Tasmanians unable to maintain momentum
The Tasmanian team failed to reproduce its dominant display of day one in the Australian Super 6 series, having to settle for silver in the men’s singles and triples and the women’s triples, as Glen ‘Boxer’ Stephens reports for the Burnie Advocate. It turned out to be a disappointing day for the Tassie side, who had high hopes of securing at least one gold medal, but it was not to be. After early morning rains, all matches were played in wet and heavy conditions. In the men’s singles, former Victorian and now Tasmanian representative Lee Schraner could not get his game going at any stage against former teammate and 20-year-old Australian Jackaroo squad member Dylan Fisher, going down 21-13. It was a disappointing game for Schraner, who had won his way into the gold medal final with a brilliant display on day one, disposing of three very high-class bowlers. In the men’s triples the Tasmanian team of Adam White, Simon Zaporozec and Chris Dudman were well in contention for most of the game against Aaron Wilson, Brett Foley and Barrie Lester, from Victoria, and after 13 ends were leading 10-9. The loss of a four followed by a two gave the Victorians the impetus they needed, and they went into the last end with Tasmania needing to score five shots to win, which was an impossible task against such strong opposition. The women’s triples team of Jenny Redshaw, Erin Sesara and Maureen Zoon were always on the back foot in their gold medal game against the ACT. Against opposition Nicole Mengel, Ruth Moore and Lois Waters, the Tassie women went down 11-18. The team played well but could not bridge the gap opened up early in the game by the ACT, although they did get within three shots at the half way mark. In the playoff for bronze in the ladies pairs, it was the Northern Territory who prevailed, winning 20-13 against Tasmanians Nicole Smith and Kim Saunders. The final results saw Victoria win three gold, New South Wales 2 and the ACT 1. All the attention will now focus on the Australian Sides Championships beginning this morning. The Tasmanian side could hardly have received a worse draw, as they have to contend with the strong Queensland side in the first game and Victoria in the afternoon, but their strong showing in the Super 6s means they will go into these games knowing they can match it with anyone. The Australian Side Championships start today from 9.00am. Caption: Tasmania were left in to watch in awe as Victoria soared high
