A cut above the rest
The APL has been rolled out – with Perth Suns becoming the first straight sets winners of the new format Bowls will never be the same again after the inaugural $100,000 Australian Premier League was rolled out in front of a vocally supportive, near-capacity crowd at Brisbane’s Club Pine Rivers.
The opening rubber, played in front of a full grandstand on the non-televised Village arena, saw hometown heroes XXXX Brisbane Gold’s Kelvin Kerkow OAM, Mark Casey and local Pine Rivers lad Robbie Wild toppling BCiB Sydney Lions aces Steve Glasson OAM, Aron Sherriff and Karen Murphy by a slender 1 shot margin in the one-end tie-break.
“It was obviously very different to anything we have ever experienced,” Mark Casey said after helping the Gold triumph.
“We used the tactics to our advantage in the end – rotating the players every end, so it worked out well. “We knew it was going to be really hard, Aron Sherriff played every end so he’s obviously the standout player and he lit it up, so it was a great win but I think everybody is going to equally as tough in this format.
“Each game is going to be different, we handled it really well just then but the next match could throw up some other challenges.”
In the adjacent rinks, across the ditch TOWER New Zealand Blackjacks contingent of Jo Edwards, Tony Grantham and Ali Forsyth did likewise to topple the Blundstone Melbourne Roys’ Matthew Flapper, Dylan Fisher and Graeme Archer – prevailing by a single shot in the tie-break.
The western warriors, Solargain Perth Suns’ Brett Wilkie, Jeremy Henry and Clive Adams were the first team to clinch a straight sets victory in the sport’s new format, making quick work of the Messenger Press Adelaide Endurance’s Scott Thulborn, Wayne Ruediger and Mark Haines.
Round two of the APL will be played on the same surface before the live Fox Sports 2 matches commence on the Village TV arena from 5.00pm AEST. Round one results: Brisbane Gold df Sydney Lions 9-2, 4-7, 1-0 New Zealand Blackjacks df Melbourne Roys 3-7, 10-4, 1-0 Perth Suns df Adelaide Endurance 6-3, 7-7
