Silver medalist Mills succumbs to a 10 unanswered shot comeback at SAs
Mills has been a member of the Boksburg Bowling Club for four years.
It was a case of Murphy’s Law for Boksburg Bowling Club star Cherry-Ann Mills at the South African Masters Veterans tournament which took place in Pretoria over the weekend of February 8 and 9.
After being involved in five preliminary battles in which she dominated, Mills moved on to the Sunday final where she would do the same – dominate, but only for a while.
The end result would not be in her favour.
The woman who would get to 21 shots first would be crowned SA champion and Mills, at one stage, enjoyed a 19-11 lead before the unthinkable happened.
Her opponent rallied with 10 unanswered shots to win the final 21-19 – much to the disappointment and disbelief among the Boksburg Bowling Club faithfuls in attendance.
One can only imagine how Mills, 66, must’ve felt at that moment.
Speaking of her silver-medal finish, she explained: “This means I’ve reached a goal I’ve had all my life. I’ve been playing bowls for 23 years and it’s been a goal of mine for over 20 years, especially at this level as well.
“I felt great delight because I did better than I expected and I was really amazed that I could do so well. It made me proud, really proud.”
Mills, who helped lead the Boksburg Bowling Club to the Club of the Year accolade last year during the Ekurhuleni Bowls District annual general meeting, also paid tribute to the local club.
It was an honour the club had received for the first time in its 100-odd years of existence.
“Thank you to all my fellow bowlers and to the club, and also to Jenny Jones and Patsy Smoock.”
Mills has been the senior champion of champions in the district from 2014 to 2017. She won the district masters seniors singles in the 2016 and 2017 seasons and she was the Victrix Lodurum winner for her club and district for 2017 and 2018 – to list a few.
Club president Joe Jacobs added: “We’re very proud and privileged to have her as a member of our club. We’re all very proud of her.”
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