Jackaroos gather momentum at Worlds
The Australian Jackaroos have continued to pick up pace on the opening day of the 34-nation World Bowls Championships in New Zealand. The Australian Jackaroos were clinical in their second round encounters at the World Bowls Championships in New Zealand, earning a further three wins and a draw.
Despite a draw in the first round, the men’s triples team of Barrie Lester, Mark Casey and Aron Sherriff made their presence known at the coveted event, downing the host-nation 19-9 to power their way to the top of their section’s leaderboard.
The New Zealand Blackjacks’ Mike Nagy, Blake Signal and Ali Forsyth were highly fancied on their home decks, but are now precariously placed in eighth spot.
There’s a logjam of contenders at the top, given Namibia also tied with Malaysia in round one, with the Jackaroos 2 shots and 8 shots clear of those two respectively – with no nation able to secure two victories from two rounds.
The trio will face Samoa’s Ieremia Chris Salesa, Ioane John Petelo and Arthur Patrick Bell this afternoon to round out day one of the 12-day competition.
Their teammates, Brett Wilkie and Aaron Wilson, weren’t able to record successive victories in the men’s pairs, following their opening round victory against South Africa, but can take some solace away from their 14-all draw to Jersey’s Scott Ruderham and Malcolm De Sousa.
The draw provides 1 point, 2 points less than a win, and keeps the duo within the top three spots on the ladder of their section, leading into the last rubber for today – where they will need to be at the top of their game to better Scotland’s Alex Marshall and Paul Foster.
Marshall and Foster headline the section, on two wins and +23 shots, while Hong Kong China’s James Po and Tony Cheung are the only other undefeated team after they toppled the highly fancied Canadian pair of Steven Santana and the Gold Coast’s adopted son Ryan Bester.
In the women’s event, Karen Murphy continued her winning way and is now the only Jackaroo with an untarnished record.
Murphy was timed-out of her encounter with the United States of America’s Kim Heiser, with the scorecard reading 19-13 after the three-hour mark of the match.
Our defending titleholder is 10 shots clear of second-placed Kelly McKerihen, who is based out of Clayton, after McKerihen secured a sensational victory against New Zealand’s world champion Jo Edwards in this round.
Murphy’s third opponent is Kenya’s Susan Kariuki, who is yet to taste success at the event.
The women’s fours contingent of Carla Krizanic, Rebecca Van Asch, Natasha Scott and Kelsey Cottrell were quick to rebound from their opening rubber loss, powering past Namibia 29-13 to leap-frog up to fourth spot on the ladder; 8 shots clear of New Zealand, but a win away from Ireland, who is third.
A tantalising match-up against the Blackjacks’ Katelyn Inch, Angela Boyd, Kirsten Edwards, Val Smith is scheduled to wrap up their action on day one of the event from 1.45pm AEDT.
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.
Australia’s round two results:
Round 2: 10.15am – 1.15pm AEDT
Women’s singles (section 1): Australia (Karen Murphy) def United States of America (Kim Heiser) 19-13 (Fendalton)
Women’s fours (section 1): Australia (Carla Krizanic, Rebecca Van Asch, Natasha Scott, Kelsey Cottrell) def Namibia (Anjuleen Viljoen, Renetta de Kock, Marietjie van den Bergh, Lesley Vermeulen) 29-13 (Burnside)
Men’s pairs (section 1): Australia (Brett Wilkie, Aaron Wilson) drew Jersey (Scott Ruderham, Malcolm De Sousa) 14-14 (Burnside)
Men’s triples (section 1): Australia (Barrie Lester, Mark Casey, Aron Sherriff) def New Zealand (Mike Nagy, Blake Signal, Ali Forsyth) 19-9 (Burnside)
