Australian Under-18 Championships ready roll
Australian Under-18 Championships at Holdfast Bay will commence today as long as Mother Nature turns off the taps! Mother Nature hasn’t been kind to Adelaide this week; however that won’t over shadow the amazing talent on show at the 2016 Australian Under-18 Championships at Holdfast Bay from September 30 to October 3.
Despite the excessive rain, state-wide power outages and the greens at Holdfast Bay spending the best part of three days completely under water, the Australian Under-18 Championships will commence today at 4pm, of course weather permitting.
The weather has vetoed 80 of Australia’s brightest young stars the opportunity to practice ahead of the prestigious national championships, with the green keepers forced to keep the greens closed in order to be ready for the first match this evening.
The brightest young stars will go head-to-head in the state verse state competition over four days of competition; five girls and five boys from each state and territory will contest two events each, with medals for disciplines and overall state trophies awarded on the final day.
Queensland dominated the 2015 Australian Under-18 Championships in the Nation’s Capital, claiming the boys, girls and overall winning state trophies to accompany the swag of medals the maroons collected throughout the championships; however a year later and there are plenty of state and territories ready to challenge the sunshine state for gold in what will be a hotly contested event.
The rain won’t hurt the chances of the Victorian contingent who are led by Australian Under-18 Squad member Tayla Morrison and 17 year old whiz kid Curtis Hanley.
Curtis Hanley was relatively unknown outside Victorian borders prior to his remarkable runner-up performance at the recent Australian Indoor Championships at Tweed Heads; however the future star has now jumped into the national fold upon booking himself a ticket in the 2017 World Cup.
Hanley will line up in the green and gold alongside Australian Indoor Champion Jeremy Henry, the three-time World Cup Champion had already booked a place in the 2017 World Cup field as defending champion.
Hanley will face stern competition in the boy’s singles with Commonwealth Youth Games gold medallist Jono Davis (NSW) aiming for back-to-back national singles titles, Australian Under-18 Squad member and home town favourite Josh Studham (SA) and Australian Under-18 representative Jacob Nelson (QLD) all standing in the way of Hanley’s swan song finish in the junior ranks.
In the girl’s competition, watch out for National Training Centre Squads members Tayla Morison (VIC) who will skip the Vic’s in the pairs and fours, Jessica Hogan (ACT), Jessie Cottell (QLD) and Makayla Fuller (TAS) who will all contest the singles and pairs.
It will be hard to look past the home crowd favourites South Australia to be in contention for medals, in particular current National Pairs Champions Joshua Studham and Tyson Wilson who claimed the red’s only gold medal at the 2015 championships.
South Australia has drawn Queensland, ACT and Victoria in sectional play whilst the other half of the draw will see NSW, TAS, NT, WA and the combined WA/NT team in the girl’s field.
Due to Western Australia and Northern Territory joining forces in the girls competition, South Australia have fielded a further five female players to compete in place of the bye; a great opportunity for SA’s developing players to taste national competition even though on this occasion their points will not count.
The weather will not put a dampener on the annual Australian Under-18 Championships, so get down to Holdfast Bay to watch 80 of Australia’s finest young players in action over the next four days.
To follow the results click here.
Bowls Australia would like to acknowledge the assistance and funding provided by the Australian Commonwealth Games Association to Bowls Australia for athletes in the 2016 NextGEN AUSComGames Squad program.
NextGEN AUSComGames was devised by the ACGA to provide assistance to junior players who have been identified as potential 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games, and/or 2018 or 2022 Commonwealth Games level athletes.
Caption- Play will get under-way at the Australian Under-18 Championships today at 4pm weather permitting
