2022 NSW Open Recap
By Tenpin Bowling Australia
History repeated on the weekend as Rebekah Martin and Sam Cooley went back-to-back and claimed the NSW Open titles to conclude the Women’s and Open ranked event season.
A total of 1095 days (2 years 11 months, 30 days) had passed since the last running of the famous NSW Open at Tenpin City in Lidcombe. Yet, after all that time, the winners in 2019, would remain the same this year, with Rebekah Martin and Sam Cooley again winning the titles.
A crowd of 93 bowlers put their names down to compete in this year’s tournament with two divisions in play (male and female).
The 2022 NSW Open would also help conclude the women’s and open divisions for the 2022 ranked event season.
Interviews with the Champions
Rebekah Martin
Sam Cooley
Stage by Stage
Qualifying
Female
Bec Whiting would finish as the top qualifier for the female division. Over the ten games of qualifying, Whiting would average 218.7 on her way to posting a total of 2,187 over the qualifying stage.
With a total of 20 competitors in the female division, after the qualifying stage, the top 8 females, based on scratch pinfall after the ten games, would progress straight to matchplay on Sunday.
Male
After taking out the inaugural TPL Wodonga Classic title, the ‘King in the North’, Jarrod Langford would lead the way at the end of the ten games of the male division.
Averaging 233 over the ten games, Langford posted 2,330 with a slight edge over Adam Hayes who posted 2,327.
With 73 bowlers in contention, the top 32 bowlers would progress to stage 2 for a further four games at the end of the qualifying stage.
Some great interviews with Rebekah Martin, Bec Whiting, Jarrod Langford and Adam Hayes after qualifying can be found on the Tenpin City Instagram page here
Stage 2
Male
The top 32 bowlers would bowl an additional four games to provide the top 16 to advance to stage 3.
The wonder kid from Ballina in Blake Walsh would make his move and finish on top of the field after stage 1. Averaging 235.9 for the stage, Walsh would take the lead ahead of Sam Cooley and Adam Hayes, with Langford dropping to fourth after an uncharacteristic first game of the stage.
Stage 3
Another four games were up for the top 16 to find the top 8.
Blake Walsh would maintain his lead in stage three after the next four games. Stage 2 positions would remain the same for the top four, with Bernie Grueso Jnr moving to fifth.
At the end of stage 3, the top 8 bowlers progressed through to the matchplay stage.
Matchplay
With bonus pins activated, bowlers would compete against their fellow top 8 participants for 20 pins for a win.
Female
Finishing second in qualifying, Rebekah Martin came out firing in matchplay. Winning her first five matches and six of seven overall, the Victorian cemented consecutive titles at the NSW Open.
Averaging 211.9 for the stage and collecting 120 bonus pins, Martin would finish on 3,602 pins. Top qualifier Bec Whiting would finish in second place 107 pins behind her good friend. Western Australian Siarn Ottaviano would round out the podium finishing in third place on 3,264 pins after going six for seven in the matchplay stage.
Male
After starting in fifth place after qualifying, Sam Cooley would hover in second place in the following stages. Then, in the matchplay stage, Sam would once again shine when the lights are the brightest, dominating the field.
Going a perfect seven from seven in the stage, Cooley averaged an incredible 240.8 on his way to claiming back-to-back titles. His final scratch score would read 6,019, 275 pins ahead of his nearest rival.
Adam Hayes completed a successful tournament by finishing runner-up on 5,784, and Blake Walsh amazed onlookers once again, finishing in third place on 5,789.
More Images
Blake Walsh interview
