Jackaroos duo topple Scotland’s world titleholders
Brett Wilkie and Aaron Wilson have concluded the opening day of the World Bowls Championships with a stunning victory over Scotland’s world pairs titleholders, Paul Foster and Alex Marshall. The Australian Jackaroos have capped off the opening day of the World Bowls Championships in Christchurch with seven wins, two draws and three losses from 12 rubbers, after adding a further two impressive victories to the tally in the third round this afternoon.
Experienced hand Brett Wilkie and fresh-faced Aaron Wilson set themselves up to feature prominently at the pointy end of the competition, after toppling the pre-tournament favorites to conclude the opening day’s play.
Wilkie, a 180 game elder statesmen of the team, and Wilson, who is riding the emotional waves of an international debut, took Scotland’s dual Commonwealth Games gold medallists, and defending world titleholders, Paul Foster and Alex Marshall by storm in the third rubber of the 34-nation event, claiming an impressive 16-11 victory.
The triumph places the duo in second spot on their section’s ladder at the conclusion of day one, with their two wins against South Africa and Scotland only slightly tarnished by a draw to Jersey.
The pair trail the undefeated Hong Kong China on the leaderboard, and are 1 point ahead of England, courtesy of their drawn result.
Their compatriots, Barrie Lester, Mark Casey and Aron Sherriff, also finished the day on a high note, overcoming Samoa’s Ieremia Chris Salesa, Ioane John Petelo and Arthur Patrick Bell by a slender 1 shot to pencil in their second victory for the day.
The trio are in the box seat going into the second day of play, on top of the standings with a 1 point lead over Jersey, courtesy of this morning’s opening rubber draw against the Channel Island nation.
While the men’s contingent ended with four wins and two draws between them, the women’s team’s result wasn’t quite as favorable, with a final standing of three wins and three losses.
After a clinical opening two rounds, Australia’s reigning singles champion, Karen Murphy came unstuck in the third rubber, to the then winless Kenyan, Susan Kariuki, 16-21, which saw her plummet from top of the ladder to fourth.
Canada’s Kelly McKerihen, who is based out of Clayton in Melbourne, is the only player with an unblemished record – and is set to encounter Murphy in the fifth round at lunchtime tomorrow.
The nation’s women’s fours hopefuls, Carla Krizanic, Rebecca Van Asch, Natasha Scott and Kelsey Cottrell, were relegated to just the one win from three starts.
The quartet are stranded in sixth spot, one game behind fifth-placed Namibia and two games shy of second-placed Ireland, after a 1 shot loss to Wales in the opening round and an 8 shot defeat by the host nation’s Blackjacks.
The men’s pairs and triples, and women’s singles and fours, will play a further six sectional rubbers over the next two days, with post-sectional and semi-final rounds set to commence on Friday.
Click here to view the full men’s results from the 2016 World Bowls Championships.
Click here to see the complete women’s results from the event.
Click here to view the Australian Jackaroos full schedule of play and keep up-to-date with all Bowls Australia news from the 2016 World Bowls Championships.
Australian Jackaroos round three results:
Round 3: 1.45pm – 4.45pm AEDT
Women’s singles (section 1):Australia (Karen Murphy) lost to Kenya (Susan Waruguru Kariuki) 17-21 (Fendalton)
Women’s fours (section 1): Australia (Carla Krizanic, Rebecca Van Asch, Natasha Scott, Kelsey Cottrell) lost to New Zealand (Katelyn Inch, Angela Boyd, Kirsten Edwards, Val Smith) 13-21 (Burnside)
Men’s pairs (section 1): Australia (Brett Wilkie, Aaron Wilson) def Scotland (Paul Foster, Alex Marshall) 16-11 (Burnside)
Men’s triples (section 1): Australia (Barrie Lester, Mark Casey, Aron Sherriff) def Samoa (Ieremia Chris Salesa, Ioane John Petelo, Arthur Patrick Bell) 15-14 (Burnside)
Australian Jackaroos sectional ladders after three rounds:
Women’s singles (s1): 1st Canada (3 wins, 0 draw, +16 shots), 2nd Netherlands (2, 0, 20), 3rd New Zealand (2, 0, 17), 4th Australia (2, 0, 16)
Women’s fours(s1): 1st Wales (3 wins, 0 draw, +16 shots), 2nd Ireland (3, 0, 8), 3rd New Zealand (2, 0, 15), 4th Singapore (2, 0, -7), 5th Namibia (2, 0, -7), 6th Australian (1, 0, 7)
Men’s pairs (s1): 1st Hong Kong China (3 wins, 0 draw, +24 shots), 2nd Australia (2, 1, 11), 3rd England (2, 0, 27)
Men’s triples (s1): 1st Australia (2 wins, 1 draw, +11 shots), 2nd Jersey (2, 0, 22), 3rd Ireland (2, 0, 16)
