Tara Murray
It was a history-making day for Lee Schraner on Saturday in New Zealand.
While his Deer Park teammates were stuck on the sidelines due to heavy rain in Melbourne, Schraner became the first Australian male to win the World Champion of Champions twice.
Schraner went through the tournament undefeated and advanced to the grand final after defeating Thailand’s Wattana Kadkhunthod 6-6 7-4 and Wales’ Ross Owen 9-3 7-5.
In wet and wild conditions, Schraner put on a drawing display in the final to defeat the young New Zealand hopeful Aiden Takarua in straight sets.
Despite a strong aggressive game from the New Zealander, Schraner was unrelenting with his precision draw bowling, recording a 6-4 4-4 win.
With Schraner’s triumph, he has won 51 out of 54 games in the World Champion of Champions tournament to collect two gold medals and two bronze medals from his four world title appearances.
He told Bowls New Zealand website that he was over the moon.
“I didn’t drop a game all week. I was expecting to need a tiebreak but didn’t happen,” he said. “Aiden nearly drove me off the green in the second set, he was so accurate. But I stuck with my game which is draws bowls.
“It was such a spectacle especially in those conditions. Credit to the Browns Bay greenkeeping staff. That green still ran 14 seconds through the puddles.
“To my credit, Aiden’s credit and the two girls, we did World Bowls a big favour playing that and the standard of the two finals in those conditions was first class.
“I look forward to seeing Aiden put on the New Zealand gear when he makes the open team because he is a great kid and a great player. ”
Speaking before the Bowls Victoria season got underway, Deer Park head of bowls operations Mark Casey had been working on signing for Scharner for a while.
“Lee is just a super player,’ he said. “He always has been one of Australia’s best, but his last two-three years has been simply exceptional.
“Lee is such a tough competitor as well, he loves winning so we know he will add some real toughness, he’s going to be a massive asset!”
South Australian Laini McGorman also had a brilliant first international tournament, defeating South Africa’s Anneke Scheepers 7-2 7-5 before falling to last year’s champion Anne Nunes from the United States of America 6-6 5-8 in the semi-final.
It was Tonga’s Milika Nathan that stopped Nunes from going back to back by winning the final 5-4 5-3.
Back in Melbourne, the Bowls Victoria weekend pennant competition was affected by rain on Saturday.
In the premier division, Deer Park’s match with Bundoora didn’t get a start with the teams sharing the points.
