022 Men’s Veteran Champion. This was Stan’s first Championship win at Sorrento.