Scottish world champion among the fallen
Some big wins to Australia’s best known names, and a shock defeat to a current international world Champion, have headlined a lively first session of the second day of the 2014 Australian Open. 2009 men’s singles champion and one of the pre-tournament favourites, Brett Wilkie, has eased his way into the third round as men’s singles second round action got underway this morning. Following last year’s shock first round defeat, Wilkie was clinical in his performance this time around, as he booked his third round ticket with a 21-7 win over Neville Wood-Bradley. Wilkie was rarely challenged throughout the match, but a Wood-Bradley full count on the thirteenth end tightened the score up before Wilkie ran away with the match, scoring eight on the last three ends. Wilkie’s third round opponent, Sean Ingham, defeated Nathan Pederson 21-4. Wilkie’s Helensvale teammate Nathan Rice has also booked his spot in the third round following a 21-41 win over Perry Vaccaro. Rice lead for most of the match as a consistent performance saw him secure the win in a touch over two hours. Two time champion, Leif Selby, who won the event in 2008 and 2011, won his way through to the third round with a 21-19 win over Brendan Hoey. A strong start was enough to get Selby ahead for the first fifteen ends, however Hoey was able to win the next ten to put the pressure on the current world number one. A three count on the second to last end drew Selby in to the lead, leaving him an attainable one shot from victory. Selby will now face Des Cann Jnr in the next round. Another name bowls enthusiasts are familiar with is, Adelaide’s Scott Thulborn, is also through to the third round. Thulborn backed up his first round men’s singles win over Bob Watt, progressing to the third round with an emphatic 21-3 win over Moonee Ponds youngster Winston Brackley. Thulborn, star of the APL side Adelaide Endurance and two time South Australian Player of the Year, raced to a 20-0 lead before conceding a three shot end to extend the match to a fourteenth and final end – when he secured the single shot required for victory. Thulborn will now face young gun Nathan Wilson, who has sensationally defeated Scottish champion Graeme Archer in a shock upset. Wilson grabbed the lead from the beginning and was unwilling to relinquish it as he ran out a 21-16 win over the Melbourne-based Archer, who took part in last year’s inaugural APL competition. Archer’s defeat is a big blow as he looks to secure a spot in Scotland’s team for this year’s Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Title hopeful Barrie Lester had a tougher test on his hands as he secured a hard fought 21-20 win over Peter Freestone in a little under two hours. After a strong start, Lester struggled to stamp his authority on the match as Freestone worked his way to 8-8 on the thirteenth end. From here, Freestone took the lead until strong twentieth and twenty-first ends from Lester opened up a five shot lead. Freestone was ahead coming into the final end; however a two shot count was enough to secure Lester, who is looking to win this event after falling in the final five times, a third round berth. He will now face Peter Ellul who also came through a close match with a 21-18 win over Garry Ball. Matthew Baus has also won through to the third round by defeating Dale Marsland 21-15 in today’s first session. In a twenty-nine end long marathon, full of one and two shot counts, Baus remained ahead even as his opponent battled to stay in touch. Baus will now face Queensland bowler Joel Andersen. It took Australian Jackaroo Wayne Ruediger only an hour to brush aside Mark Pickworth 21-7 in a dominating performance by the South Australian in good conditions at Darebin. Ruediger breezed through the early stages of the the encounter, breaking away to a 12-0 lead. A strong eight end from Pickworth tightened things up somewhat before Ruediger once again showed the class that has gotten him selected in the squad to take on New Zealand in next month’s …
