Aussie Steal The Lead At Trans-Tasman In Ballarat

The New Zealand Indoor Bowls team (the Mat Blacks) are trailing Australia by two game points at the completion of a mammoth day two of the Tran Tasman currently being played in Ballarat.

The test is played over three days, with every country picking seven men and seven women to compete over multiple disciplines.

Two points are awarded for every game won.

The New Zealand team improved on their Day One morning session by claiming victories in the Women’s Singles, Men’s Fours and Mixed Fours, with the Women’s Fours being overwhelmed by Monica Korns quartet 23-11, and Daniel French losing his singles rubber in heart-breaking fashion to Ian Ogilvie 18-17 by dropping a two on the last end.

This put the New Zealand team into a two-point lead at the lunchbreak.

The Australian team, buoyed by a boisterous home crowd, had an absolutely magnificent afternoon session.

They won the Men’s and Women’s 8 bowl pairs, the Mixed 8 bowl pairs and the Mixed 6 bowl pairs with New Zealand’s only wins coming courtesy of the Men’s and Women’s triples teams.

A feature of this round was the number of games that Australia won on the last end, with this being the case in every game barring the Men’s 8-bowl pairs.

This means that going into the last day, Australia leads New Zealand 23 game points to 21.

It is interesting to note that New Zealand leads on shots scored, with 410 points and 195.5 ends, whilst Australia has scored 384 shots and 207.5 ends.

Tomorrow is sure to be a tense and exciting day as Australia look to wrest the Trans-Tasman series from New Zealand.

MORNING SESSION

Men’s Singles: Daniel French vs Ian Ogilvie lost 17–18

Women’s Singles: Teri Blackbourn vs Fiona Pearson won 22–15

Men’s Fours: Paul Smith, Paul Wright, Gary Low, Shaun Blackbourn vs Shane Cashill, Angus Young, Haydn Weir, Errol Weir won 23–20

Women’s Fours: Dale Rayner, Sheree Holmes, Denise Clarkson, Rochelle Cameron vs Monika Korn, Lynda Charles, Rhonda Aram, Annika Van Lierop lost 11–23

Mixed Fours: Simon Thomas, Michael Lawson, Suzanne Mackie, Joy Archer vs Kyle French, Simon Zaporozec, Julie Zaporozec, Keisha Pearson won 17-14

AFTERNOON SESSION

Men’s 8 Bowl Pairs: Paul Wright, Gary Low vs Kyle French, Haydn Weir lost 10–22

Women’s 8 Bowl Pairs: Teri Blackbourn, Denise Clarkson vs Monika Korn, Julie Zaporozec lost 14-15

Mixed 8 Bowl Pairs: Paul Smith, Sheree Holmes vs Ian Ogilvie, Fiona Pearson lost 14-17

Mixed 6 Bowl Pairs: Shaun Blackbourn, Joy Archer vs Simon Zaporozec, Annika Van Lierop drew lost 19-20

Men’s Triples: Simon Thomas, Michael Lawson, Daniel French vs Shane Cashill, Angus Young, Errol Weir won 21–12

Women’s Triples: Dale Rayner, Suzanne Mackie, Rochelle Cameron vs Lynda Charles, Rhonda Aram, Keisha Pearson won 24-20

OVERALL SCORE

AUSTRALIA: 23

NEW ZEALAND: 21”

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