Women’s singles turned on its head
The $225,000 Australian Open’s blue-ribbon women’s singles has been turned on its head this morning following the shock departures of Australian Jackaroos golden girls Karen Murphy and Natasha Scott.
The world champion pair were upstaged in the fourth round of the lucrative singles competition at Club Helensvale this morning, with Murphy gunned down by Georgia White 14-21 in the 8.30am session, while Scott also found her name among the casualty list in the proceeding 11.15am time-slot.
Fitzroy Victoria’s 17 year-old Tiffany Brodie claimed the biggest scalp of her career, in Australian Open fours winning skip Scott, when she turned a 1-9 deficit into a 21-17 victory to book a spot in this afternoon’s quarter-final bout from 2.15pm.
Brodie will look to extent her scintillating run in the quarter-final against three-time Western Australian State Singles champion Noelene Abe, with the winner to advance to the 5.00pm semi-final showdown, ahead of tomorrow’s live Fox Sports broadcast final at 11.00am.
The other quarter-final in Brodie’s half of the draw sees Maree Gibbs square off against Estelle Walsh.
White will attempt to continue her Australian Jackaroos defeating run in the next rubber, pitted against 2013 triples winner and former under-25 world champion Samantha Shannahan, who edged out Norfolk Island’s 1996 world singles champion Carmen Anderson 21-19.
In their half of the draw, NSW young-gun Ellen Ryan, who verges on selection for the Australian Jackaroos; which will be announced at the conclusion of the Australian Open, will be pitted against Malaysia’s Siti Zalina Ahmad, the 2007 Australian Open singles winner, in a blockbuster match-up.
The women’s singles quarter-finals will be staged at 2.15pm, with semi-finals held at 5.00pm and the men’s pairs semi-finals commencing at 6.00pm – all staged at Club Helensvale.
Caption: Fitzroy Victoria’s Tiffany Brodie in action this morning.