JUST like a batsman who middles a sweet cover drive first ball he faces or a tennis player who fires down an ace first serve of a match, Mitch Sidebottom was given the perfect injection of confidence on his opening end of the Victorian Open men’s singles final on Friday night.
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South Bendigo’s Sidebottom knew he would be the underdog in facing former Australian representative Lee Schraner in the final, but he wasn’t daunted by his highly-regarded opponent.
From the moment Sidebottom sent down his first bowl of the final at Shepparton Park, it was clear Schraner was going to have a mighty challenge on his hands.
“It’s an advantage playing someone like Lee Schraner and knowing that everyone isn’t expecting you to win, so I had that bit of a nothing-to-lose attitude,” Sidebottom said on Saturday.
“I’ve never started a game of bowls as well as I did last night. On the first end I had all four bowls within a foot of the jack and I knew I was on from there.”
Sidebottom’s win on Friday night came after his previous best performance in the men’s singles at the Victorian Open had been reaching the quarter-finals.
“It’s a great feeling to know that I’ve finally won it,” said Sidebottom, who has been competing in the Victorian Open for the past five years.
“I’ve been looking forward to having a good crack at it and to win it is just amazing.
“I knew I was going to be playing a champion in the final, either Lee Schraner or Matt Flapper, who were the two favourites going into it.
“I set myself to know that I was going to have to bowl out of my skin to win and, thankfully, I did.”
Sidebottom, 30, bolted out of the blocks, racing to a 14-4 advantage after nine ends.
However, Schraner stormed back into the contest, going on a 10-0 tear to level the contest at 14-14 after 14 ends.
But having surrendered the momentum, Sidebottom – with plenty of vocal support from the sidelines – regained control of the contest to ease away to win 21-15.
“I lost concentration for a bit and probably tensed up when he got close,” Sidebottom said.
“But I knew I just had to relax again and enjoy my time out there and once I did that I got back on top.”
Sidebottom’s path to the singles title included defeating Bendigo East’s Dylan Filuk 21-14 in the second round.
Sidebottom – who joined South Bendigo Bowls Club last season – was one of three players from the Bendigo Bowls Division to win one of the Victorian Open events.
Bendigo East’s Brad Marron and Filuk were members of the team, along with skipper Schraner, that won the men’s triples.