Australia claims gold at Merdeka
Australia’s Dawn Hayman, Bolivia Millerick, Ben Twist and Scott Thulborn and triumphed on the world stage at the Asia Pacific Merdeka Championships overnight. Australia has capped off a six day campaign in Malaysia with a gold medal overnight at the US$50,000 Asia Pacific Merdeka Championships.
Caloundra’s Bolivia Millerick, St Johns Parks’ Dawn Hayman and Ben Twist, and Adelaide’s Scott Thulborn enjoyed a fairytale finish to the 10th annual tournament, which up until last year had been an internationally capped event for Australian competitors, at the Bayuemas Indoor Bowls Stadium in Pandamaran, Klang.
SA/NT National Training Centre Coach Faye Luke, who took the reins as the team’s coach, was complimentary of all team member’s contributions in the gold medal decider at the 16 nation event.
The quartet overcame the highly fancied Malaysian A team in the ultimate decider, powering past Siti Zalina Ahmad, Nur Fidrah Noh, Zulhimie Redzuan and Fairul Izwan Muin 21-7 to secure the US$10,000 first-placed prize cheque, with the game cut short of the last end.
“Dawn gave us great starts with close consistent bowls, Bolivia Millerick in second played a fantastic game and her best for the tournament, Ben Twist converted, drew, and positioned his bowls with precision and Scott Thulborn was a fantastic skip and lead by example, both on the drive and the draw,” Luke said.
“It was a complete team effort and breathtaking to watch.
“The Malaysians were completely blown away and their very telling bowls at times were simply out played by our team.”
The green and gold representatives will also bring two further medals back to Australians shores, with Hayman and Twist each procuring a bronze medal in the blue-ribbon singles disciplines, after narrowly losing their semi-finals.
Earlier in the tournament, the mixed pairs combination of Millerick and Thulborn came close to tasting success, but were upended in the quarter-finals.
Australian based Norfolk Island representative Carmen Andersen took home the women’s singles golden medallion, defeating Malaysia’s reigning World Cup winner Siti Zalina Ahmad 14-10.
In the men’s singles, the final play-off was an all-Malaysian affair, with Mohd Fairus Jabal getting the better of Mohd Hizlee Rais 21-14.
The host nation secured their second gold medal in the mixed pairs, with Zulhilmie Redzuan-Nur Fidrah Noh defeating India’s Dinesh Kumar-Farzana Khan 19-11.
Bowls Australia congratulates Dawn Hayman, Bolivia Millerick, Ben Twist and Scott Thulborn on their success on the world stage.
