2020 Australian Championships preview
The COVID-affected 2020 Australian Championships is poised to finally commence next week, as the bowling fraternity descends on the magnificent Dandenong Club to fight it out for one of the most prestigious awards on the national bowls calendar.
Staged from May 23-28 as part of the re-worked 2021 events calendar, accomodating for the 2020 postponements, the event has been one of the most eagerly anticipated since the sport’s fully-fledged return in February.
Seven BCiB Australian Jackaroos will feature in the action as well as prominent international and home grown stars over the course of the six day tournament.
Commencing play will be the triples competitions, with the women kicking proceedings off earlier than anticipated, on Sunday night, due to three withdrawals that’s left the discipline with just one section, with some star studded trios gracing the greens of Melbourne’s South East.
New South Wales’ team consists of two Jackaroos in Genevieve Delves and Natasha Van Eldik, while with Queensland boast national teammate Chloe Stewart, in addition to former world champion Claire Turley, while former Australian Champion of Champion Colleen Orr will fly the flag for the Northern territory.
In the men’s triples, Orr’s fellow Top End Champion of Champions victor Trystan Smallacombe will return to the scene of his great conquest as he looks to continue his scintillating 2021.
Joining him is the formidable NSW trio of superstar Corey Wedlock, Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Gary Kelly and Brendan Aquilina, as well as two members of the 2020 BPL Cup winning trio in Nathan Black and Craig Mills for South Australia, while former Australian Open singles winner Nathan Wilson spearheads Victoria’s tilt and one-time Jackroo Sean Baker will headlines an impressive Queensland contingent.
Black and Mills will front up again on Tuesday in the men’s pairs event, but the battle will be intense with former Jackaroo and World Champion of Champions conqueror Lee Schraner in the field for Victoria, in addition to the powerhouse NSW team of Aaron Teys and two-time World Champion Jeremy Henry.
Emerging Jackaroos Cody Packer and Matt Lucas will also be looking to place their own claim for the title for their respective states of Western Australia and Queensland.
The women’s pairs presents some intriguing matchups, with Delves and Van Eldik again lining up for New South Wales, alongside Victorian duo of fellow Jackaroo Carla Krizanic and teammate Lisa Trewarne, while former Jackaroo Julie Keegan and New Zealand Blackjack Katelyn Inch will unite for Queensland.
Fours action commences on Wednesday, with Queensland looming large in the women’s schedule in the presence of former Jackaroo Maria Rigby.
On the men’s ledger, Warilla boasts their third team in the event, consisting of Wedlock and Teys, while Smallacombe returns for the Top End and Baker lines up again for the Maroons.
Victoria boasts a strong chance on the penultimate day in the Mixed Pairs on Thursday, with Krizanic teaming up with Todd Trewarne, while Emerging Jackaroo Cassandra Millerick and teammate Sean Ingham also look well placed for Queensland.
The singles will take centre stage on Friday, providing some tantalising encounters with the sensationally in-form Dawn Hayman the obvious draw card.
The recent Champion of Champions winner will take to the green as the one to catch, with Inch, Victoria’s Tiffany Brodie and the ACT’s Chloe Morrison strong contenders.
The men’s competition boasts serious star power with Jackaroo Ben Twist leading the NSW charge, in contention against Western Australia’s John Slavich, Victoria’s Schraner and South Australia’s Mills all looking to add national crowns to their trophy cabinets.
The Australian Championships commences Sunday evening AEST, with Rinkside Live beginning on Monday, May 24 at 8:30am AEST, available free of charge via Bowls Australia’s Facebook page.
