Davis strikes gold again whilst Srisamruaybai wins maiden Australian Open
Australian Junior Jackaroos Jessica Srisamruaybai (QLD) and Jono Davis (NSW) claim gold at the Australian Open The sports future is looking bright with our next batch of international stars crowned as the Under-18 Champions of this year’s Australian Open.
The Under-18 events are always hotly contested and with a number of new faces entering this year’s event, the favourites had their work cut out for them here on the Gold Coast.
After a day of sectional play across a number of Australian Open host venues, followed by quarter-finals and semi-finals action at Broadbeach yesterday, the final four were settled and ready to do battle in front of The Bowls Show cameras and keen onlookers.
Tweed Heads prodigy Jessica Srisamruaybai went one step further in this year’s Under-18 Girls Singles final claiming the title and $1500 with a 21-6 victory over Victoria’s Mikayla Long.
Srisamruaybai was runner-up last year to Tiffany Brodie, a fellow Australian Junior Jackaroo who has gone on to win back-to-back open titles here at the Australian Open; however in 2017 Srisamruaybai showed why she is currently Australia’s leading Under-18 female bowler, having just represented Australia at the recent Trans-Tasman at this very venue.
Commonwealth Youth Games dual gold medallist Jono Davis had a different opponent in the 2017 final, coming up against Queensland’s Indi Conlan who defeated last year’s finalist Joshua Studham from South Australia in the semi-final.
The Defending Champion, the superstar from Dubbo, was sensational as always, jumping out of the blocks early and continuing to apply all the pressure on his opponent, the first time finalist, going on to claim a comprehensive victory 21-7.
It’s hard to believe that Jono Davis, just 16 years of age, still has another year remaining in the junior ranks, having won his first Australian Open Under-18 Singles when he was just 13 years of age when the event was held at Darebin.
Both these finals were filmed for SBS’s The Bowls Show and will go to air on the following days.
Sun, Aug 13 3:00pm (Australian Open – Under 18 Girls’ Singles Final)
Sun, Aug 20 3:00pm (Australian Open – Under 18 Boys’ Singles Final)
Bowls Australia congratulates the selected players and acknowledges the assistance and funding provided by Commonwealth Games Australia to Bowls Australia for athletes in the NextGEN AUSComGames Squad program.
NextGEN AUSComGames was devised to provide assistance to junior players who have been identified as potential 2018 or 2022 Commonwealth Games level athletes.
Caption- Jono Davis and Jessica Srisamruaybai are the 2017 Australian Open Under-18 Singles Champions
