2024 Grand National Youth Eliminator Preview
By Matt Stevens
The final youth division event of TBA’s National Ranked Events for 2024, the Grand National Youth Eliminator (GNYE), will take place this weekend at Caboolture Bowl in Queensland.
It’s been a busy end to the year for the youth division, with the TBA21 Masters occurring just 19 days ago in the Sunshine State. Despite this tight schedule, the GNYE is fully booked, with 54 bowlers eager to end the year on a high note as the final rankings are determined.
The GNYE will kick off on Saturday with qualifying rounds, where two squads of bowlers will each complete 10 games. At the conclusion of Saturday’s qualifiers, the top 12 male and top 12 female bowlers will advance to Stage 2 on Sunday, carrying over their pinfall scores.
In Stage 2, these top 12 bowlers will compete in an additional four games, with hopes of making it into the top 8 cut that advances to the third-stage Eliminator Finals. This final stage will see pinfall drop and use a bracket format, with three rounds of play culminating in a grand finale to crown this year’s champions.
Returning to defend their titles are 2023 champions Tamika Pettigrew and Justin Dinham. Samantha Clifton, the winner of this event in 2022, recently claimed the 2024 TBA21 National Masters title, enters the event as the highest-ranked youth bowler in Australia after surpassing fellow Team Australia members Hannah Clark and Emily Hart in the rankings following her recent successes. All three will be competing in the GNYE, and each has a shot at capturing the overall title for the female division, with plenty of movement expected in the final standings.
In the male division, Blake Walsh currently leads the standings with 280 points but will not compete this weekend due to college commitments in the U.S. This absence opens the door for other bowlers to overtake the Ballina star. Sitting at the top of the junior rankings and second in the youth rankings is Julian Dinham (243 points), closely followed by Nicholas Rajkovic (226) and recent TBA21 National Masters champion Trent McDougall (189). The race for the crown is expected to be intense, with several other bowlers vying to improve their final standings for 2024.
Tenpin Bowling Australia wishes all competitors the best of luck and high scores at the Grand National Youth Eliminator at Caboolture Bowl this weekend!
GRAND NATIONAL YOUTH ELIMINATOR
PAST CHAMPIONS
| YEAR | MALE | FEMALE |
| 2019 | Brandon Edwards (VIC) | Kylie Bailey (QLD) |
| 2022 | Samantha Clifton (NSW) | Jackson Buckingham (QLD) |
| 2023 | Tamika Pettigrew (QLD) | Justin Dinham (NSW) |
