Event News, General News

Young gun Cameron Stein takes home the TPL Decider win as Jarrod Langford hangs onto TPL Championship

Tenpin Premier League (TPL) underdog Cameron Stein surprisingly claimed the Decider title in Melbourne, allowing Jarrod Langford to retain overall leadership of the TPL league despite a poor result in the third and last event of the league.  

When Tenpin Bowling Australia (TBA) CEO Rohan O’Neil and Managing Director Andy Crook sat down  to conceive a new exciting and unpredictable competition 15 months ago, they would have never dreamt of such a thrilling finale. 

After missing out on a top 16 position in the first two Tenpin Premier League (TPL) tournaments, Cameron Stein (QLD) was able to bowl his way through to the fast-5 and take home the Melbourne Decider trophy with a 32-point win over Jamie Robinson (QLD).

“I am over the moon, I was just taking it shot by shot and just trying to really enjoy being out there,  even in such a high pressure situation. Bowling against Jamie in the finals did really help, as we could have that friendly banter that really did ease any nerves,” Stein said 

Stein not only won, but he also finished with a perfect score of 150 in the final match.

“It’s such a good feeling, on each shot I was just focusing on making it a better shot. When it got to the final frame and Jamie had missed the shot, I thought to myself ‘Wait, I think I’ve got this here, hang on a minute!’ So I focused on getting that first strike before even thinking about the next two strikes I needed. I got that one in and then I realised I was on 150 pace to then secure those two final strikes to make it that perfect score.” 

With the overall TPL Championship trophy up for grabs, it came down to the wire to see if Langford would be crowned Champion Bowler or if Robinson would steal it from underneath. In a nail-biting finale, Robinson struck out, allowing Stein to take the lead and Langford to claim the TPL trophy 

“It’s an amazing feeling to have won the Championship, but sitting back there watching… I don’t want to do that again,” said Langford. 

“There wasn’t any real point for me where I thought I had this win. That last game was two of the best youth bowlers in the country smashing it out, and I just got lucky.” 

Robinson was overjoyed with his second-place finish, knowing how far he had come through the Decider tournament to reach the Grand Final.

“Making it into the Grand Final itself is great, it wasn’t an easy path to take. There were a lot of very big names I had to get through, so overall I’m really happy with second place,” said Robinson. 

Sam Cooley (NSW) was the favourite for the TPL 3 win after Jarrod Langford  missed out on a spot in the top 16. Making it to the final rounds and bowling a perfect 150, he appeared to be on track to win until he faced Stein.

“I made a good ball choice in my match against Blake and was able to shoot a perfect 150. In the next match against Cameron my plan hadn’t changed, but I had the opposite thing happen. I ended up giving him the opening and he took advantage of it,” said Cooley. 

See all results here