Three new champions crowned on final day of Boccia Nationals

Media release
7 October 2014

Three new champions crowned on final day of Boccia Nationals

Three new New Zealand boccia champions were crowned yesterday in a thrilling conclusion to the biggest national boccia tournament held in New Zealand this year.

40 athletes from around the country competed at this years’ four-day national championships, with strong individual performances across the three classes.

The pressure was on during the ultimate day of finals as athletes worked to prove themselves worthy of national honours.

In a nail-biting BC1, 2 & 4 combined grades final, Christchurch’s Matthew Whiting and Rangiora’s Jeremy Morriss went head to head and showed pure class throughout the close game. Matching each other shot for shot, Whiting managed to get ahead of Morriss to win the title 6-2 while Hamilton’s Vishal Chandra dominated the bronze medal match to convincingly snatch the final podium spot from Wellington’s William Parker 7-0.

Meanwhile, Australian Ashleigh Jamieson caused a major upset in the BC3 competition, winning the title 5-2 from Palmerston North’s Greig ‘the surgeon’ Jackson. Jamieson started strong and managed to hold on to her lead despite a strong fight-back in the second half by Jackson. Meanwhile, Dunedin’s Henk Dijkstra dominated the bronze medal match, defeating fellow club member Karen Menzies 11-0 in a one-sided playoff match.

The Kiwi / Open grade final was an intense affair with Australia’s Phil Bates using his experience to beat Northland’s newcomer Bill Henry to claim the gold medal 7-2. The third-fourth playoff went right down to the wire with Graeme Sudlow from Christchurch doing enough to snatch the victory from fellow Cantabrian Thomas Chin in a sudden-death playoff after scores were locked at 3-all at the end of regulation time.

Winners
BC1, 2 and 4 combined grade
Gold – Matthew Whiting (Canterbury)
Silver – Jeremy Morriss (Canterbury)
Bronze – Vishal Chandra (Waikato)

BC3 grade
Gold – Ashleigh Jamieson (Australia)
Silver – Greig Jackson (Manawatu)
Bronze – Henk Dijkstra (Otago)

Kiwi grade
Gold – Phil Bates (Australia)
Silver – Bill Henry (Northland)
Bronze – Graeme Sudlow (Canterbury)

To find out more information, visit www.boccia.org.nz

- Ends -

© Scoop Media