2023 World Bowls Championships: Day eight recap
It was another strong day for the Right at Home Jackaroos at the 2023 World Bowls Championships on the Gold Coast, collecting nine wins from 11 matches as sectional play in week two nears an end.
Men’s singles:
Reigning two-time Commonwealth Games singles champion Aaron Wilson is in the box seat to make it out of his section on top after another unbeaten day at Helensvale.
Wilson’s strong form from Tuesday continued early in the day, dropping just six shots to Israel’s Tzvika Hadar in his first contest.
Two crucial matches against Hong Kong China’s Tony Cheung and Welshman Daniel Salmon awaited, crucial to his hopes of exiting the group and into the knockout stages.
Cheung tested Wilson throughout, forcing the game deep but it was the Australian able to work his way to a hard-fought 21-19 victory.
Having lost the corresponding pairs sectional game to Salmon last week, Wilson got one back on his Welsh opponent in the closing session of Wednesday, securing a big nine-shot win to move clear atop his group.
Men’s fours:
Australia’s perfect run in the men’s fours continued after three more wins to maintain their unbeaten record.
Corey Wedlock, Aaron Teys, Carl Healey and Aron Sherriff claimed a big win over Papua New Guinea to start the day, before two hard-fought wins over Wales and Malaysia.
A 16-14 win over the Welsh in the second session set up a big final round contest with Malaysia.
Playing to keep their competition alive, Malaysia kept touch with the Jackaroos until the final end, falling short 16-14.
Australia sits clear on top of section two, unbeaten and in a strong spot to advance to the quarter finals with three sectional rounds to play.
Women’s pairs:
Kristina Krstic and Ellen Ryan will be reliant on other results on Thursday if they are to advance to the knockout rounds of the women’s pairs, after a 1-1 day at Helensvale.
They started Wednesday in hot form, taking care of Zimbabwe’s Caryn Sinclair and Jane Rigby 30-7.
A bye gave them a chance to rest before one of the most anticipated contests of the World Championships, taking on England’s Sophie Tolchard and Amy Pharaoh in a rematch of the 2022 Commonwealth Games women’s pairs final.
The contest followed an eerily similar script to last year’s thriller, with England taking the early advantage in the contest.
Australia went on a run of ends through the middle stages of the game, to level standings at 10-10 before hitting the lead.
The 15th end would prove to be the decisive one of the contest, as England collected a crucial five shots to retake the lead, enough for them to hold on for a memorable victory.
The loss places Australia in third place with three games to play, one point behind Malta who bested the Australians on Tuesday, and two wins shy of England.
The Jackaroos duo will need to collect three wins on Thursday, and rely on Malta dropping at least one of their final three games if they are a chance to make it out of the sectional stage.
Women’s triples:
Australia’s women’s triples team of Dawn Hayman, Lynsey Clarke and Kelsey Cottrell have booked their spot in the knockout rounds after another unbeaten day on Wednesday.
Comfortable wins over Botswana and Fiji setup an important final round contest against Ireland at Mudgeeraba.
The Australians lived up to the situation, recording a big 20-8 win.
With just one sectional game to play, Australia has locked in their place in the knockout rounds, and are well placed to top the section.
View the day eight results HERE
Day nine of play commences from 8.30am AEST across the Gold Coast on Thursday.
The 2023 World Bowls Championships is proudly supported by Tourism and Events Queensland and Major Events Gold Coast.
