Silver lining keeps Games hopes alive

by admin on July 18, 2013

Four Australian Jackaroos squad members are today counting their lucky stars after a silver lining announcement Four Australian Jackaroos squad members are today counting their lucky stars after a silver lining announcement has kept their hopes of a Commonwealth Games berth alive, despite missing selection for next month’s lead-up international event to the sport’s pinnacle competition.

Last week’s release of the 13-strong Jackaroos contingent who secured a boarding pass to the Eight-Nations Commonwealth Games Invitational in Scotland, held from August 26 to 30, framed the market for those likely to don the coveted green and gold uniform 11 months later in Glasgow, but a further four members remain with a glimmer of hope after the national selection panel today confirmed the athletes entrusted with representing Australia at the other two selected international events remaining this year.

Helensvale’s Lynsey Clarke (nee Armitage), Clayton’s Lisa Phillips, Raymond Terrace’s Matthew Baus and Wiseman Park Wollongong City’s Shane Garvey enter the fray from outside the team of the 13, selected to compete at the Asia Pacific Merdeka Championships in Malaysia, staged from October 1 to 6.

The announcement boasts added impetus for Phillips, 20, Baus, 24, and Garvey, 41, who will all make their international debut on the foreign soil, alongside 29 year-old, 239 game veteran and captain of the Jackaroos, Clarke.

The event has been a happy hunting ground for the nation in the past; with Aron Sherriff topping the singles dais of the US$50,000 tournament in 2011, while Claire Turley ended a memorable campaign in 2010 by claiming both the women’s singles and mixed pairs trophies, alongside the defending champion Anthony Keipe, who captured the 2009 silverware with Anne Johns.

Meanwhile, Baus has been granted a further chance to solidify a position as one of only five men chosen for the Commonwealth Games and will also take part in the Hong Kong Classic later in the year.

Baus set the competition alight last year alongside 31 year-old Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Barrie Lester, uniting to claim the men’s pairs crown, while Lester edged ahead in the singles discipline and the Australian pair ended with a one-two finish.

Also launching their global assault in Hong Kong from November 11 to 17 will be 22 year-old Victorian ace Carla Odgers and 23 year-old world champion Kelsey Cottrell.

Asia Pacific Merdeka Championships (Malaysia) team
Lynsey Armitage
Lisa Phillips
Matthew Baus
Shane Garvey

Hong Kong Classic team
Carla Odgers
Kelsey Cottrell
Matthew Baus (Defending pairs champion and singles runner-up)
Barrie Lester (Defending singles and pairs champion)
Caption: International debutant Lisa Phillips (left) will be guided by the experienced hand of Lynsey Clarke at the Asia Pacific Merdeka Championships.