Home town heroes chance of redemption
Paul Girdler (Tweed Heads) and Carla Odgers (Sunbury) are the first male and female to reach tomorrow’s Australian Indoor Championships final at Tweed Heads. In the first of the men’s semi-finals, home town hero Paul Girdler reigned supreme over Western Australian star Tom Mitchell and can now focus on going one step further than his previous runner-up performance.
The New Zealand international was in absolute crushing form showing how familiar he is with the TV rink, located just five metres away from his office here at Tweed Heads Bowls Club.
The Bowls Co-ordinator was on song from start to finish and has booked himself a spot in his second Australian Indoor Championships final only three years since his last appearance.
Tom Mitchell, a Perth Suns star from APL02, was gallant in defeat and despite suffering a 4-12 defeat in the first set; Mitchell fought his way back into the match and was just millimetres away from taking the game into a deciding tie-break.
Paul Girdler was asked in his post-match interview with Bowls Australia commentator Barrie Lester whether he would prefer to meet former champion Jeremy Henry or Australian Open Singles Champion Aaron Teys in the tomorrow’s final.
“Young Aaron Teys has been in fantastic form of late winning the Australian Open Singles and has played really well during the first three rounds here at Tweed Heads; Jeremy is a class player and has won the Australian Indoor before,” said the undecided finalist.
“I think because of Aaron’s recent form I’d lean towards Jeremy, however I know what both players are capable of on the carpet coming from Warilla.”
Victorian Carla Odgers will contest her first Australian Indoor Championships final after her stunning semi-final victory over last year’s champion Jamie Lee Worsnop.
Odgers, who was a member of the winning Australian Open Fours team this year, is finding plenty of success in Queensland and now has the opportunity to add a maiden Australian Indoor Championships title to her ever expanding list of achievements when she meet’s the winner of Lynsey Clarke and Sarah Boddington in tomorrow’s final.
Upon reflection of her semi-final performance Odgers recalled the importance of her final bowl of the first set; Odgers managed to convert a head in her favour and salvaging a draw that proved to be a turning point in the match.
Odgers started the second set with plenty of confidence and dominated the rink; the 9-1 score-line was not a reflection of how Worsnop was playing but can be contributed to the attacking style of play Odgers adopted that proved deadly.
Odgers, a thrilled champion said she is looking forward to contesting her first Australian Indoor final.
“I’m really happy with how I played in the semi-final, I found some good rhythm and I can now go into the final with confidence that I can play well on the TV rink,” said the current Australian Jackaroo.
The second women’s semi-final to get underway at 2pm today will feature Australian Jackaroos Captain and Gold Coast local Lynsey Clarke, whilst 23 year old Sarah Boddington will make her first ever appearance on a television rink.
Tomorrow morning at 9am, the much anticipated showdown between Warilla stars and good mates Jeremy Henry and Aaron Teys will decide who will take on Paul Girdler for the ultimate $6000 first prize.
To watch the remaining semi-final matches and tomorrow two finals live, tune into the free live streaming available through the Bowls Australia website; click here to catch a glimpse of the action live from Tweed Heads.
