Women’s pairs coming to the fore
The women’s paris draw are whittling down to the last eight teams today The women’s pairs draw at the $140,000 Australian Open started the day with a full complement of 32 teams, but will be whittled down to the last eight as the first and second rounds are completed in glorious sunshine at Darebin International Sport Centre.
Defending champions and Australian Jackaroos Lynsey Clarke and Kelsey Cotterell have safely progressed to the second round after a 15-6 win over Victorian’s Jan Hurst and Meredith Norton.
A full count on the eighth end helped Clarke and Cotterell extend their lead to six points and from here it was mostly smooth sailing as they rounded out their nine shot win.
They will now face Shirley de la Harpe and Debbie Howard in the second round, with most matches set to commence at 4.00pm.
The Malaysian duo of 2007 singles winner Siti Zalina Ahmad and Norhashima Ismail knocked out 2006 women’s singles winner Julie Keegan and Norfolk Island’s Carmen Anderson in a close fought first round match.
Locked at 11-11 after the fifteen ends, an extra end was required to determine the winner- where Ahmad and Ismail picked up a full count to secure their progression through the draw.
They will now face Natasha Scott and Anne Johns, who joined the Malaysian duo in the second round as they overcame Caroline Reilly and Kerry Baldacchino 23-5 in a touch short of an hour and a half.
Other winners in the first round of women’s pairs include Karen Sanders and Gaylene Elsworthy, Melissa Larcombe and Veronica Kelly, Jamie-lee Worsnop and Dawn Hayman and Sophie Young and Maria Rigby.
As play continues, key Australian players, and recipients of the wildcard into this event, Rebecca van Asch and Carla Odgers have been knocked out in the second round following a 6-20 loss to Judy Eddy and Claire Sanders.
Following their 16-9 win in their first round, Van Asch and Odgers had every reason to be optimistic about their chances in this year’s draw- but the Victorian duo Eddy and Sanders had other ideas.
Van Asch and Odgers won only four of fourteen ends en route to their early second round exit with both having the women’s fours competition to look forward to, albeit on separate teams, also starting at 4:00pm.
In the other rescheduled second round encounter, Rae Simpson and Lyn Quarrell defeated Bolivia and Cassandra Millerick 15-12.
Simpson and Quarrell finished the last three ends off strongly to come back from 10-12 to win with a three shot lead.
The rest of the women’s pairs second round matches will commence at 4:00pm.
Article provided to bowlsaustralia.com.au by Skye McTavish
Caption: Lynsey Clarke is progressing towards another pairs final
