Shaun Thomas of Roosevelt Bowling Club won the blue-ribbon singles event in the South African National Bowls Championships in Ekurhuleni on May 15.
Thomas’ last game was against Jason Evans, who is a good friend, mentor, as well as former team member, who now plays out of Morningside Country Club but is a dual member of Roosevelt.
According to Thomas, he played well throughout the tournament as well as in the semi-finals where he took on Grant George of Belgravia and had to ‘dig deep’ to survive and make it through to the final.
Evans, who has been South Africa’s best bowler in the past five years, got out the blocks and led 16/10 but Thomas fought back eventually prevailing 21/17.
As the winner of the national singles title, Thomas has qualified for the Champion of Champions 2023 in Wellington, New Zealand, and will get to pursue something that he has always dreamed of. He said there was still more that he wanted to achieve such as putting in the hard yards to develop himself as a player and continually improve.
“The conditions in New Zealand will be tricky, given the speed of the greens which we are not accustomed to in South Africa, but singles is about having the belief and at times the BMT [Big Match Temperament] to play the shot on the big stage when required, and handle the pressure as best as I can.”
Should you wish to watch some of the games, they will be live-streamed by LiveX Productions on YouTube (finals weekend) or you can visit Bowls South Africa on their YouTube channel.
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