Asia Pacific blockbuster rolls out on Gold Coast

THE first stanza of this year’s Asia Pacific Bowls Championships in Queensland rolled off in postcard perfect conditions today with a solid diet of men’s pairs and triples, along with women’s singles and fours.

Competitors eyeing off medals from next Saturday’s play-offs seek a top three placing in their section, while others will be content to finish in the best six to qualify their country for a title tilt at next year’s world championships on Australia’s Gold Coast.

These Asia Pacific Championships feature nineteen bowling nations from the Asian and Oceania theatres at three host clubs– Club Helensvale, Musgrave Hill and headquarters at Broadbeach.

Three entertaining sessions jam-packed with adrenalin-charged bowls was the consensus of opinion from opening day. And there was no shortage of good and hard luck stories from the today’s action on Australia’s holiday playground.

No doubt the biggest news flash came from Broadbeach where China’s previously unheralded Miao Xin Hong stole the show from Australian superstar Kelsey Cottrell, a world and Commonwealth Games gold medalist, in their Round 2 singles encounter.

Trailing the Aussie great 14-9 after 13 ends, Xin Hong embarked on a scoring spree of two three’s and three two’s, while conceding just two singles to pull off the biggest win of her short but promising career.

Be assured there will be many more thrills and spills to share before time is called on this event.

Four years ago at New Zealand’s Burnside club in suburban Christchurch, when the most-recent Asia Pacific Championships were conducted, Australia’s women’s fours team of skipper Natasha Scott, Anne Johns, Kelsey Cottrell and Carla Krizanic blasted out a warning when they demolished the host nation 30-10 in a semi final then a keen USA quartette 28-7 in the gold medal match.

Since then, with a couple of personnel tweaks, the Aussies have blitzed the women’s rinks game at top level.

At Burnside in the 2016 world championships Cottrell, Krizanic, Bec Van Asch (replacing new mum Johns) and Scott defeated England 23-8 in the fours final, while Krizanic, Scott and Van Asch won the triples against Wales 17-6.

Two years later the juggernaut rolled on at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games when Cottrell, Krizanic, Van Asch and Scott won fours gold 18-16 against South Africa, while Krizanic, Scott and Van Asch added another back-to-back gold beating England 16-13.

This time around, with Kelsey Cottrell occupying the blue ribbon singles spot, Australia’s selectors have opted for the experienced Lynsey Clarke – a world and Commonwealth Games champion in her own right – to fill the awesome foursome’s vacant slot.

No doubt this star-studded Aussie combo will attract a mountain of local support as these championships unfold.

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2019 Asia Pacific Championships, Gold Coast, Australia

Day 1:

Men’s pairs:

Sec.1: Rd.1: CAN (Rob Law, Ryan Bester) bt JPN (Ken Emura, Jun Koyama) 22-15, HKC (Imen Tang, Tony Cheung) bt SAM (Iva Tiatia, Avala Savaiinaea) 26-7, NZL (Shannon McIlroy, Gary Lawson) bt CHI (Mao Young Min, Liu Guo Qiang) 16-14, NFI (John Christian, Barry Wilson) bt FIJ (Rajnesh Prasad, David Aitcheson) 20-12. Rd.2: PHI (Hommer Mercado, Angelo Morales) bt JPN 17-10, CAN bt CHI 22-10, HKC bt FIJ 18-14, NZL bt SAM 27-11, Rd.3: NZL bt PHI 20-9, NFI bt CHI 26-8, SAM bt FIJ 21-16, JPN bt HKC 21-15.

Current standings: NEW ZEALAND 9 points +29 shots, NFI 9 +26, CAN 6 +19, HKC 6 +17, PHI 3 -4, JPN 3 -8, SAM 3 -30, FIJ 0 -17, CHI 0 -32.

Sec.2: Rd.1: AUS (Ray Pearse, Nathan Rice) bt MAC (Ricky Poon, Alvin Leung) 35-7, MAS (Izzat Dzulkeple, Fairul Muin) bt NIU (Gregory Funaki, Dalton Tagelagi) 38-7, IND (Anand Nazary, Mirdul Borgohain) bt SIN (Matthew Ngui, Melvin Tan) 16-12, PNG (Jo Morgan, Matu Bazo) bt USA (Scott Roberts, Neil Furman) 20-10. Rd.2: THA (Naret Aiangetuen, Koko Ontong) bt NIU 21-14, MAS bt MAC 35-1, AUS bt PNG 32-7, IND bt USA 16-9. Rd.3: USA bt NIU 15-14, PNG bt IND 21-11, MAC bt SIN 15-12, THA drew AUS 17-17,

Current standings: AUSTRALIA 7 points +53 shots, MAS 6 +65, IND 6 +1, PNG 6 -5, THA 4 +7, USA 3 -16, MAC 3 -59, SIN 0 -7, NIU 0 -39.

Men’s triples:

Sec.1: Rd.1: NZL (Mike Kernaghan, Jamie Hill, Ali Forsyth) bt THA (Patawee Montien, Sonthi Manakitpaiboon, Thanakrit Thammasarn) 19-11, HKC (Adrian Yau, Lyndon Sham, James Po) bt FIJ (Kushal Pillay, Abdul Kalim, Semesa Naiseruvati) 19-13, IND (Navneet Singh, Sunil Bahadur, Dinesh Kumar) bt MAS (Soufi Rusli, Hizlee Rais, Ijoi Redzuan) 15-12, CAN (Pat Bird, Greg Wilson, Cameron Lefresne) bt NFI (Teddy Evans, Matt Bigg, Ryan Dixon) 19-7. Rd.2: NFI bt MAC (Chris Chiu, Eric Li, Johnny Ng) 25-10, FIJ bt IND 17-16, NZL bt HKC 22-9, CAN bt MAS 15-14. Rd.3: MAS bt THA 27-6, NZL bt MAC 21-8, IND bt CAN 19-8, HKC bt NFI 18-12.

Current standings: NEW ZEALAND 9 points +34 shots, IND 6 +13, CAN 6 +2, HKC 6 -1, MAS 3 +17, NFI 3 -3, FIJ 3 -5, MAC 0 -28, THA 0 -29.

Sec.2: Rd.1: AUS (Barrie Lester, Aaron Teys, Aron Sherriff) bt SIN (Anthony Loh, Heng Heck Pang, Bernard Foo) 18-11, PNG (John Roika, Peter Juni, Freddy Koesan) bt SAM (Solomona Faamaoni, Hans Junior Gabriel, Fiu Peni Asi) 19-9, USA (Bill Brault, Aaron Zangl, Loren Dion) bt NIU (Bill Vakaafi Morufoou, Mark Blumsky, Stan Tafatu) 32-4, CHI (Meng Zhao Qian, Zhang Bao Cheng, Ye Sui Ying) bt JPN (Hirokazu Mori, Hank Sato, Kenta Hasebe) 17-14. Rd.2: PHI (Elmer Abatayo, Robert Guarin, Chris Dagpin) bt CHI 20-7, AUS bt SAM 40-5, JPN bt SIN 19-12, PNG bt NIU 30-7. Rd.3: AUS bt PHI 19-11, USA bt SIN 16-14, SAM bt NIU 21-12, CHI bt PNG 16-11.

Current standings: AUSTRALIA 9 points +50 shots, USA 6 +30, PNG 6 +28, CHI 6 -5, PHI 3 +5, JAP 3 +4, SAM 3 -36, SIN 0 -16, NIU 0 -60.

Women’s singles:

Sec.1: Rd.1: AUS (Kelsey Cottrell) bt PNG (Catherine Wimp) 21-11, CAN (Kelly McKerihen) bt NIU (Pauline Rex Blumsky) 21-4, MAS (Siti Zalina Ahmad) bt CHI (Miao Xin Hong) 21-8, THA (Sue Bryant) bt MAC (Bell Chan) 21-5, FIJ (Litia Tikoisuva) bt PHI (Ainie Knight) 21-7. Rd.2: CAN bt FIJ 21-17, MAS bt NIU 21-4, PNG bt MAC 21-5, CHI bt AUS 21-16, THA bt PHI 21-13. Rd.3: AUS bt THA 21-16, FIJ bt NIU 21-4, MAS bt MAC 21-3, PHI bt CHI 21-10, PNG bt CAN 21-20.

Current standings: MALAYSIA 9 points +48 shots, FIJ 6 +27, CAN 6 +20, THA 6 +19, AUS 6 +10, PNG 6 +7, PHI 3 -11, CHI 3 -19, MAC 0 -50, NIU 0 -51.

Sec.2: Rd.1: BRU (Dayang Isah Muntol) bt SAM (Repeka Seira Aluni) 21-12, NZL (Jo Edwards) bt HKC (Helen Cheung) 20-13, NFI (Carmen Anderson) bt JPN (Keiko Kurohara) 21-13, SIN (Tammy Tham) bt USA (Alexis Van Den Bos) 19-14. Rd.2: IND (Tania Choudhary) bt JPN 21-4, NFI bt HKC 21-10, NZL bt SAM 21-4, SIN bt BRU 21-10. Rd.3: SIN bt SAM 21-6, JPN bt BRU 21-10, HKC bt USA 21-7.

Current standings: SINGAPORE 9 points +31 shots, NZL 6 +24, NFI 6 +19, IND 3 +17, HKC 3 -4, BRU 3 -13, JPN 3 -14, USA 0 -19, SAM 0 -41.

Women’s fours:

Sec.1: Rd.1: AUS (Lynsey Clarke, Carla Krizanic, Bec Van Asch, Natasha Scott) bt THA (Chamaipron Kotchawong, Kannika Limwanich, Palita Gangur, Nannapat Tomak) 19-8, HKC (Gloria Ha, Cheryl Chan, Phyllis Wong, Angel So) bt CHI (Zheng Fang, Liu Yuan Ying, Yanfen Chen, Song Su Zhen) 14-9, FIJ (Radhika Prasad, Loretta Kotoisuva, Doreen O’Connor, Sheryl Mar) bt JPN (Yukie Koyama, Yoko Goda, Midori Matsuoka, Hiroko Emura) 18-8. Rd.2: MAS (Auni Kamis, Nurul Jamil, Azlina Arshad, Nur Fidrah Noh) bt CHI 18-15, PNG (Piwen Karkar, Jessica Kuli, Angela Simbinali, Melissa-Ju Carlo) drew THA 17-17, HKC bt FIJ 21-9. Rd.3: HKC bt THA 18-11, MAS bt PNG 22-6, FIJ drew CHI 15-15,

Current standings: HONG KONG 9 points +24 shots, MAS 6 +19, FIJ 4 -2, AUS 3 +11, THA 3 -13, CHI 1 -8, JPN 0 -10, PNG 0 -21.

Sec.2: Rd.1: CAN (Jackie Foster, Joanna Cooper, Jordan Kos, Leanne Chinery) bt NFI (Shae Wilson, Vivian Bigg, Ester Sanchez, Petal Jones) 21-13, NZL (Wendy Jensen, Kirsten Edwards, Katelyn Inch, Val Smith) bt NIU (Victoria Liumaihetau, Rosie Rex, Pilena Motufoou, Joy Peyroux) 20-7, PHI (Sonia Bruce, Hazel Jagony, Ronalyn Greenlees, Rosita Bradborn) bt SIN (Margaret Lim, Josephine Lim, May Lee, Shermeen Lim) 13-9, MAC (Hilda Tam, Ivy Chui, Pian Lai, Kitty Chan) bt USA (Alice Birkinshaw, Melanie Vizenor, Janice Bell, Anne Nunes) 17-14. Rd.2: IND (Sarita Tirkey, Bongita Hazarika, Nayanmoni Saikia, Ruparani Tirkey) drew MAC 12-12, NZL bt SIN 13-10, PHI bt NFI 16-9, NIU bt USA 15-9. Rd.3: CAN bt NIU 21-3, NFI bt SIN 17-9, PHI bt MAC 16-7.

Current standings: PHILIPPINES 9 points +20 shots, CAN 6 +26, NZL 6 +16, MAC 4 -6, NFI 3 -7, NIU 3 -25, IND 1 Sq, USA 0 -9, SIN 0 -15.

Photo: Star power: Australia’s formidable foursome Natasha Scott, Carla Krizanic, Lynsey Clarke and Bec Van Asch.