Venue : The Victorian Croquet Centre, Cairnlea, Melbourne, Victoria

Date : 29th November to Ist December 2019

The Shen Yang team from China won Australian Gateball Championship after two days of intense play.

Both Kew and Shen Yang had emerged from Block B. Kew had won all their games in the pool and were clear winners. Shen Yang’s run to the semis was much tighter. Along with Woodville’s International Friends and the Hunter Allsorts they had won 4 out of 7 games with losses to Kew, Multimacs and Woodville International Friends. They just made it to the semis by one point over Woodville.

In Block A, Join Korea registered 7 wins but with one loss to Southport White. 3 other teams, Canberra, Southport White and Hu Nan, all achieved 6 wins. Hu Nan had a clear advantage of 30 points and so progressed to the semis.

The semis saw improved performances from both Chinese teams. Shen Yang defeated the Korean team, Join, by a sizeable margin while previously dominant Kew relied on a count back to win against Hu Nan. A very heavy shower during the semis on a cold Melbourne day may have dampened the momentum of the two block winners.

As a result the final took place between the winner and runner up from Block B. Kew battled valiantly to become the third Australian team to win an Australain Gateball Championship but lost control of the game which saw Shen Yang win through.

The competition was held in great spirit, with many competitors remarking on the friendly nature of the event. Saturday evening’s BBQ was well attended and overseas players were all given small gifts as a token of appreciation for their having made the effort to come to the 10th Australian Championship. Quiz sheets kept players racking their brains while they awaited their turn to line up for their meals.

At the close of the event, ACA Deputy Chair, Jim Nicolls presented trophies and thanked players and organisers. The event program reminded participants that Gateball Australia’s first State Championships would be held in Victoria on the weekend of the 27th to 29th March.

Written by John Park
National Coordinator – Gateball Australia

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