Parkhill BC hosts thrilling PNB Pairs Championship

The viewing deck at Parkhill Bowling Club was alive with excitement this past weekend as the road to the finals of the Men’s and Women’s Port Natal Pairs Championships unfolded in dramatic style.

Among the standout encounters was the men’s semi-final clash between Parkhill’s Chris (CC) Coetzer and Shaun Barlow and Umhlanga’s Norman Jones and Jacques Scholtz. The scorecard told a gripping story: Coetzer and Barlow edged ahead in the eleventh end and held a slender 12–11 lead heading into the last. But with the pressure on, Jones and Scholtz surrounded the jack with three superb bowls to snatch the win 14–12 and secure their final berth.

The second men’s semi was no less intense, as Westville BC duos went head-to-head. Lionel van Niekerk and Lance Mansfield squared off against Roger Boulle and his lead, Arnie Muscat. Deadlocked at 16 apiece going into the final end, van Niekerk and Mansfield were holding shot and looked poised for victory. But, with the last bowl of the game, Boulle produced a masterstroke, promoting his own bowl to claim the end and a place in the final.

The final itself was a showcase of dominance. Boulle and Muscat stamped their authority early, never allowing the Umhlanga pair to settle. They stormed to victory with an emphatic eleven-shot lead, sealing the 2025 PNB Pairs Championship gold. Jones and Scholtz collected silver, while the battle for bronze had the home crowd on their feet as Coetzer and Barlow edged van Niekerk and Mansfield 21–20 in a nail-biting finish.

Reflecting on his win, Boulle—who earlier this year triumphed in the KZN Pairs with Wayne Roberts and claimed the PNB Veteran’s Masters—praised Muscat’s consistency.

“Having a steady lead like Arnie gives a skip more confidence. What makes our partnership unique is how interchangeable we are. Arnie, who has now played in three consecutive PNB pairs finals, can skip or lead with equal skill. I’m just thrilled that I was the one beside him when he broke his silver-medal run and won gold in 2025.”

The women’s competition produced equally gripping action. Both semi-finals featured Umhlali CC pairs, but only one progressed. Cheryl Mostert and Jill Hackland fell to Stella Park’s Glenda Matthews and Natalie Botha, while Joy Catto and Helen Robinson edged out Collegian BC’s Urmila Premje and Lorna Drake.

In the final, Matthews and Botha proved unstoppable, collecting their second PNB Pairs title with a convincing win over Catto and Robinson. Mostert and Hackland secured the bronze, ensuring Umhlali a second medal.

Matthews was quick to applaud her partner: “Since Natalie joined Stella Park as a novice in 2017 and we won the PNB pairs, we’ve gone on to collect district, provincial and national medals together. Natalie’s ability as a lead is every skip’s dream—she contributes positively to the building of heads that challenge any opposition.”

The PNB district wishes the Under-35 side travelling to Kimberley every success as they prepare to represent the district at the BSA Nationals from September 20 to 23.