2025 TBA Junior Restricted Cup Recap 🏆
By Matt Stevens
📍 Wyncity Keon Park – Monday, 7 April 2025
🎳 First Cup Event of the Championships
The 2025 TBA Junior Restricted Cup kicked off Cup Finals Day in style, as the first official champions of the week were crowned at Wyncity Keon Park.
After eight games of handicap competition, it was New Zealand’s Harmony Herewini and Victoria’s Wyatt Grimshaw who rose to the top to be crowned the 21st champions of this special event.
The Restricted Cup is a handicap event based on 100% of 200, open to junior bowlers with entering averages of:
- ≤159 for Girls
- ≤169 for Boys
Returning to the National Junior Championships for the first time since 2019, the event was a welcome sight — giving rising bowlers the chance to shine and compete for a national title in a more level playing field.
The final stage was capped at 16 spots per division, with the boy’s having 15 with one late withdrawal, and the girl’s having 14 bowlers vying for silverware.
👑 Girls Division – Harmony Holds Strong
Top qualifier Harmony Herewini of New Zealand entered the finals in top form after posting a standout 759 handicap series during her Championship run. She kept that momentum rolling with consistent scores early in the final — 181, 192, and 161 — to set the tone.
Harmony faced tough competition from fellow Kiwi Elise Lewis, who rolled the highest scratch score of the entire girls field — a blistering 230 in Game 6. But Harmony’s consistency throughout the eight-game final, limiting her lower scores and staying steady, proved enough to secure the win.
🥈 Harper Mundraby (QLD) — last year’s U12 Masters champion — finished second overall, backing up her 2024 success with another big result in a larger field.
🥉 Elise Lewis (NZL) rounded out the podium in third, just behind, with standout highs despite the unpredictable nature of handicap scoring.
👑 Boys Division – Wyatt’s Resilient Climb
In the Boys division, 13-year-old Wyatt Grimshaw from 3D Lanes Wodonga (VIC) showed that it’s not how you start, but how you finish that counts.
Entering the final as the #2 seed with a 723 handicap series during qualifying, Wyatt started slow with a 99 in Game 1. But the young Victorian refused to let it define his day — bouncing back with a 155, then finding rhythm and grit across the remaining games, including a strong 174 in Game 4 that helped turn the tide.
The final standings were tight, with Wyatt edging out fellow Victorian Logan Membery by just 10 pins to claim the title.
🥉 Harlan Schwetlik (SA) finished just behind in third, only 32 pins off the winner, making it one of the tightest finals of the Championships so far.
Notably, Lachlan Pukeroa (NZL) rolled the highest scratch game of the boys event — a brilliant 221 in Game 3, his second 200+ score of the finals — finishing 6th overall.
🎉 A Championship Return Worth Celebrating
It was fantastic to see the Restricted Cup return after a five-year break. The format gave a wide range of bowlers the chance to compete and feel the excitement of finals day on a national stage.
Congratulations to all who attempted to qualify, and a massive shoutout to the 2025 finalists and podium finishers for a brilliant start to Cup day!
📊 Full scores and results:
