Wilton set to soar
Molly Wilton from Raymond Terrace Bowling Club has earned early favouritism for next week’s Australian Under-18 Championships and has the strong backing of Australia’s number ranked female bowler Natasha Scott. The stage is set for next week’s Australian Under-18 Championships with practice under-way for gold medal hopeful, New South Wales representative Molly Wilton from Raymond Terrace in what will be her final Australian Championships.
Wilton, who recently claimed a maiden Junior Golden Nugget Singles title, proved she will be hard to beat at this year’s championships having already prevailed in such a high quality field at Tweed Heads last month.
2015 will be the first year Wilton has played the coveted singles role for NSW and will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of last year’s champion and our current Australian Open Singles Champion Ellen Ryan.
Wilton, a previous silver medallist at the Australian Under-18 Championships says her goal was to be selected in the New South Wales team and to bring home her first Australian Under-18 gold medal.
Wilton has a tough first round encounter with Australian Open Hearing Impaired singles champion Tiffany Brodie (VIC), followed by fellow NSW/ACT NTC Squad member Jessica Hogan (ACT), and her last match of sectional play will be against South Australia’s Bailey Rafferty.
The rising star is coached by her favourite Australian Jackaroo and good friend Natasha Scott, our newly crowned Australian Champion of Champion singles winner, who says the youngster has been performing very well in past month and was topped off by her victory at the Junior Golden Nugget.
“Molly is very determined to put her best foot forward at the Australian Under-18 Championships and has been practicing over five hours a week on and off the green,” Scott said.
“To win gold at the upcoming championships would mean the world to Molly and be a great way to give back to her supporters, especially her parents who are wonderful supporters of their daughter.
“I have all the confidence in Molly that she will walk away from the Australian Under-18 Championships with dual gold medals for the singles and pairs.”
Wilton is no stranger to top level competitions having recently competed in the $225,000 Australian Open on the Gold Coast, the NSW state pennant finals, and this weekend coming she will make her debut for the New South Wales ladies team in the Drakes Pride Champions League in a non-capped state event.
As a member of the New South Wales Under-25 side, Wilton will join forces with some of Australia’s best female bowlers from the current open NSW side to compete in the world’s strongest club competition.
Their opponents will be mostly male sides from Sydney’s most elite clubs; Taren Point, Mount Lewis, St Johns Park, Cabramatta and Merrylands to name a few with the likes of Australia’s number one ranked male bowler Ryan Bester, Australia’s three-time International Bowler of the Year Aron Sherriff and National Coach Steve Glasson OAM all providing the women’s team the toughest of competition.
Wilton will be playing majority of the games for the Women’s Bowls NSW team and will kick start her campaign this Saturday against Dubbo before heading to Canberra to prepare for the Australian Under-18 Championships.
For more information on the Australian Under-18 Championships including the draw and schedule of play follow this link.
Caption- Molly Wilton is a strong contender in next week’s Australian Under-18 Championships
