Wagin’s Warren Holt takes national title as WA triples defeat New South Wales in Australian Championship final

Wagin’s star bowler Warren Holt and his WA triples team are national title winners after clinching the Australian Championship at the Devonport Country Club in Tasmania on Monday. Holt and teammates Daniel Trewhella and Blake Nairn were undefeated in their section and then went on to demolish their New South Wales opponents in the final. It was the first time a WA men’s side had triumphed in the triples in the tournament’s current format, although Nairn was the singles champion in 2021, with Cody Packer also clinching solo honours two years later. Holt and company opened their title bid with an 18-17 tussle against Queensland and followed it up with a dominant victory over Victoria 26-10. Their final contest in the round-robin section came against Northern Territory, whom they dispatched 22-9. That took them to the final against New South Wales, who were also unbeaten but were no match for the rampant West Australians. Holt was delighted with the victory. “We are super proud of the achievement,” he said. “To travel to the other side of the country is a huge undertaking and involved a lot of sacrifices along the way. “We knew if we could beat Queensland in our opening match, we would be in good shape to reach the gold medal play-off — so that was in effect our grand final. “New South Wales were overwhelming favourites in the gold medal match but we saved our best game for last. “We put them under pressure and our game stood up; it was brilliant.” After a competitive start to the final, WA asserted their authority and were able to take control of the proceedings mid-match. They led by six shots going into the final end, and despite Commonwealth Games gold medallist and NSW skip Aaron Wilson’s attempts to kill, Holt, Trewhella and Nairn held on for victory. The championships run from November 10-28.