Champs remain unscathed to continue Indoor defence
Undisputed queen of the Australian Indoor Championships, Karen Murphy and defending titleholder Tony Wood have both survived thrilling opening rubber encounters to remain alive in the $30,000 tournament at Tweed Heads. Murphy extended her winning streak to 16 at the event, having claimed the past three trophies, but it wasn’t without a fight. The multiple world champion eased her way through the opening set, 8-2, but uncharacteristically, found herself trailing 0-8 after 5 ends in the second set. As it often does in sport, momentum quickly shifted, and soon enough Murphy had piled on a seemingly impossible 8 shots over the last four ends to split the set and escape the dreaded tie-break scenario. Having only recently returned to Australian shores with a Commonwealth Games silver medal around her neck, Murphy said she was a tad rusty on the quick pace of the indoor carpet. “It was probably a lack of touch and a lack of playing on this pace that hurt me,” Murphy said. “I lost my concentration at about the third or fourth end of the second set, which made me lose confidence as well, but I never thought that I couldn’t win the second set. “It just took a couple of good ends and away I went. “That’s the beauty and detriment of sets play, even if you are eight-nil down, there’s always a chance of coming back so I was never worried about losing the second set.” Clayton’s Tony Wood also narrowly avoided being lined up by the cross-hairs that often targets defending champions, earning passage in the second round after a tie-break victory over Brodie Turner 7-6, 5-11, 4-1. Past event winner, Brett Wilkie, who won in 2010, also remains alive in the men’s draw, as does former English International David Holt, while New Zealand Blackjack ace Ali Forsyth was the biggest casualty of the round one warfare. The women’s side of the draw remains laden with talent, given young guns Ellen Ryan and Jamie-Lee Worsnop, from NSW, Natasha Jones, from Queensland, and Chloe Stewart, from Victoria, all progressed. Click here for more information on the 2014 Australian Indoor Championships at Tweed Heads Bowls Club. Day 1 results: 2014 Australian Indoor Championship Tweed Heads Bowls Club, NSW August 18-21, 2014. Men’s Singles : Round 1: Michael ABEL bt Simon ALDEN 8-8 9-9 3-2, Alan HURST bt Josh MABB 7-6 7-7, Andrew HOWIE bt Geoff HARDING 11-3 11-1, Brett WILKIE bt Jared HAMILTON 9-9 10-5, William McILWAIN bt Mick CARLEY 8-13 8-4 4-0, Steve HALMAI bt Steve GRANT 1-11 9-4 3-1, Neville BROWN bt Des CANN 5-4 4-10 2-1, David HOLT bt Eric COPELAND 10-8 12-3, Chad TWENTYMAN bt Ali FORSYTH 12-7 11-8, Tony WOOD bt Brodie TURNER 7-6 5-11 4-1, Andrew REES bt Rob WILSON 5-12 9-6 4-1, Barrie LESTER bt Steve DOUGLAS 11-6 11-3 Women’s Singles : Round 1: Janine KATON bt Colleen ORR 12-4 3-9 4-1, Kathryn CLERKE fw Sharyn RENSHAW , Natasha JONES bt Monika DUFF 5-8 8-5 3-2, Ellen RYAN bt Leisa PARSONS 8-6 14-3, Jamie-Lee WORSNOP bt Christine KEEP 10-2 11-1, Kristy THATCHER bt Debbie HOWARD 7-8 9-4 3-2, Chloe STEWART bt Julie DEAN 7-4 7-7, Sarah BODDINGTON bt Lynn BAKER 11-3 10-6, Rechelle COLE bt Yvonne BEKERIS 12-0 11-2, Deby BRIEN fw Robyn BEAUMONT , Karen MURPHY bt Jenny TIRANT 8-2 8-8, Christina PAVLOV bt Heidi MUNGOVEN 8-6 8-3
