Two carpet bowling teams from 100 Mile House and the Interlakes mined gold and silver at the 55+ BC Games in Coquitlam on Sept. 21-24.
The Triples team from 100 Mile House, including Sue Pinkerton, Dot Verboom and Joyce Bueckert, came home with the silver medals around their necks.
“There was very good competition ... there were people there who have been competing for 10 to 15 years, so they were very experienced,” Sue explains.
The local ladies played a lot of games on their way to the finals, and they played very well, especially because it was their first time at the games.
The 100 Mile trio won three and tied one game on day 1. The next day, they had a bye and then beat Kitimat to earn the berth in the championship against Qualicum, which had not lost a game in the competition.
Sue says there was a reason Qualicum hadn’t lost as they were terrific players and won 10-2.
“However, we gave them five points. We were nervous, but we held our own after a slow start.”
Noting they were hoping they would win one game at the 55+ BC Games, she says there were delighted to come home with the silver medals.
She adds everyone was really fun at tournament from the competitors to the volunteers.
“We were treated very well and got a lot of hugs from everyone. The whole event was first class. There was great food and entertainment; everything was top notch.”
Sue says she is going to be talking to everyone she knows in the 100 Mile House area about preparing for the next games and compete in one of the 25-plus events that are available.
Striking gold
The Interlakes team competed in the Fours and included Rose and Robert Magnusson from Deka Lake and Ed Van Gool and Marion Mickelsen from 100 Mile House.
Rose says they also met a lot of stiff competition at the games, as there were three teams that had won five of the six games they played.
There was no bowl off to determine who took home the gold medals.
Rather, the medal ranking was determined by points for and against during the round robin, and the Interlakes crew came out on top.
“We also beat the other teams. Our team lost to the team of little old ladies from Radium Hot Springs. They were delighted and we were happy for them.”
Rose says their team has played together for a while and won the Provincials in Telkwa in May.
She adds they also had a great time at the games and were treated like kings and queens.
“Everyone was so friendly and the volunteers went out of their way to make sure everybody was happy.”
Her only complaint and a minor one at that: “We played in an ice rink and there was no heat on – it was cold.”