Countdown on for finals berths on Gold Coast
There’s an old sports writer’s edict to ‘never lead with the weather’, but its influence on today’s play in the Asia Pacific Championships was so irritating, it is impossible not to put it on record.
This will go down as A Hard Day’s Night in Queensland with the region’s premier players being victims of unseasonal weather episodes at the Musgrave Hill, Club Helensvale and Broadbeach clubs.
Being frequently called on and off the playing arena because of rain bursts is normally a bowler’s pet aversion. On this day in the Sunshine State it was anything but. Word is tomorrow could be more of the same.
There were very few ground-shaking results either – as the top fancies began to position themselves for tomorrow’s charge at the finals – when personal success and medals are available for sure – but secondary to national inclusion for next year’s world championships on the Gold Coast.
However, the Papua New Guinea women’s pairs combination of Piwen Karkar and Catherine Wimp have been warming spectator’s hearts as they go about their business. This morning they claimed the points against Australian world champions Lynsey Clark and Kelsey Cottrell in a career highpoint, and lead their section a game clear going into tomorrow’s last three qualifying rounds.
Canadian superstar Ryan Bester and reigning world singles champion Shannon McIlroy from New Zealand lead their sections in the men’s singles; while in the fours it’s Malaysia’s Soufi Rusli, Izzat Dzulkeple, Ijoi Redzuan and Fairul Muin holding sway in Section 1, while Aussie Jackaroos Barrie Lester, Aaron Teys, Nathan Rice and Aron Sherriff head the leader board in Section 2.
Piwen Karkar and Catherine Wimp from Papua New Guinea are the front-runners in women’s pairs Section 1, as are New Zealand’s Kirsten Edwards and Jo Edwards (no relation) in Section 2.
Likewise, the triples sees New Zealand’s Wendy Jensen, Katelyn Inch and Val Smith going into Day 3 as overnight leaders in Section 1, while Carla Krizanic, Chloe Stewart and Bec Van Asch of Australia are the top combination in Section 2.
Over the past seven game days the 2019 Asia Pacific Championships – featuring nineteen bowling nations from the Asian and Oceanic region at the three Gold Coast host clubs has thrilled visiting bowls lovers from far and wide.
Leading the charge is the Aussie faithful who have been staunch behind their favourites and cheering from every vantage point at the host venues.
Qualifying rounds of the Asia Pacific Championships continue daily until Broadbeach hosts the elimination and semi finals on Thursday and gold medal play-offs on Friday.
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2019 Asia Pacific Championships, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Day 7:
Men’s singles:
Sec.1: Rd.4: AUS (Ray Pearse) bt PHI (Hommer Mercado) 21-10, CAN (Ryan Bester) bt SIN (Matthew Ngui) 21-4, IND (Navneet Singh) bt PNG (John Morgan) 21-9, MAS (Soufi Rusli) bt CHI (Ye Sui Ying) 21-13, NFI (Teddy Evans) bt FIJ (Semesa Naiseruvati) 21-19. Rd.5: AUS bt CAN 21-17, FIJ bt SIN 21-15, IND bt CHI 21-12, MAS bt PNG 21-17, NFI bt PHI 21-19. Rd.6: AUS bt MAS 21-10, CAN bt PHI 21-9, NFI bt CHI 21-11, PNG bt FIJ 21-18, SIN bt IND 21-15
Current standings: CANADA 15 points +50 shots, AUS 15 +37, MAS 15 +35, IND 12 +37, NFI 9 -9, PNG 9 -18, SIN 6 -23, PHI 6 -25, FIJ 3 -22, CHI 0 -62.
Sec.2: Rd.4: HKC (Tony Cheung) bt SAM (Avala Savaiinaea) 21-11, NZL (Shannon McIlroy) bt THA (Koko Ontong) 21-14, NIU (Stan Tafatu) bt JPN (Hirokazu Mori) 21-18, USA (Scott Roberts) bt MAC (Ricky Poon) 21-11. Rd.5: NIU bt BRU (Jaman Jamahat) 21-5, NZL bt HKC 21-16, USA bt SAM 21-12, THA bt MAC 21-9. Rd.6: BRU bt SAM 21-7, NZL bt JPN 21-4, NIU bt MAC 21-19, THA bt HKC 21-19.
Current standings: NEW ZEALAND 15 points +61 shots, USA 12 +43, THA 12 +40, HKC 12 +15, NIU 9 -12, SAM 6 -30, BRU 3 -30, MAC 3 -34, JPN 0 -53.
Men’s fours:
Sec.1: Rd.4: MAS (Soufi Rusli, Izzat Dzulkeple, Ijoi Redzuan, Fairul Muin) bt PHI (Curte Guarin, Elmer Abatayo, Chris Dagpin Angelo Morales) 17-10, USA (Bill Brault, Aaron Zangl, Loran Dion, Neil Furman) bt SAM (Iva Tiatia, Hans Junior Gabriel, Solomona Faamaoni, Fiu Peni Asi) 16-9, THA (Naret Aiangetuen, Sonthi Manakitpaiboon, Patawee Montien, Thanakrit Thammasarn) bt CAN (Rob Law, Pat Bird, Greg Wilson, Cameron Lefresne) 16-9, CHI (Mao Young Min, Meng Zhao Qian, Zhang Bao Cheng, Liu Guo Qiang) bt SIN (Anthony Loh, Melvin Tan, Heng Heck Pang, Bernard Foo) 14-12. Rd.5: NZL (Mike Kernaghan, Jamie Hill, Gary Lawson, Ali Forsyth) bt USA 17-13, MAS bt THA 25-11, CHI drew SAM 12-12, CAN drew PHI 19-19. Rd.6: CAN bt SAM 15-9, SIN bt PHI 10-9, THA bt CHI 18-10, NZL drew MAS 15-15.
Current standings: MALAYSIA 13 points +35 shots, CAN 13 +27, NZL 10 +45, THA 9 +17, PHI 7 +6, USA 6 -10, CHI 4 -33, SAM 4 -50, SIN 3 -37.
Sec.2: Rd.4: AUS (Barrie Lester, Aaron Teys, Nathan Rice, Aron Sherriff) bt PNG (Kenneth Ikrima, Gabby Simeon, Matu Bazo, Freddy Koesan) 25-5, HKC (Imen Tang, Adrian Yau, Lyndon Sham, James Po) bt IND (Sunil Bahadur, Anand Nazary, Mirdul Borgohain, Dinesh Kumar) 15-6, MAC (Alvin Leong, Johnny Ng, Chris Chiu, Eric Li) bt FIJ (Kushal Pillay, Rajnesh Prasad, Abdul Kalim, David Aitcheson) 19-10, NFI (John Christian, Barry Wilson, Matt Bigg, Ryan Dixon) bt NIU (Gregory Funaki, Bill Vakaafi Morufoou, Mark Blumsky, Dalton Tagelagi) 20-8. Rd.5: JPN (Tomoyuki Tamachi, Jun Koyama, Hank Sato, Kenta Hasebe) bt IND 19-16, AUS bt NFI 36-3, FIJ bt NIU 23-4, PNG bt MAC 18-10. Rd.6: AUS bt HKC 17-8, JPN bt NIU 17-7, IND bt MAC 26-6, PNG bt NFI 16-12.
Current standings: AUSTRALIA 15 points +87 shots, JPN 15 +46, HKC 9 +21, IND 9 +10, FIJ 6 +2, PNG 6 -17, MAC 6 -29, NFI 6 -36, NIU 0 -84.
Women’s pairs:
Sec.1: Rd.4: NFI (Shae Wilson, Petal Jones) bt THA (Palita Gangur, Sue Bryant) 20-14, PNG (Piwen Karkar, Catherine Wimp) bt AUS (Lynsey Clarke, Kelsey Cottrell) 19-17, USA (Alexis Van Den Bos, Melanie Vizenor) bt CHI (Liu Yuan Ying, Hu Wen Ya) 19-18. Rd.5: AUS bt HKC (Gloria Ha, Helen Cheung) 23-13, THA bt SIN (Tammy Tham, Shermeen Lim) 24-13, PNG bt CHI 19-8. Rd.6: AUS bt NFI 24-7, HKC bt PNG 22-11, THA bt CHI 24-10,
Current standings: PAPUA NEW GUINEA 12 points +18 shots, AUS 9 +29, HKC 9 -1, SIN 6 +14, THA 6 +3, USA 6 -9, NFI 6 -16, CHI 0 -38.
Sec.2: Rd.4: CAN (Joanna Cooper, Kelly McKerihen) bt JPN (Keiko Kurohara, Midori Matsuoka) 16-10, MAS (Nur Fidrah Noh, Siti Zalina Ahmad) bt MAC (Kitty Chan, Pian Lai) 18-15, NZL (Kirsten Edwards, Jo Edwards) bt NIU (Pauline Rex Blumsky, Joy Peyroux) 37-4, PHI (Sonia Bruce, Ainie Knight) bt IND (Nayanmoni Saikia, Bongita Hazarika) 19-16. Rd.5: FIJ (Loretta Kotoisuva, Sheryl Mar) bt IND 18-14, CAN bt MAC 18-11, JPN bt NIU 17-13, MAS bt NZL 16-14. Rd.6: FIJ bt NIU 21-3, MAS bt PHI 24-9, NZL bt MAC 33-8, IND bt CAN 18-10.
Current standings: NEW ZEALAND 15 points +90 shots, MAS 12 +44, FIJ 12 +15, IND 9 +35, CAN 9 +13, PHI 9 Sq, JPN 3 -39, MAC 3 -49, NIU 0 -109.
Women’s triples:
Sec.1: Rd.4: HKC (Cheryl Chan, Phyllis Wong, Angel So) bt JPN (Yukie Koyama, Yoko Goda, Hiroko Emura) 26-6, NFI (Vivian Bigg, Ester Sanchez, Carmen Anderson) bt PNG (Kila Walo, Melissa-Ju Carlo, Angela Simbinali) 19-11, PHI (Hazel Jagony, Ronalyn Greenlees, Rosita Bradborn) bt MAC (Hilda Tam, Bell Chan, Ivy Chui) 14-13, IND (Sarita Tirkey, Tania Choudhary, Rupa Rani Tirkey) bt NZL (Wendy Jensen, Katelyn Inch, Val Smith) 16-13, CHI (Zheng Fang, Miao Xin Hong, Song Su Zhen) bt USA (Alice Birkinshaw, Janice Bell, Anne Nunes) 16-11. Rd.5: CHI bt JPN 19-13, NZL bt PNG 22-12, NFI bt IND 23-13, PHI bt HKC 18-9, USA bt MAC 21-17. Rd.6: CHI bt PNG 20-13, HKC bt MAC 19-10, NFI bt JPN 24-13, NZL bt PHI 14-9, IND bt USA 18-11.
Current standings: NEW ZEALAND 15 points +81 shots, IND 15 +39, NFI 15 +20, PHI 12 +34, CHI 12 +16, HKC 9 +11, USA 6 +1, PNG 3 -49, JPN 3 -87, MAC 0 -66.
Sec.2: Rd.4: AUS (Carla Krizanic, Chloe Stewart, Bec Van Asch) bt THA (Chamaaipron Kotchawong, Kannika Limwanich, Nannapat Tomak) 31-9, CAN (Jackie Foster, Jordan Kos, Leanne Chinery) bt NIU (Victoria Liumaihetau, Rosie Rex, Pilena Motufoou) 24-11, FIJ (Radhika Prasad, Doreen O’Connor, Litia Tikoisuva) bt SAM (Niu-Imeleta Faauma, Palenate Taei, Feao Wright) 24-9, MAS (Auni Kamis, Alyani Jamil, Azlina Arshad) bt SIN (Margaret Lim, Josephine Lim, May Lee) 28-4. Rd.5: BRU (Nafsiah Jamal, Dayang Muntol, Haja Muntol) bt SAM 19-14, AUS bt CAN 17-8, MAS bt THA 25-9, NIU bt SIN 20-9. Rd.6: AUS bt FIJ 16-13, BRU bt NIU 21-10, CAN bt THA 21-10, MAS bt SAM 32-6.
Current standings: AUSTRALIA 15 points +64 shots, CAN 15 +39, MAS 12 +77, BRU 9 +13, FIJ 6 +32, SIN 6 -32, THA 6 -36, NIU 3 -74, SAM 0 -83.
Photo: Papua New Guinea’s Piwen Karkar and Catherine Wimp have attracted many fans on the Gold Coast over the past two days.
