From Saturday 17th August through to Monday 19th August the Queensland(QLD) State Gateball Teams and Doubles Championships were held at Toombul Croquet Club. This was the first time for Toombul CC to host any Gateball Championship. It was a very successful competition because of the hospitality of the members of that club, the ability to have 4 courts available and marked out with white lines, plus the very mild, winter weather.

Nine teams arrived to play with some travelling great distances to compete – from Capricorn Coast in central Queensland to our southern visitors from Canberra and those from Toowoomba to the west of Brisbane. There were 16 pairs of Doubles Teams. The Opening Ceremony was conducted by the local MP, Leanne Linard, who is Patron of Toombul Croquet Club.

The team from Canberra had just one loss- to Southport White. So with 7 wins altogether, Canberra won the Lola Whyte Trophy by winning the QLD State Gateball Teams Championship! This was the 7th win by a team from Canberra since the Championships began in 2005. That is a fantastic achievement! The presentation was made by Mrs Fiona McAlister who is the daughter of Lola Whyte for whom the Trophy is dedicated.

In second place was Redcliffe Roses who scored 5 wins but had a better hoop net average than Sunny Coast which also scored 5 wins.

The Gateball Doubles Championship required dividing the 16 teams into two blocks with 8 pairs in each. The winner of A Block was the Blue Macs Team. It was a very closely- fought Block with 3 teams each on 5 wins. But Philip Rowlands and Allan Beeson from McIlwraith Club had scored more gates than the the other two pairs. The winner of Block B was the husband and wife pair from Canberra- Kristina and Glen Whitehead. The Grand Final was full of unexpected twists and turns. Scoring an ‘agari’ from a long distance enabled Philip and Allan to take the top spot at the 2019 QLD State Gateball Doubles Championship.

David Drake, the Treasurer of CAQ, attended the Presentation Ceremony as well as Bruce McAlister who donated the Trophy for the Winner of the QLD Gateball Doubles Championship.

Written by Barbara Northcott
Gateball Australia

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