Tough start for the Aussie’s in Hong Kong
None of the Australian’s have made it past day 1 at the Hong Kong International singles and will now hang their hopes on the Hong Kong Classic pairs. Australian squad members Carla Odgers, Kelsey Cottrell, Mathew Baus and Matthew Pietersen have commenced their Hong Kong International campaign; however it wasn’t the start the Australian’s were hoping for.
Due to inclement weather all men’s singles matches were forced indoors, however after an army of volunteers sponge dried the greens with towels the ladies singles got underway at the Craigengower Cricket Club.
Mathew Pietersen became the 140th male to represent Australia and his debut match was one to remember.
Pietersen was drawn to play on a green that even the locals dread playing on, however with heavy rain coming down over night the green was deemed unplayable; an hour before the match Pietersen was re-scheduled to a club on the mainland of Hong Kong and was forced to make his own way there having never been to Hong Kong before.
Donning on the green and gold for the first time against Hong Kong’s Martin Sham, Pietersen settled into the match and claimed it in a tie break; a score line that resembled a tennis match, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0.
Pietersen was the only Australian to advance to the third round however a tough showdown with Commonwealth Games silver medallist Muhammad Hizlee of Malaysia was standing in the way of a quarter finals berth.
Pietersen got out to an early lead in both sets; however the experience of the Malaysian proved tough to overcome in the penultimate ends with the Australian dropping multiple counts and therefore going down narrowly in both sets.
Defending Hong Kong International pairs champions Carla Odgers and Kelsey Cottrell are no strangers to foreign greens having previously competed in the Hong Kong Classic a combined six times and most recently competing in the northern hemisphere in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
Odgers, a semi-finalist in the singles event last year, met Hong Kong’s rising star Vivian Yip of the Hong Kong Youth Development Team in the opening round and it was the experienced Australian that prevailed.
In a high quality match that started six hours after the advertised starting time, Odgers claimed the match in straight sets after snatching two shots on the last end of the second set to prevent the match going into a tie break.
Odgers then traded blows with Hong Kong international Camilla Leung late into the night and it was the local that got the better of the Australian.
Odgers put the pressure on Leung but the international veteran had all the answers, playing numerous telling shots at crucial times in the match.
Mathew Baus fought hard in his opening match to overcome a first set defeat and go on to take the match in a tie break; however Baus then went down to an in form Stephen Sy in straight sets in round two.
Cottrell may have held the match for a brief second however it was quickly dislodged by her local opponent who then went on to win the tie break 2-1 and put Cottrell out of the competition in round one.
The Hong Kong Classic pairs gets underway Monday at midday AEDST and despite the forecast predicting the weather to clear up, the rain continues to fall in Hong Kong plummeting the greens below their average 11 seconds.
For scores throughout the day check out Bowls Australia’s Twitter page.
