Plenty of chances for WA after day one
Weather more resembling a summer’s day greeted the best players around Australia for day one of the Nationals 2023 at Sorrento and Warwick today. Here’s a quick look at how our local stars fared…
Australian Champion of Champions
Both Jack East and Chris Ace-Watson remain well in contention after four rounds of the Champion of Champions event, with both sitting high on the ladder at the completion of day one.
East sits second on the table in a pack of players on two wins, however he does still have his bye tomorrow, meaning winning his two remaining matches will be crucial to his medal chances. Ace-Watson occupies third place behind Sam Ferguson and Laini McGorman who play in tomorrow’s first round of the day. Again, Ace-Watson does have the bye to negotiate, but similarly to East, two wins will see her well in play for a medal position.
Under-18s Championships
The combined WA/ACT fours combination provided the highlight for the day, with WA’s Drew Gunson and Sophie Hays, combining with ACT duo Abbey Boardman and Telara Edwards to qualify for the bronze medal match, however it wasn’t to be with the quartet finding SA too strong in the decider.
Charlotte Byfield bowed out in a tough section, but will be better for the experience gained against some great opponents, while the boys pairs and triples both won one game each but missed out on progressing to finals.
Para-Nationals
Eddie Gollan advanced to the quarter finals after surviving a close one in the first match of the day. Gollan now meets Victoria’s Grant Gibson at Warwick tomorrow morning starting at 8.45am.
In the women’s para-pairs, Diana Nixon and Jodie Nikolic won two games however a narrow first round loss to Louise Hoskins and Serena Bonnell saw them finish that one win short of progressing, while Lara-Jane Symons and Maud Taylor fought hard throughout the day, but missed out on moving any further.
David Stephen and Wayne Allsopp were another two to record two wins but unfortunately miss a finals berth on a countback to shots up. Stephen will now combine with Mick Garrett in tomorrow’s Open Pairs, and Wayne will combine with Travis Ellison, looking to progress to finals in that discipline.
All the results
Head to Bowls Australia’s Results Portal to check out all the event results.
Tomorrow
All the action continues tomorrow at Sorrento from 8.30am WST for the Champion of Champions and Under-18’s events, while the Para-Nationals continue at Warwick from 8.45am.
Get along and support all our great WA reps as they push for glory on home soil here at the Nationals 2023.
Check out Bowls Australia’s Facebook Page for all the live streaming details for tomorrow’s action
