AUSTRALIAN JUNIOR BOCCE OPEN 2012 CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF AUSTRALIA-CHINA JUNIOR COMPETITION

The Fifteenth Australian Junior Bocce Open Championship got off to a good start. From the 14 Titles on offer, the highlights were that the Chinese competitors won five titles, while Victoria won 5; NSW won 3, South Australia 1, and ACT 1. The Championship was organized by the Bocce Federation of Australia in collaboration with the NSW Bocce Federation and hosted at the Liverpool Catholic Club Boccedrome, Sydney over the three days, 9^th to11^th March.

The Opening ceremony was well received with a demonstration by the Special O’s Bocce team, followed by VIP speeches by – Mayor of Liverpool, Wendy Waller and Federal MP for Werriwa, Mr Laurie Ferguson, followed by Vice President of the Liverpool Catholic Club, Silvio Marucci and Lucky Legato NSW Bocce President and other dignitaries. BFA President, Raymond Cher in his address recalled his first visit to China in 1983, when he led a delegation of Australian players to demonstrate the sport of bocce to a number of Physical Education Universities and Institutes. During this visit, a very young Gao Wei met with the Australians and went on to embrace the sport with enthusiasm – that enthusiasm and ongoing commitment has resulted in strong growth for the sport throughout China, putting China on the bocce map with a number of gold medals in various disciplines and played host to one of bocce’s most spectacular World Championships. Thanks to Gao Wei and a number of his colleagues, bocce now features in the curriculum of various Institutes and Universities of Physical Education and schools in China, as seen here this weekend. In celebrating that first encounter, Gao Wei, now head Chinese bocce coach, joined Raymond Cher for the traditional bowl throw opening by the VIP’s which was entertaining, as the different bowling styles and accuracy amused all participants, making it a fun feature of the opening ceremony.

The Friday evening highlight was the Australia China Friendship Challenge event. This event is a Progressive Throw in Pairs competition, with Matthew Moffatt and Daniel Samsa representing Australia and Sha Zhao and Yang Wang representing China. China won the Friendship Trophy winning the first heat, 34 points to 17 points. While in the second heat Australia lead most of the way but in the last minute China increased their strike rate and equalled the score on the last throw to finish 26 points each and therefore winning the China Australia Friendship Trophy.

The three day Bocce Tournament bought together the best junior bocce players from across Australia. Seventeen elite Under 18 years and Under 23 year’s athletes from Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia contested a total of fifteen events. After a year’s absence we were again joined by the Chinese Under 18 and Under 23 teams, directed by their celebrated coach, Gao Wei.
As well as the traditional forms of the game, the Singles and the Doubles, the juniors competed in the more spectacular Bowl Throw, Precision Throw, and the Progressive Throw competitions.

In the Under 18 division, Tristan Giacometti (NSW) repeated his last year’s victory in the Singles event and retained his Australian U18 Singles title winning the final against new comer Daniel Pevere (ACT) 13 to 5 points. Daniel Samsa also from NSW won the Bowl Throw and Progressive Throw titles from Alec Ganeo (Sth Aust) and  Xhitao Xiao (China)  respectively. Xhitao Xiao (China)  won the Precision Throw Title  while the doubles team of Pepe and Pevere won the Doubles title from NSW (Tristan Giacometti, Samsa) 6 to 5. The surprise star was Daniel Pevere (ACT) the newcomer to these championships and what a great way for the ACT to return to participating in these championships. Daniel took out the U18 Doubles with team mate, Ivan Pepe and was a surprise runner up in the Singles against Tristan Giacometti.

In the Under 23 division, in the traditional events, Matthew Moffatt was the stand out, returning after a few years absence from the sport, Matthew clinched 3 titles, Singles, Bowl Throw and Progressive Throw. It was pleasing to see that Matthew had not lost his skill and was on target with both his bowling and throwing. Interestingly,Sha Zhao from China won the women’s Precision Throw Title, Doubles and Relay Progressive titles. Nick Penney from Victoria was on target and won the Precision title.

Some of the highlights of the three day event included Daniel Pevere’s persistence and excitement in making it to the U18 Singles and Doubles final.

• The team of Moffatt and Samsa in the Doubles Relay progressive heat 2 where they led all the way and nearly clinched the win only to have China draw and win the Friendship trophy.
• Moffatt’s direct hit on the jack, splitting it in half!
• Tristan Giocometti retaining the Singles U18 Title, in a splendid display of precision bowling and throwing.
• The come from behind win by the Chinese U 23 team of Wen Chang and Sha Zhao to win last two ends against Cooper and Sperne and win the final.
• The Progressive Relay performance by the SA team of Ganeo and Fedele to outperform the Chinese team and win the final convincingly.

The Best and Fairest award by the referees to players of the Championship were Tristan Giacometti (NSW) in the Under 18’s and Sha Zhao (China) in the Under 23’s.

The Championship concluded with a delightful dinner on the bocce courts while watching a video produced by our Chinese friends celebrating 29 years of Australia-China friendship and 10^th years of Australia-China Junior competition. The highlight of the evening was the impromptu singing by Mrs. Goa Wei to celebrate the strong relationship with Bocce Australia.

The Championship was organized by the Bocce Federation of Australia. Our thanks for the smooth running on this event must go to the Tournament Directors, Frank Funari,  Mary Massena assisted by the Technical Director, Anthony Biancacci and Chief Referee, Valerio Chiandotto. We are appreciative of the organizational support provided by the NSW Bocce Federation for this event, through its president, Mr. Lucky Legato and his committee. We also wish to thank Mario Brancato, the Liverpool Catholic Bocce Club President, for the Club’s support in running this most successful Championship.

Leading up to the Championships, National Coaching Director, Tony Biancacci, conducted an intense one-day bocce specific, level 1 coaching course, which included on-court delivery and a better understanding of the way the Chinese team approach their training for the athletic events.

Another initiative of the BFA was the meeting with NSW bocce club delegates to discuss ways in which the local clubs can further develop the sport in their State.

During the Championship, discussions between Gao Wei and the BFA explored the possibilities of initiating an Asia/Pacific Championship with participation by China, Australia, Japan, Singapore (these four Countries have already competed with Australia), South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and possibly Malaysia and the Philippines (these two latter countries have indicated interest in the sport, provided they get some support to get started).  It was agreed that this was an idea worth progressing, but is conditional on securing sponsorship.  Gao Wei said that he, for his part, would to speak to Government agencies in China.  Australia also would explore sponsorship opportunities.

PHOTOGRAPHS:

1. All Junior players and officials

2. China wins the 2012 Australia China Friendship trophy. Chinese Managers Bin GAO and Wei GAO, with the Australian executive Raymond Cher, Frank Funari and Tony Biancacci.

3. NSW President Lucy Legato with Secretary Penny Visintin presents Wen CHANG with a momento of the Championships.

4. Two players who stood out- Tristan Giacometti (NSW) and Daniel Pevere (ACT) receive their trophies.

5. Matthew Moffatt (Vic), winner of 3 titles, in action.

6. Sha ZHAO (China), winner of 3 titles, in action.

Home page photo: Matthew splits the difference