Blackjacks strike form to be on top at world bowls
The Blackjacks are within touching distance of the playoffs in four disciplines at the World Bowls championships after 12 wins out of 12 matches on the second day of the Christchurch tournament.
Singles star Jo Edwards now has five wins and a loss to lead her section after beating USA’s Kim Heiser 21-10 and following up with a 21-12 victory over a Cypriot rival before crushing Guernsey’s Jackie Nicolle 21-1 in the sixth round
Val Smith skipped her New Zealand four of Kirsten Edwards, Katelyn Inch and Angela Boyd to the top of their section after beating closest rival Wales in the sixth round for their fifth consecutive victory.
Smith and her young charges - all attending their first World Bowls tournament - opened with a 16-10 victory over then backed up by beating Namibia 25-15.
They also have a 5-1 win-loss record, as do the New Zealand men’s pairs and triples teams.
Skip Shannon McIlroy and lead Mike Kernaghan beat Israel’s Zvi Hadar and Dan Slodownik 24-8 in the pairs’ morning round and then usurped the United States 24-10 and Guernsey, 20-5. The Kiwi duo are ranked second behind Malaysia, but both have five wins and a loss as do Wales. The top three teams from each section make tomorrow’s playoffs round.
Blackjacks triples combo Ali Forsyth, Mike Nagy and Blake Signal had a 17-9 win against Ireland’s Martin McHugh, Neil Mulholland and Simon Martin before accounting for Pacific neighbours Samoa, 27-8 and USA 23-16 to lead section one after Australia’s surprise defeat to Namibia.
National coach Dave Edwards will be urging all four units to keep their focus with the final three round-robin games today.
His wife, Jo Edwards, will play her 500th game for New Zealand against the Netherlands this morning. She will become only the second Blackjack to reach that milestone after former men’s world champion Rowan Brassey.
The Nelson ace is one of three players with four-win one-loss records in section one of the women’s singles.
Canada’s Kelly McKerihen beat Cyprus’ Frances Davis for her fourth consecutive win but she lost her fifth round clash to Australia’s defending world champion Karen Murphy.
Murphy rebounded from her shock first-day defeat to Kenya to thrash Fiji’s Sainiana Walker, 21-3 before pipping Australian-based McKerihen, 21-19 and also accounted for Wales, 21-9.
Edwards, Murphy and McKerihen all have 5-1 records with three rounds to play.
Commonwealth Games champion Edwards faces two critical games on Thursday against the Netherlands’ Saskia Schaft (4-2) and Murphy, which could go a long way to deciding who wins the section and gets a free ride to the semifinal and a guaranteed medal.
The Philippines’ Rosita Bradborn is now the only women’s singles player with a 6-0 record after a 21-17 win over Scotland’s Lesley Doig, who was on a fourmatch winning streak and a 21-11 result over the Cook Islands.
Doig continued her winning ways by edging England rival Sophie Tolchard 21-19 before being toppled by Bradborn, who beat Norfolk Island’s Carmen Anderson by the same score. Doig later had a big 21-5 win over Zimbabwe.
Anderson, the 1996 world champion, kept her hopes alive with 21-18 win over Malaysia’s Siti Zalina Ahmad, the 2008 world champion, and another over South Africa’s Glasgow Commonwealth Games pairs gold medallist Colleen Piketh (21-16).
Ahmad, a dual Commonwealth Games gold medallist, will miss the playoffs cut.
England’s Ellen Falkner (skip), Jamie-Lea Winch, Rebecca Wigfield and Wendy King are unbeaten in section two after five straight wins. The Philippines and USA are 4-1 and Japan, Spain and Scotland 3-2.
Australia’s Aaron Wilson and Brett Wilkie suffered their first loss on Wednesday, 16-15 to previously winless Singapore, but recovered to win against Fiji and Hong Kong China, but England and Scotland lead their group with five wins and a solitary loss.
Three teams, including New Zealand’s McIlroy and Kernaghan, are 5-1 in section two.
Australia’s Aron Sherriff, Mark Casey and Barrie Lester lost their unbeaten record in section one of the men’s triples after getting nobbled by Namibia, allowing Forsyth’s Kiwis to lead the section.
England’s Graham Shadwell, Robert Paxton and Jamie Walker are unbeaten in section two with six straight wins and seem assured of a playoffs berth with Scotland and Japan trailing them at 4-2.