Ambivalent emotions in Glasgow
It was a morning of mixed emotions for the Australian Jackaroos in Glasgow; the green and gold contingent confirmed the colour of their first medallion as bronze, both men’s disciplines earned the opportunity to progress past sectional rounds, but the women’s team will now pin their hopes of glory solely on their second disciplines after finishing outside the top two on the count back. Joy Forster (with director Bruce Jones) and Tony Scott (accompanied by director, brother Peter) now boast the distinguished title of Commonwealth Games bronze medallists, after securing the nation’s inaugural lawn bowls medal for Australia in the Vision Impaired Mixed Pairs. In a heated trans Tasman tussle it took until the 12th end for either team to establish any slither of breathing room, with scores level 9-all after 11, when Australian poached the lead with 3 followed by successive single counts to all but confirm their place in the history books. “We’re pretty happy, it’s been a long time coming with a lot of hours put in, lots of practice, and lots of camps, we’re really happy,” said skip Tony Scott, after mitigating New Zealand’s last end to only 2 shots to record a 14-11 win. “It was a good tournament, we had some nerves early, then a great match against Wales, and we were confident today as we’d beaten New Zealand in the Trans Tasman earlier this year.” “It’s been a wonderful experience and the match today could have gone either way. “We struggled with the slow greens a bit but we can relax for a couple of days now,” said a jubilant Joy Forster. “We really are feeling tops. I’d like to thank everyone who has supported us, ABBA (Australian Blind Bowlers Association) and definitely Bowls Australia who have been wonderful with their support,” said Bruce Jones. Both men’s able-bodied disciplines, the pairs and triples, have escaped their sectional encounters with an unblemished record, sitting pretty on top of their pools, and are now just three wins away from golden glory. The triples outfit of Wayne Ruediger, Nathan Rice and Matthew Flapper have fought off the acclaimed Malaysian team 17-15 in the fifth round and will now square off against Jersey in the quarter-final from 1.45am AEST. Given the closeness in standings between England, Malaysia and Australia, the final rubber boasted added impetus, as anything less than victory would have relegated them to third place. National Coach Steve Glasson was quick to ground the team in reality though, making it abundantly clear that their task is far from complete yet. “It’s fantastic to progress through to the finals undefeated, but in reality it means very little now with effectively all teams starting level again,” Glasson said. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy but we still have a job to do. “Our boys were good and have been solid all tournament, if they play their best they can go all the way.” Their national teammates Brett Wilkie and Aron Sherriff also produced a convincing win to advance to the elimination stage. Pitted against second-placed Namibia, the world champion duo demonstrated why they are so highly regarded internationally, careering out to a 23-3 lead before the African nation put some respectability into the scoreboard in the closing stages to see the match finish 25-10. The final results sees Australia with four wins from as many matches with a shot differential of +46, with a rematch between the two countries confirmed for the quarter-final. While nine medals are still up for grabs over the course of the competition, only seven remain attainable by Australia after the women’s singles and fours failed to progress. Kelsey Cottrell was left ruing what might have been, after overcoming short prized Scottish favourite Caroline Brown 21-11 in the last heat, only to find out afterwards that she missed a spot in the quarters by a slender 2 shots on the count back. Wales’ Caroline Taylor cemented to the second post-sectional position, to Brown, with an aggregate of +20 shots to …
