Golden day for Aussies at Broadbeach

Australia had a great time at the Asia Pacific Championship finals on Australia’s Gold Coast today winning three gold medals from the four finals.

However New Zealand action man Shannon McIlroy won his second gold medal of the championships – added to last week’s pairs with Gary Lawson – when he ran down Canadian Ryan Bester’s 10-0 early lead to win the blue ribbon singles and crowd consensus as star of the show.

The Australia women started the rush when their pairs combo of Lynsey Clarke and Kelsey Cottrell coasted to victory in the morning, comprehensively beating sentimental favourites Piwen Karkar and Catherine Wimp from Papua New Guinea.

Further up the green, in a testy encounter, Australia’s Barrie Lester, Aaron Teys, Nathan Rice and Aron Sherriff took full advantage of some shabby work by Blackjacks Mike Kernaghan, Jamie Hill, Gary Lawson and Ali Forsyth to power from 9-15 down after 10 ends to 21-17 gold medalists just five ends later.

The women’s triples final saw one of the most devastating displays by a skipper in recent times when Australia’s Bec Van Asch lead her teammates Natasha Scott and Carla Krizanic to an emphatic gold medal win over the wonderful Malaysian trio of Auni Kamis, Alyani Jamil and Azalina Arshad.

When Australia sat one in arrears 8-9 at the halfway point of the 18-end final, Van Asch rose like a colossus to almost single-handedly steamroll the Jackaroos to an 18-12 victory.

In the overall competition, Australia claimed the women’s crown, while New Zealand won the men’s title.

Photo: Today’s gold medalists at the Asia Pacific Championships at Broadbeach.

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2019 Asia Pacific Championships, Gold Coast, Australia

Day 10:

Men’s singles: final: Shannon McIlroy (New Zealand) bt Ryan Bester (Canada) 21-20.

Men’s fours: final: Barrie Lester, Aaron Teys, Nathan Rice, Aron Sherriff (Australia) bt Mike Kernaghan, Jamie Hill, Gary Lawson, Ali Forsyth (New Zealand) 21-17

Women’s pairs: final: Lynsey Clarke, Kelsey Cottrell (Australia) bt Piwen Karkar, Catherine Wimp (Papua New Guinea) 27-5.

Women’s triples: final: Carla Krizanic, Natasha Scott, Bec Van Asch (Australia) bt Auni Kamis, Alyani Jamil, Azalina Arshad (Malaysia) 18-12.