Sport
2 March, 2026
A showdown of the ages
A PAIR of old timers showed up the younger talent at the Mareeba Bowls Club to make it through to the singles final last week, where they faced off in a showdown of the ages.
It was a silently competitive, and understandably slow, match between the 90-year-old Elio Crema and 91-year-old Victor Tirboschi at the Mareeba Bowls Club’s singles final last week.
The two old timers left a field of younger talent in their wake as they fought their way into the big match, which is a rather rare occurrence for a bowls club, and the game even attracted a visit from district president Tony Burns.
“It’s unusual. They’ve knocked over a few of the younger blokes, and Victor, he knocked over his son (67) to get through,” club assistant secretary Pauline Kriesel said.
“All the players that they played, most of them were younger. So for them to get through is pretty impressive.
“It’ll be a slow game because they’re both getting on a bit. They’re both Italian and they won’t give each other an inch,” she said amusingly.
“They’re old rivals, and they’ve both played all over the place. Elio, especially, has played the district bowls and gone down to Brisbane to represent Queensland.
“Both of them have been in district sides. So they’re both pretty good bowlers.”
Ahead of the match, Elio said he knew both of them would bring their A game.
“It’s sport – anything can happen. Sometimes you try what you always do and it works, and sometimes it doesn’t,” he said.
“I’m going to try my best and he’s going to try his best, so we’ll see what happens.”
However, Victor was concerned Elio’s experience would give him the upper hand.
“Unfortunately, Elio has more experience than me,” he said.
“He’s been playing for 15 more years than me. But we’ll see what happens.”
The game turned out to be an extremely close one and was said to have been very entertaining and well-played, with Victor claiming glory with a 25-23 win.
Victor will now have his name added to the singles champions board inside the clubhouse.
