Pedersen and Dennis strike gold again
The men’s pairs final was a sensational match live on Fox Sports and tomorrow’s women’s pairs final will be just as good with Bec Van Asch going up against Julie Keegan. Steven Dennis and Nathan Pedersen completed the first stage of securing dual Australian Open titles in 2016 having captured today’s men’s pairs final against Warilla’s Matt Miles and St Johns Park’s Chris Herden in a quality final encounter.
Prior to the match the outcome was hard to predict and the players certainly lived up to the expectation of it being an evenly matched contest.
Dennis (Westlakes, SA) and Pedersen (Cabramatta, NSW) led the game from start to finish, however the pair were never in front by enough to relax at any stage of the match.
Dennis provided a solid platform and Pedersen had all the flare; the pair will now join forces with Wayne Ruediger and Scott Thulborn in tomorrow’s men’s fours final, a title they defend after claiming the trophy last year.
Since the Australian Open’s relocation to the Gold Coast, Pedersen has certainly made it a happy hunting ground having last year prevailed as player of the tournament and again this year putting himself strongly in the running.
Tomorrow’s women’s pairs finale will be one for the ages when Australian Jackaroos past and present go head to head in the $15,000 final live on Fox Sports.
In an epic semi-final, Anne Johns (NSW) and Bec Van Asch (TAS) staged a come from behind victory over Australian Jackaroo team mates Carla Krizanic (VIC) and Natasha Scott (NSW) with a heroic final delivery from the current World Pairs gold medallist.
Krizanic and Scott were the early leaders 9-3 before Johns and Van Asch forced their way back into the match with a score of four and then a two on the following end to even the match; from there on the scores continually changed favour and it was Scott who went into the final end of the match with a two shot lead.
A description of Van Asch’s final bowl may not do it justice considering the state of the scoreboard, the state of the head and the pressure of an Australian Open semi-final defeat; however with the perfect execution of weight Van Asch split the two shot bowls and ran onto the jack, trailing it to their bowls behind to steal a three and book a spot in the final.
“I’m pretty stoked, especially considering this is the first time Jimmy (Anne Johns) and I have played together,” said a delighted Van Asch.
“My only Australian Open title was alongside Anne in the fours so it has been great to join up in the pairs and make another final.”
Bec Van Asch was asked about the final bowl of the match.
“I knew I was slightly wide with my first attempt, my second shot only just missed so I knew I needed just a slight correction and focus on my weight being right and I was pretty confident that if I was in the area something would happen,” said the relieved skip.
Their opponent’s semi-final may not have had the same spectacular finish but Ellen Ryan and Julie Keegan were on song against Virgina Longfellow (NSW) and Genevieve Delves (NSW) winning the match 28-8 with two ends unplayed.
Keegan, a World Fours Champion and Ryan, a World Junior Singles Champion, are no strangers to the Australian Open’s biggest stage having both won the Australian Open Singles.
Caption- Nathan Pedersen and Steven Dennis win their second Australian Open title
