Elizabeth Levy and her granddaughter Chauntel Solomone sat quietly at the Suva Bowling Club, transfixed with the bowling competition that was taking place. It was the finals of the 61st South Pacific Bowling Carnival men’s and ladie’s singles competition on Friday, June 9.
As the competition heated up, Elizabeth was seen to be giving her granddaughter tips of the game. “That’s what you call a smack,” she said refering to a stage of the game.
When one of the lawn bowlers came close to hitting the small coveted white ball, from which points are derived, the duo let out a gasp. Their enthusiasm was infectious.
The 78-year-old is a regular at the annual lawn bowling competition. When asked about her interest in the sport, she replied that she used to play the game as a pastime.
“I took up the lawn bowling in 1998,” she said with a smile. “We used to come down on Thursdays with all the ladies for afternoon tea and play.
“Then I gave it a go at the South Pacific Carnival. It’s very easy to learn it and once you learn the intrinsics of it, you will want to play all the time.
“For me, it was something to exercise the muscles and move around a lot. If I did not have bad knees I would have gotten back there again,” she said with a grin.
Mrs Levy last participated at the carnival in 2014. And it’s not only her who played the game. Her son Albert Solomone represented Fiji at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in England. And now Albert’s son Nathan has taken up the sport seriously.
“Chauntel too used to play,” referring to her granddaughter who was sitting beside her. “I don’t know why she isn’t, maybe she’s lazy.” To which her granddaughter laughed.
“No I’m not! It’s because I was in New Zealand for a year and when I returned none of the players I used to play with were playing,” she explained. It was clear the two share a close bond.
Elizabeth says she has five children, 15 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. “My son and daughter play including two grandchildren. It’s a great sport,” she said smiling.
“Litia Tikoisuva (women’s national rep) does wonders …she can go down and the next minute she’s up again. I love following her game,” she added.
The singles competition was later won by Tikoisuva who beat Elizabeth Moceiwai 21-20 to clinch the women’s finals while Jare Josaia of Vatukoula Bowling Club took the men’s title beating Abdul Khalim 21-8 at the 61st South Pacific Bowling Carnival.
