Jackaroos advance to semis at Asia Pacific Championships
The Australian Jackaroos have booked a berth in all four of the initial disciplines on offer at the 19-nation Asia Pacific Championships in New Zealand. After three days of heated battle, the Australian Jackaroos have today secured direct passage to four semi-final encounters at the 19-nation Asia Pacific Championships.
The Jackaroos earned direct entry into the semis of the initial four disciplines on offer at the World Bowls Championships qualifier event following seven rounds on the Burnside and Papanui greens in Christchurch, with two disciplines retaining an unblemished record.
Blue-ribbon women’s singles representative Karen Murphy and the men’s triples line-up of Wayne Ruediger, Mark Casey and Aron Sherriff finished off their sectional rounds untarnished to put their entry into the business end of the competition beyond doubt.
While the men’s pairs team of international debutant Ray Pearse and experienced hand Nathan Rice encountered a slight hiccup in round five with a 17-19 loss to Malaysia, while the women’s fours team suffered the same fate to their country-mates the next round, 9-26, but both rebounded strongly to top their respective sections and procure automatic entry to the semis, avoiding the preliminary matches between second and third place finishers.
Australia’s 10 representatives each earn a moment of respite as a result, with the teams given the morning off to find out the fate of their opposition in the preliminary rounds, with the semi-finals set to commence at 1.00pm New Zealand time.
Murphy will wait to find out her next combatant, with the winner of Brunei and Malaysia’s preliminary round to advance, while on the other side of the draw Norfolk Island and Canada will do battle to play New Zealand.
The men’s pairs are schedule to come up against the victor of the USA v Canada preliminary game, while Malaysia will be pitted against Hong Kong to earn a spot against New Zealand.
The undefeated triples team will square off against the winner of Japan and Malaysia, and on the other side of the draw, Brunei and New Zealand will fight off to face Fiji.
Carla Odgers, Kelsey Cottrell, Anne Johns and Natasha Scott are set to face the winner of the New Zealand versus Philippines preliminary rubber in the women’s fours, whole Hong Kong China and Malaysia come up against each other in an attempt to advance to play USA.
Following the semi-final action, all 19 nations will enjoy a reprieve with a rest day on November 28, before the action switches to the alternate four disciplines on November 29, with finals for all eight disciplines scheduled for December 4 to 6.
Bowls Australia wish the Jackaroos the best of luck in the semi-finals tomorrow afternoon.
Asia Pacific Championships preliminary and semi-final matches:
Women’s Singles
Norfolk Island v Canada with winner to play NZ
Brunei v Malaysia with winner to play Australia (Karen Murphy)
Men’s Pairs
USA v Canada with winner to play Australia (Ray Pearse & Nathan Rice)
Malaysia v Hong Kong with winner to play NZ
Men’s Triples
Brunei v NZ with winner to play Fiji
Japan v Malaysia with winner to play Australia (Wayne Ruediger, Mark Casey & Aron Sherriff)
Women’s Fours
HK China v Malaysia with winner to play USA
NZ v Philippines with winner to Australia (Carla Odgers, Kelsey Cottrell, Anne Johns & Natasha Scott)
