Canadians Getting Ready for Knock Out Play in Pairs Events at Australian Open
Ottawa, Ontario | June 11, 2019
The Australian Open is into its final stages as the playoffs are winding down. The event, being staged across the Gold Coast, Australia, from June 1 – 14.
Canada’s Ryan Bester (Hanover, ON) and fellow Broadbeach clubmate Kevin Anderson are now into the round of 16 in Men’s Pairs competition. Bester and Anderson went 3-0 in sectional play to advance to the knockout rounds and went on to win their first three rounds of playoffs 17-10, 16-9, and 19-9 respectively. Bester and Anderson are now into the round of 16 against Barrie Lester and Corey Wedlock. Bowls Australia will be featuring this match on their Facebook Live Streaming programming on June 11th (local). See @BowlsAustralia on Facebook for more details.
In the Women’s Pairs, Joanna Cooper (Calgary, AB) and Kelly McKerihen (Toronto, ON) went 3-0 to advance out of their section. Pricilla Westlake and Emma Boyd (both of Delta, BC) went 2-1 in their section and just squeaked into the playoffs. Ann Marie Siteman teamed up with an Australian to advance to the playoffs with a 2-1 record as well. Women’s Pairs knock out rounds are also scheduled for June 11th (local time).
Streaming links and results are available at http://australianopen.bowlsaustralia.com.au/
Records of Canadians in other events
Men’s Singles
Defending Australian Open Singles Champion Ryan Bester qualified for the playoffs in singles with 3 wins in his section. He then won his first round of playoffs with a 21-12 win over Ross Linneman (Queensland, AU), but lost the second round 21-3 to Kevin Kigson (Queensland, AU).
Rob Law also qualified for the playoffs in singles with 3 wins in his section. He faced New Zealand Blackjack Ali Forsyth in the first round of the playoffs and lost a close battle 21-16.
Pat Bird finished his section with a 2-1 record, but narrowly missed out on playoffs by a 4-shot differential. Cameron LeFresne also went 2-1 in his section and despite being a +19 with his differential, also missed out on playoffs. Greg Wilson went 1-2 in his section but did not advance to playoffs. Nova Scotia’s John Siteman and Gordon Curtis went 0-3 in their sectional play.
Women’s Singles
Kelly McKerihen went 3-0 in her sectional play and defeated Denise Huender (NSW, AU) 21-15 in her first playoff match. She then lost to Gail Waitai (Broadbeach, AU) 17-16 in a lengthy second round.
Joanna Cooper had 2 losses in her section and did not qualify for playoffs. Emma Boyd also struggled to find her stride with 3 losses in her section. Ann Marie Siteman went 1-2 in sectional play and did not qualify for playoffs.
Men’s Pairs
Greg Wilson and Pat Bird struggled to get going, with a record of 0-3 in their section. Cam LeFresne and Rob Law joined forces for the pairs but lost all 3 games by 4 points or less. John Siteman and Gordon Curtis went 0-3 in their sectional games.
Men’s Fours
In the men’s fours, Bester and Anderson teamed up with a couple of kiwis to make it out of their section and into the playoffs. They won their first round 11-6 over an all-New Zealand team, and followed that up with a 19-3 victory over another team of Kiwis. After a 15-9 win in the round of 16, Bester and his crew will face fellow club-mate Ryan Burnett in the quarterfinals.
The Canadian crew of Law, Bird, Wilson, and LeFresne were drawn into arguably one of the toughest sections. Section 26 was filled with Australian Jackaroos, with 2 teams composed of Australian players who had all represented Australia in international events in the previous few years. Despite their best efforts, the Canadians lost to Sean Ingham, Corey Wedlock, Aaron Teys, and Aaron Wilson 15-6, and again to Jesse Noronha, Ray Pearse, Ben Twist, and David Ferguson 24-7. The Canadian team did manage to pick up a win in the last sectional game, 22-9.
John Siteman and Gordon Curtis teamed up with a couple of Australians but could not find the W column, going 0-3 in their sectional play.
Women’s Fours
In the women’s fours, Kelly McKerihen teamed up with three Australians and managed to make it to the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, their opponents, led by Australian Jackaroo Kristina Krstic, proved too much and took the quarterfinal match 17-14.
Ann Marie Siteman also teamed up with a few Australians and made it through her section to the playoffs. Siteman also faced a Jackaroo in Chloe Stewart, who led her fours team to a 13-9 win over Siteman.
Joanna Cooper, Pricilla Westlake, and Emma Boyd all joined forces with Barbara Archer in the fours and also advanced to the playoffs where they were handed a tough loss of 19-11 in the first round.
Fans can learn more about the Australian Open and follow their favourite Canadian bowlers at http://australianopen.bowlsaustralia.com.au/
About Australian Open
The Australian Open is the world’s largest bowls festival with competitors attending from all over the globe. Offering $250,000 in prize money, the 2019 Open will be held on the Gold Coast, Queensland from June 1 to 14 across fifteen host clubs.
About Bowls Canada
Bowls Canada Boulingrin (BCB) is the governing body responsible for lawn bowls in Canada. The BCB mission is to advance the sport of bowls in Canada. For more details on Bowls Canada Boulingrin and the sport of lawn bowls, visit www.bowlscanada.com.
For more information, please contact:
Anna Mees
Executive Director, Bowls Canada
Email: amees@bowlscanada.com
