Three lawn bowlers from Club Gunnedah secured gold medals while braving cold, wet and windy conditions at the Australian U18 Championships at Devonport Country Club from Monday to Thursday last week.

Tim Thorning won gold in the boys singles, and teamed with Club Gunnedah colleague Jacob Martin to win gold in the boys pairs while Jacob also won silver in the boys fours.

Ella Cameron meanwhile won gold in the girls triples and fours.

To top it off, Tim and Jacob won gold for overall boys while Ella won gold for overall girls. Additionally, the trio was part of the overall NSW title-winning team.

For the record, Tim and Jacob were among the top five U18 male bowlers representing NSW, while Ella was one of the top five U18 female bowlers representing the state.

Each state was represented, along with Australian Capital Territory.

It was the third time Tim and Ella competed in the national U18 championships while it was a first for Jacob.

There were no finals matches, as the victors were decided on a ‘first past the post’ basis following the round-robin fixtures.

Tim topped the boys singles following four wins and two losses, while four of the other six contestants had three wins and three losses apiece.

The Club Gunnedah boys won all six of their pairs contests. In the boys fours, Jacob was part of a quartet which had four wins, one loss and one draw, while the triumphant Victorian foursome had five wins and one loss.

Among six groups in the girls triples, Ella and her teammates had four wins and one loss. The South Australian and Queensland teams each had three victories and two defeats.

In the girls fours, Ella and her teammates were unbeaten in their five matches while the next best performing team had one defeat.

Tim had won last year’s boys triples and the previous year’s boys fours. Ella won last year’s girls fours after winning three gold and one silver the previous year.

Tim said it was “good to get the chance to play the singles and pairs (this time), and to capitalise and win them both”, while Jacob said it was the proudest he had been with winning anything.

Ella said her achievement “felt a bit better” this year compared to last year, although this year’s weather was much different from previous years.

This year’s bowlers encountered freezing, strong and biting winds as well as rain, which wasn’t enough to cause any stoppages.

The wind was behind the bowlers from one end of the green, while the wind blew straight into their faces when they changed ends.

Asked how much the game came down to the mental side of things as well as technique, form or luck, Tim said probably “80 per cent was mental” under the circumstances.

Tim and Jacob said they had to use much more force than usual when bowling into the wind.

Tim and Ella will be eligible for the U25 age group next year, while Jacob remains eligible for the U18s for a few more years.