Drawing closer to the pointy end
It’s getting to the business end of the women’s singles draw as the third round was competed this afternoon with eight bowlers remaining in contention for the prestigious national title, worth $18,000 in prize-money. A convincing 21-12 win to defending champion Lisa Phillips has kept alive her chances of being the first bowler to win three national titles, as she looks forward to an enticing quarterfinal match-up against Jackaroo Claire Turley. Phillips’ defeat of fellow Melbourne local Jan Hurst started well as she got out to a 6-0 lead in almost no time at all. She remained in control for the rest of the match and finished it off with a single shot on the twenty-third end. Her quarterfinal opponent, Claire Turley, had an equally smooth third round win as she defeated Noelene Dutton 21-9 in 70 minutes. Turley, returning to competition for the first time since giving birth to her newborn daughter, was never challenged in the match, completing the win in only fourteen ends. Should Phillips win and continue on to take the championship, the 20 year old will also become the first woman to win back-to-back titles at this event, In another appealing quarter final draw, youth will meet experience as Helensvale legend and Australian captain Lynsey Clarke won through to a match against NSW young gun Natalie Noronha. 18 year old Noronha, a NSW National Training Centre member, was the first woman through to the quarter-finals after a 21-9 win over Tuncurry’s Sarah Boddington in just over an hour. After dropping the first end, Noronha built momentum, quickly collecting solid counts of multiple shots- including a full count on the thirteenth end. Noronha will also be featuring in the first round of the women’s fours event this afternoon. Clarke, the 2012 singles and triples champion and 2013 pairs winner, had a slow start in her match against Jennylyn Tirant, going down 8-1 after nine ends en route to a 21-14 win. A strong performance in the fifteenth through eighteenth ends saw Clarke grab the lead and a final two ends of three shots each helped her secure her place in the quarter final. Perhaps the most interesting of the matchups is between two of the pre tournament favourites, Cabramatta club mates and close friends Kay Moran and 2013 runner up Karen Murphy- who will headline tomorrow morning’s quarter-finals after both won their third round match-ups. Australian star and world number one Murphy continued her quest to win an elusive Australian Open women’s singles title with a 21-6 defeat of Rebecca McMahon taking her into the quarter final against Commonwealth Games silver medallist Moran. Murphy and Moran played together, and won, the 2011 Australian Open women’s pairs title and 2009 triples crown and this match promises to be an exciting spectacle between two superstars of the game. The two have also played against each other at this venue at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, when Murphy’s Australia beat Moran’s Scotland in the gold medal match. Moran’s third round match, a two hour and fifteen minute marathon in hot conditions, against Dawn Hayman saw the Australia A squad member keep control of the lead to win 21-15, defying a spirited Hayman who refused to be beaten easily. Malaysian qualifier Emma Saroji defeated 2009 singles champion Kelsey Cottrell in contentious circumstances as the match was timed out at 3:45pm. Leading 20-17, the forced conclusion of the match saw Saroji progress without reaching 21, and Cottrell-a pre-tournament favourite- dumped out. There has not been an international winner in the women’s singles since Scotland’s Joyce Lindores claimed the 2010 crown. Saroji’s next opponent, Anne Johns, had a fight on her hands in her 21-19 win over 2008 Australian Open women’s singles champion Katrina Wright. In a close-fought match with multiple lead changes, Johns came back from a weak period in the middle to overrun her opponent by two shots. Nine of the 16 women to have taken part in the third round were from New …
