Former champions hunt more pairs gold
Ryan Bester and Gary Lawson are just four games away from claiming another Australian Open Pairs title but plenty of national and international stars also have the title in sight. 2008 Australian Open Pairs Champions Ryan Bester (CAN/QLD) and Gary Lawson (NZ/QLD) have the $10,000 first prize in sight after they charged into the final 16 of the men’s pairs today at Coolangatta.
Lawson and Bester scratched their way through their second match of the day with a narrow one shot victory over Greg Brown and Stuart Rigg but then put their best foot forward against Lee Such and New Zealand Blackjack Paul Girdler moving them a win closer to claiming dual pairs titles.
Other challengers for the title will come in the form of past and present Australian stars, Cabramatta’s Ray Pearse and South Tweeds Kelvin Kerkow, and Shane Garvey (Wisemans Park) teamed up with three-time International Bowler of the Year Aron Sherriff; however the victors weren’t without a challenge today.
Pearse and Kerkow had a tough encounter with Darren Morrison and APL03 Champion Ali Forsyth in the round of 32, scoring an all-important two shot victory and setting up an enthralling clash of the titans with Lawson and Bester.
Only one shot came in between Brett Leighton (QLD) and Hopwood (NSW) causing another upset of the round having already defeated Sean Ingham and Kurt Brown earlier in the day; however the experience of Garvey and Sherriff secured them a one shot win and a spot in the top 16.
Michael Andersen and Kris Lehfeldt started their morning in style knocking defending champions Robbie Wild and Sean Baker out of the competition; the pair continued to notch up the victories at Robina and will now meet Brian Seaman and Matthew Masula from Brunswick Heads.
Lee Schraner is having an Australian Open to remember having already qualified for tomorrow’s coveted men’s singles quarter-final and today booked a spot in the round of 16 alongside Geoff Maskell with a strong win in the final match of the day over young talents Jamie Turnbull and last year’s Under-18 Boys Singles title Jacob Nelson.
Schraner and Maskell will now meet Club Helensvale’s Andrew Howie and ACT/NSW NTC Squad member Mac McLean in Tuesday’s round of 16 at Broadbeach Bowls Club.
Hard to believe Matt Flapper and Max Kleinig could be flying under the radar but having qualified for the quarter-final of the men’s fours and now making it through to the last 16 of the men’s pairs, the past and present Australian Jackaroos will be hard to beat.
The men’s pairs continue tomorrow at Broadbeach whilst the women’s fours has been played down to the semi-finals.
Defending Champions in the women’s fours Samantha Noronha, Natalie Noronha, Carla Krizanic and Natasha Scott sailed through their post sectional matches today to set up a battle with Sam Shannahan’s team of Kristina Krstic (WA), Taylor Spence (VIC) and Kylie Whitehead (VIC).
The powerhouse Malaysian combination stood up as title contenders after knocking off the decorated team consisting of last year’s singles champion Ellen Ryan, former Scottish international Kay Moran, singles quarter-finalist Julie Keegan and Australia’s most capped international bowler Karen Murphy.
Chloe Stewart’s (QLD) rink of Tiffany Brodie (VIC), Ameila Bruggy (VIC) and Georgia White (QLD) will go head to head with the Malaysian’s in the semi-final to be played at Club Helensvale on Wednesday June 22.
Caption- 2008 Champions Ryan Bester and Gary Lawson are into the final 16 in the men’s pairs at the Australian Open.
