Event News, General News

Wodonga local advances to TPL semifinal alongside Australia’s best

The opening day of the Tenpin Premier League (TPL) Wodonga Classic was held at 3D Lanes today, with 32 of Australia’s top tenpin bowlers taking to the lanes for the inaugural event.

There will be a lot of familiar names on the start list for Sunday’s finals, including qualification Pool winners Sam Cooley, Rebecca Whiting and Bernie Gruseo Jnr.

However a name unfamiliar to most, Jamie Winnel, has put the wider bowling world on notice, as the 26-year-old Wodonga local won his qualification round after winning five of his six head-to-head match-ups.

Along with the two bonus points for a bye in his pool, Winnel ended the round on 12 points, ahead of Chloe Clague on 11, Emily Bottomley on 10 and Emily Hart on 7, to round out the Pool A top-four who will advance to Sunday’s semi-finals.

The TPL has one entry invitation to give to a local bowler who qualifies through a home tournament, to compete alongside the household tenpin names and represent the host town.

Born and raised in Wodonga, Winnel has been bowling for over 20 years and has represented his region in Country Cup Teams. The 3D Lanes employee qualified for the TPL last weekend when he won the local five-games scratch series.

“I was tied first after game four, so I really had to pull a big final game out to secure the seat, which I did,” Winnel said of his qualifying tournament last weekend.

“It’s the first qualification I’ve won in the last few years, so I was happy to just win something really,” he laughed.

With only one week to prepare to play against some of the biggest names in Australia, Winnel said he came in with no expectations.

“I was just happy to be here for starters,” he said. “I’m bowling some of the best bowlers in Australia at the minute, so it was just about coming in and having fun and enjoying it really.

“I didn’t know what to expect. I was nervous when I walked in the door this morning, I was here before anyone actually got here.

“I just rocked up and thought I would see what happened, try to keep calm and bowl well.”

With his partner, mum, 10-month-old baby and two foster children all coming to cheer him on at 3D Lanes, Winnel opened strongly with a 192 game, followed by three consistent games of 170, 188 and 192. After a challenging fifth game scoring 139, he bounced back to record his two strongest games of 211 and 202 for a total of 1,294, and an average score of 184.9 points.

Winnel said winning his qualification pool was “the icing on the cake” to the entire experience, and he was glad he could share it with his family.

“I’m so glad I made it to tomorrow’s semis, anything further than competing here today is just a bonus and icing on the cake, just being here was good enough,” he said.

“It’s perfect, I could not ask for a better opportunity for my partner and kids to be here.”

Regardless of the outcome in Sunday’s finals, Winnel said today’s experience has boosted his confidence to pursue more tenpin tournaments.

“Being in this and seeing how well I am doing makes me feel like maybe I should try out for some bigger events and see how I go,” he said.

Sunday’s semi-finals will begin at 8.30am with the top 16 bowlers from Day 1.

The top eight will advance to the Super-8 Final at 1pm where they will play the fast-five format, with scores from 4 full frames plus a standard 10th frame, with a maximum score of 150.

Watch the Super-8 final LIVE on the @tenpinpl Facebook Page and TPL YouTube account.

The 16-bowler semi-final will include:

Jamie Winnel

Choe Clague

Emily Bottomley

Emily Hart

Bernie Grueso Jnr

Jarrod Longford

Chris Castle

Callum Borck

Rebecca Whiting

Grace Fahy

Sarah Pennicott

Alicia Melton

Sam Cooley

David Porto

Blayne Fletcher

Matthew Krinis

See all results HERE