Baus blows ’em away on debut in Malaysia

by admin on October 14, 2013

The opportunity to wear the green and gold of Australia in any sport is bestowed upon very few and in bowls, it is no different.
Before the recent Asia Pacific Merdeka Championships in Malaysia, there had only been 81 women and 137 men who have worn the national colours and been awarded their debut Australian ‘Cap’.
Two more bowlers made their international debut at Mederka, Raymond Terrace’s Matthew Baus (Cap No. 138) and Wiseman Park Wollongong City’s Shane Garvey (Cap No 139).
Baus and Garvey joined fellow Jackaroos Lynsey Clark and Rebecca Van Asch at the 8th Sime Darby Asia Pacific Merdeka Indoor Singles, Mixed Pairs and Mixed Fours Championships with great results across the board and three medals from the four disciplines played.
And it was our men’s singles player, 24 yearold Baus who stole the show at his international debut claiming the gold medal from Malaysia’s Mohd Fairuz 18-11 in difficult Malaysian conditions and claim the USD$5000 winners cheque.
Baus went through the championships undefeated winning all sectional comfortably (20-14, 21-6, 21-8, 21-4) en-route to the final round of matches and the gold medal playoff.
Van Asch represented Australia in the women’s singles and finished a credible 4th overall after she concluded her championships with a 21-5 victory over Singapore’s Shermeen Lim in the quarter finals while falling narrowly 11-16 in her semi-final over Malaysia’s Noorzafirah.
In her playoff for the bronze medal, Van Asch was no match for Malaysia’s Emma Firyana 9-21 to finish in 4th position.
The mixed pairs duo of Clarke and Garvey finished outside of the top four when the siren sounded on the championships while the entire travelling contingent in the mixed fours took home the bronze medal with a nail-biting 10-9 victory over one of the home Malaysian team combinations.