Rochester teenager Cameron Keenan walked away empty-handed from the Henselite Victorian Open, but by no means with his tail between his legs.
After dropping out of the mixed pairs in the qualifying round he managed to progress in all three remaining events, the men’s singles, pairs and triples.
He quickly put the open behind him to be part of Moama Steamers Premier League win against Marong in Bendigo Campaspe Goldfields Premier League competition on Saturday.
Keenan bowled as third to Scottish world champion Alex Marshall, playing his first match of the season with the Steamers.
The pair combined with another teenager, Kyabram-based bowler Olivia Cartwright, and veteran Peter Campbell for a one-shot win. Overall it was a 13-shot win for Moama.
Moama sits second on the ladder with five wins and one defeat from six matches in the 10-team competition.
Keenan has won three of the four matches he has skipped this season with the team.
In the VIctorian Open men’s singles Keenan lost to Moonee Valley bowler Brayden Ellis 18-21 in the second round of the finals, making the last 128 in the draw.
He won his way through qualifying and then won a first round finals match against Mulgrave’s Anthony Buckingham.
He and pairs partner, Queenscliff bowler Ben Russell, lost in the third round of finals (the last 32 pairs) 6-13 to Keilor pair Robert Temple and Rajah Nithiananthan. The Keilor team lost in the round of 16.
In the triples Keenan skipped the trio of Koby Cromie (Yarrawonga) and Matthew Flapper (Ocean Grove).
Flapper made the final 16 of the men’s singles event before he was knocked out, while another of the Yarrawonga Cromie family, Tim, was runner-up in the open singles.
Keenan, Cromie and Flapper won their sectional play comfortably and then progressed through the first round of the finals before losing to a Glenroy and Bell Post Hill combination which finished in the final 16 of the tournament.
Keenan’s Moama Premier League teammate, Cassandra Millerick, also had an outstanding tournament and was runner-up in the women’s singles.
Millerick and Alex Marshall, the Scottish lawn bowls legend who will also play alongside Keenan with Moama Steamers in the Bendigo Campaspe Goldfields top competition, were quarter-finalists in the mixed pairs.
Kyabram’s Brett Reiner and Shepparton Golf star Brad Orr were the only Goulburn Valley bowlers to make the final eight of the men’s singles.
Another Kyabram pair, father and daughter pairing of David and Olivia Cartwright — the latter another teammate of Kennan at Moama — made it all the way to the semi-finals of the mixed event before losing 8-17.
The team that beat them, Stacey Colier from East Shepparton and Tallygaroopna’s Mark Ryan, won the Victorian Open mixed title.